Sophie Cookson: I wanted to set record straight about Profumo affair with new drama

Sophie Cookson and Ellie Bamber say their new drama about the Profumo affair is as “relevant today” as it was in the Sixties.

Cookson, 29, and Bamber, 22, star in the BBC’s Trial Of Christine Keeler, which was written by Amanda Coe and directed by Andrea Harkin.

Cookson plays model Keeler, with Bamber portraying her friend, Mandy Rice-Davies.

In 1961, showgirl Keeler met John Profumo, the secretary of state for war. The two had a brief relationship close to when she was also involved with Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché. The affair was exposed and he resigned.

The six-part drama was created by an all-female crew and aims to tell the story through Keeler’s eyes.

Cookson, above right with Bamber, told Vogue: “To reclaim a story that belongs to Christine feels important ... Initially, I’d been reading the script thinking, ‘This is set in the Sixties...’ But it’s as relevant today as it was then.”

On why she got involved, she added: “We wanted to set the record straight. If one more person had said to me, ‘Oh, you’re playing that prostitute,’ I was going to bloody kill them.”

See the full feature in the January issue of British Vogue available now

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Why all eyes are on rising star actress Ellie Bamber

Christine Keeler, a product of poverty who was unable to answer back