Is the Roy family from Succession based on the Murdoch family?

(L-R) Sarah Snook, Arian Moayed, Brian Cox, Jesse Armstrong, Kieran Culkin, J. Smith-Cameron and Alan Ruck attend the HBO’s “Succession” Season 3 Premiere at American Museum of Natural History. (Picture: Getty)

The UK might have the Royal Family, but it’s the Roy Family who’ll be reigning supreme when HBO’s hit series Succession returns.

Coming back for its third series on October 17, the show will carry on following the fictional tug of war going on between the Roy family as its ageing patriarch looks to hand over his media empire to one of his children.

Family politics, actual politics, sex, betrayal, drama and more collide to make a show that has gripped people all over the world, but it’s also got a lot of people asking the same question… just who are the Roys based on?

Here’s what the show creators have said…

Is Logan Roy based on Rupert Murdoch?

There’s a strong case to be made that media-mogul Logan Roy who owns an array of newspapers and mediums could be based on the real-life media-mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Before the series first premiered back in 2018, Jesse Armstrong, the creator, executive producer, and showrunner of Succession, told Variety that the characters are a fictional family.

He said: ‘There’s loads of succession stories to draw on. We wanted to draw on all the good, rich stories there are about succession and about media and high politics.’

Several dynasty families, including Rupert Murdoch, William Randolph Hearst (the inspiration behind Citizen Kane), Robert Maxwell (a former MP, media figure and father of Ghislaine Maxwell), the Redstones (owners of Viacom and CBS) and even Queen Elizabeth II were thrown into the mix as possible inspirations.

Brian Cox, who plays Logan Roy, also told Variety that there is no one real-life person on which his performance is based.

‘I didn’t channel anybody really,’ Cox is quoted as saying.

Brian Cox has stated his performance isn’t based on any one person (Picture: Getty)

‘It’s a great role and a great subject. And it’s about the nature of how greed and acquisitiveness desensitizes people.’

However, some clues that suggest the Murdoch family might be a source of deeper inspiration is that Jesse Armstrong had previously written a script specifically about the Murdoch family, but the script was never picked up.

Forbes managed to get hold of the script and described it as a work of imagined history in the manner of the Helen Mirren movie ‘The Queen’ or Oliver Stone’s ‘W.’

The script takes place over the course of a single day, when Rupert Murdoch’s third wife, Wendi, has organized a surprise party.

Murdoch uses the occasion to make a request of his four adult children: that they agree to alter the terms of the family trust to give his two young daughters from his third marriage voting rights. The children discuss and argue over the request, scheme against each other, form alliances and repeatedly get manipulated by their father. 

(L-R) Lachlan, Rupert and James Murdoch Lachlan Murdoch (Picture: Getty)

Who are the Murdoch family?

The Murdoch family are headed up by Rupert Murdoch, 90.

Murdoch stepped back into the role of chairman of Fox News after the late Roger Ailes’s left the show.

Ailes left following a harassment scandal involving Megyn Kelly – the story of which inspired by movie Bombshell starring Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron.

Rupert Murdoch has been married to model Jerry Hall since 2016, and has six children in total from his previous marriages.

His son, James Murdoch, 48, was the CEO of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019, and his 50-year-0ld brother, Lachlan is the executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, co-chairman of News Corp, and executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation.

Elisabeth and Prudence Murdoch are his elder daughters (Picture: Getty)

Murdoch’s daughters, Elisabeth, 53, and Prudence, 63, are also media executives in the United Kingdom and Australia, respectively.

He also has Chloe (18) and Grace Murdoch (20) from his marriage to Wendi Deng.

Grace and Chloe Murdoch are the youngest children of Rupert, who he shares with his ex wife of 14 years Wendi (Picture: Getty)

So, knowing all of this, as you get ready to watch the new series (or if you haven’t yet started, you can stream series one and two first), look out for subtle nods and deduce any similarities for yourself.

Succession season 3 arrives in the UK on Monday 18th October on Sky and NOW.

MORE : Succession: Will there be a season 4? Everything we know so far

MORE : Succession season 3 review: Like a fine double-decanted spirit, this masterpiece just keeps getting better

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