Man who won damages over Richard III film calls for more regulation of fact-based drama
A university executive who won damages over his portrayal in Steve Coogan’s film The Lost King has urged Ofcom to strengthen regulation of fact-based drama, after what he described as a three-year “anxious, stressful and hurtful” ordeal.Richard Taylor, formerly deputy registrar at the University of Leicester, sued Coogan as well as the film’s production company, Baby Cow, and the distributor Pathé over his portrayal in the 2022 film about the discovery of Richard III’s remains in a Leicester car park.The parties reached a settlement requiring damages, a clarification to appear on the film, and an undertaking not to repeat the defamatory claims.A judge had found Taylor was shown in an “unrelentingly negative and defamatory” light.Taylor said Ofcom needed “clearer guidance” to stop similar misrepresentations happening in future.
“They have a lot to say about news accuracy but much less about fact-based drama, which sits in a grey area,” he said.“Ofcom should tighten that so people like me don’t have to rush off to the libel courts when nonsense like The Lost King happens.”Regarding fact-based drama, he added: “Not every single scene has got to be true, not every single conversation has got to be true, but if you’re presenting it as a true story, it has got to be substantially true.And if it’s not, you need to change the names of characters, change the names of organisations in it and tell the story in a very different way than if you are claiming it is a true story.”While stressing he did not want to “tie writers up in knots”, Taylor said the case should prompt Ofcom to act.
“This outcome is potentially quite challenging for people writing these dramas now … but Ofcom stepping in would be helpful,”Reflecting on the settlement, Taylor said he felt “relieved and happy, regretful that I ever needed” to bring the case, but that he remained frustrated that the film would continue to be shown,“I’d rather it was edited,I’d rather the whole film was withdrawn,” he said,Under the settlement, a statement must appear for at least five seconds after the title card, clarifying that the “Mr Taylor” depicted is a fictionalised character.
“In effect, the film’s going to have to say: ‘based on a true story, but actually the main villain is completely made up because the real guy [of the same name] was acting with integrity’.I think that’s going to make the film pretty ridiculous.”Taylor, now chief operating officer at Loughborough University, also criticised the film-makers for “not checking the facts” about events shown in the film.He said that, before the film’s release, Coogan and his collaborators “didn’t take me seriously” when he raised concerns about being misrepresented.“My view is that they were dismissive,” he said.
“Steve Coogan’s never anything other than certain of his own righteousness, and I think he still thinks he was right in doing this,”Coogan said in a statement that he would have “preferred” for a judge to rule on the case, and that he was “happy” with the story the film told,Taylor said the film-makers had failed to verify basic details, including claims that he had excluded The Lost King’s protagonist, Philippa Langley, from press conferences,“If you’re told Philippa was excluded, you go and check that,” he said,“There’s video on YouTube showing her quite clearly speaking at all of them.
They didn’t check the facts.”Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionTaylor described the experience of being falsely portrayed in a film as “really hurtful”, adding: “The problem is you don’t know what people are saying about you, do you? My integrity is really important to me.”“I feel I should never have been in that position and to do all of that over a portrayal that was false,” he said.“For the last three years it’s been … moments where it’s really quite intense and you feel quite anxious, quite stressed, quite worried.”A joint statement from Pathe Productions, Baby Cow Productions and Steve Coogan said: “As a distributor and producer recognised for bringing complex, real-life stories to audiences, we are deeply aware of the responsibility that comes with such portrayals and approach each project with care, integrity, and a commitment to authenticity.
