Entertainment
Scene depicting Boris Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds giving birth ‘cut from coronavirus TV drama’
A scene showing Boris Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds giving birth has reportedly been cut from Sky Atlantic’s upcoming coronavirus drama This Sceptred Isle.
This Sceptred Isle, which will see Kenneth Branagh portray the prime minister and Ophelia Lovibond take on the role of his partner, is set to tell a dramatised tale of how Mr Johnson and the government coped during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Photographs recently emerged of Kenneth, 60, and Ophelia, 35, in character as the couple, with Guardians of the Galaxy actor Ophelia donning a baby bump for the show co-written by filmmaker Michael Winterbottom and writer Kieron Quirke.
A report states that the five-part series was going to include a scene where the dramatised version of Carrie is ‘on all fours, screaming and biting Boris’s hand’ while in labour before giving birth to their son, Wilfred, who was born in April 2020.
However, according to a source, this scene will now not make the cut.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, the source reportedly said that they found it ‘extraordinary that Michael Winterbottom would know what took place in the delivery suite’, as it was ‘the most private of times for Boris and Carrie’.
A spokesperson for Sky Atlantic told the publication that the decision as to the scenes that will be included in a TV series – ‘as with any drama’ – takes place during the editing stage of the project.
‘This Sceptred Isle is currently in production and is due to air in autumn 2022,’ they said.
‘As with any drama, the inclusion or not of any scenes will be decided as part of the editing process once production concludes.’
Former chief adviser to the prime minister Dominic Cummings is to be played in This Sceptred Isle by Simon Paisley Day, whose previous work includes Timon of Athens, Entertaining Mr Sloane and Private Lives.
Tim Shipman, the political editor of The Sunday Times, is to act as a consultant on the Sky Original drama.
It’s been claimed that the series was created using ‘first-hand testimonies from individuals from Number 10 Downing Street, the Department of Health’ among others’.
The show will depict the daily news briefings that the prime minister presented during the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to the difficulties faced by the NHS amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Sky for comment.
This Sceptred Isle is yet to be given a release date by Sky Atlantic.
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