“Big Little Lies” creator David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson, who was a showrunner on “House of Cards,” have attached as writers, showrunners and executive producers on Netflix six-part miniseries “Anatomy of a Scandal.”
Netflix describes the show, which is based on Sarah Vaughan’s best-selling novel, as an “insightful and suspenseful series about a sexual consent scandal amongst British privileged elite and the women caught up in its wake.”
S.J. Clarkson (“Jessica Jones,” “The Defenders”) will direct all episodes, and also takes an executive producer credit. The show will be shot in the U.K.
Kelley, whose recent credits include “Goliath” and “Mr. Mercedes,” and James Gibson, who also served as a writer on “The Americans,” will exec produce alongside Liza Chasin of 3Dot Productions, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Allie Goss of Made Up Stories. Vaughan and Margaret Chernin take co-executive producer credits.
The novel, part courtroom thriller and part psychological drama, centers on Sophie, her husband James, who is a politician accused of a terrible crime, and Kate, the prosecuting attorney in his case. “The scandal forces Sophie to appraise her marriage and Kate her demons,” according to the author’s website.
Vaughan is a former journalist, who spent 11 years on The Guardian newspaper as a reporter, health correspondent and political correspondent, writing under the byline Sarah Hall.
The Financial Times’ review stated: “In Sarah Vaughan’s impressive ‘Anatomy of a Scandal,’ the three main characters are all expressively drawn. The novel makes some provocative points (…) No doubt in the current MeToo climate (…) there will be a slew of books in which the subject is central. Few, however, are likely to have the rigor and intelligence of Vaughan’s novel.”