“We remain incredibly proud of this film and are pleased this matter has now been settled,” The subheading of this article was amended on 29 October 2025 to correct the name of the film to The Lost King, not The Last King,
Lib Dem members criticise ‘trans-exclusionary’ rule change for party elections
Liberal Democrat members have reacted angrily to an unexpected change in rules governing the party’s internal elections to reflect the supreme court’s ruling on biological sex.The party’s LGBT+ group described the move as “explicitly trans-exclusionary” while Young Liberals said the changes were “unacceptable and untenable”. The official women’s body for the party, Lib Dem Women, have expressed “grave concerns” at both the substance of the announcement and the manner it was communicated. Some Lib Dem MPs are understood to be perplexed at the sudden turnaround.Voting in elections for posts on internal committees as well as the role of Lib Dem president began on Tuesday
Kemi Badenoch smiles from the stump as she heads towards oblivion | John Crace
It’s common knowledge that Kemi Badenoch is not an early morning person. Or an any time of morning person. Look at her in the wrong way and you’re likely to catch an earful.So it must have taken a lot of persuading from Conservative central office to get her out and about at 9am. But needs must
Ministers to delegate some public appointments in attempt to cut delays
Ministers are planning to speed up public appointments to bodies such as Ofcom, the Environment Agency and BBC by allowing more of the hiring process to be delegated to senior officials.In the biggest shake-up of the public appointments process in a decade, the Cabinet Office is producing new guidance governing how candidates can be picked for about 4,000 public roles.The changes are being made because of excessive delays in the hiring system and extended vacancies, with ministers currently consulted at every step of the process – meaning only about one in seven appointments were completed in less than three months.Under the new rules, ministers will be able to choose to delegate much more of the process to officials, while retaining the final say over who is chosen and the job specification.Others changes include allowing candidates to remain on a “reserve list” for two years rather than 12 months, ensuring that they can be considered and hired quickly if an appointment falls through – without having to run an entirely new hiring campaign
No 10 refuses to say if ethics adviser saw proof Reeves’s rental breach was ‘inadvertent’
Downing Street has refused to say whether Keir Starmer’s adviser on ministerial conduct has seen any evidence to support Rachel Reeves’s claim she made an “inadvertent” mistake in failing to get a licence to rent out her south London home.As pressure mounted on the chancellor, despite the prime minister saying an apology should end the matter, No 10 also declined to say whether Reeves contravened the ministerial code or had broken the law in breaching Southwark council rules.In an exchange of letters with Starmer late on Wednesday, Reeves said that when she rented out the house she had not been told by the lettings agency that homes in that area needed a £945 licence before they were rented out.In his reply, Starmer said that having consulted his independent adviser on ministerial interests, Laurie Magnus, he was satisfied the breach was “inadvertent” and that given her prompt action once she knew about the licence, an apology was sufficient.Pressed repeatedly at a media briefing whether Magnus had seen any evidence to back up Reeves’s case or had simply taken the chancellor at her word, a Downing Street spokesperson refused to say, noting that Magnus’s advice was always confidential
Tories will not deport legally settled people, Badenoch clarifies
The Conservative MP Katie Lam spoke “imprecisely” in stating the party would deport large numbers of legally settled families from the UK, Kemi Badenoch said, adding she had no plans to make tougher immigration rules retrospective.Badenoch’s comments to reporters after a speech in London end days of confusion over Tory migration policy, particularly over whether many thousands of people who have made lives in the UK could lose their status of indefinite leave to remain (ILR) under a future Conservative government.In an interview earlier this month, Lam, a shadow Home Office minister, said that the party’s policy was to revoke ILR, and people would “go home” in order to ensure the UK was mostly “culturally coherent”.Her comments prompted some Conservative MPs to complain to party whips, and renewed focus on a Conservative draft bill tabled in May, under which people would lose ILR if they or a dependant claimed any benefit or if their income was less than £38,700.While Badenoch’s spokesperson initially said Lam was “broadly in line” with party policy, the Tories then said its policy on ILR had changed, while refusing to say if changes to rules would be made retrospective
Boris Johnson tells Tories to stop ‘bashing green agenda’ or risk losing next election
Boris Johnson has warned the Conservatives they will not win the next election by “bashing the green agenda”.The former prime minister said he had not seen the Conservatives “soaring in the polls as a result of saying what rubbish net zero is”.Johnson’s intervention comes after Theresa May and John Major criticised the Tories for speaking out against net zero, making him the third former prime minister to step in on this issue.Kemi Badenoch has committed the party to repealing the Climate Change Act and abandoning the commitment to reach net zero by 2050, arguing that the target threatens to bankrupt Britain.The repeal of the act would remove the need to meet “carbon budgets” – ceilings, set for five-year periods, on the amount of greenhouse gas that can be emitted – and disband the Climate Change Committee – a watchdog that advises on how policies affect the UK’s carbon footprint
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