A Question of Attribution

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A Question of Attribution is a 1991 television play written by Alan Bennett and commissioned by the BBC. Directed by John Schlesinger, it starred James Fox as Anthony Blunt and Prunella Scales as Queen Elizabeth II.

The play is based on Anthony Blunt's role in the Cambridge Spy Ring and, as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, personal art advisor to Queen Elizabeth II. It portrays his interrogation by MI5 officers, his work researching and restoring art, and his relationship with the Queen. Bennett described the piece as an "inquiry in which the circumstances are imaginary but the pictures are real" [1]. The New York Times called it a "razor-sharp psychological melodrama".

While supervising the restoration of a dual portrait attributed to Titian Blunt discovers a further three figures that had been painted over. As Blunt's public exposure as a spy in 1979 draws near the play suggests that he has been made a scapegoat to protect others in the security service.

One of the main themes is over whether or not the Queen knew that Blunt was a former Soviet spy. In one scene Blunt discovers that a painting in the Queen's collection is a fake. When she is told this, the Queen discusses the nature of fakes and secrets. After she has left and an aide asks what they were talking about, Blunt replies "I was talking about art. I'm not sure that she was."

The play was also performed in 1988 with An Englishman Abroad as one-act plays under the title Single Spies.

The play won the 1992 BAFTA TV award for Best Single Drama, and Prunella Scales was nominated for Best Actress.