National Treasure (TV series)

National Treasure
Genre	Drama
Based on	Operation Yewtree
Written by	Jack Thorne
Directed by	Marc Munden
Starring	Robbie Coltrane Julie Walters Tim McInnerny Andrea Riseborough
Composer(s)	Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	4 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	George Ormond George Faber Jack Thorne Marc Munden Hugo Heppell Norman Merry
Producer(s)	John Chapman
Location(s)	Sheffield Kingston upon Hull Darrington, West Yorkshire
Production company(s)	The Forge
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Original release	20 September (2016-09-20) – 11 October 2016 (2016-10-11)
External links
The Forge	theforgeentertainment.co.uk/production/national-treasure/

National Treasure is a four-part 2016 British television drama by Channel 4, written by Jack Thorne.

It stars Robbie Coltrane as Paul Finchley, a television comedian accused of raping a 15-year-old girl several years earlier. Julie Walters plays his wife Marie, and Andrea Riseborough plays his daughter Dee.

The drama is inspired by Operation Yewtree, a police operation that resulted in the prosecution of a number of veteran TV performers.^[1]^[2]

National Treasure received universal acclaim from critics, with a Metacritic rating of 83 out of 100 based on 17 reviews.^[3]

Having 'captured people's imagination', the series was cited as an influence on a 2017 novel by Guy Mankowski, entitled "An Honest Deceit".^[4]

Cast

Air date 20 September 2016
After an awards ceremony, veteran comedian Paul Finchley is arrested on suspicion of raping Rebecca Thornton in 1993. This has a hard impact on him and his family. His Catholic^[5] wife, Marie, is horrified and his drug addict daughter, Dee, cannot take it in. Paul's life goes into a downward spiral as he is dropped from his presenting duties and to make matters worse, he faces more charges as more women come forward, including an under-age victim.^[6]

Air date 27 September 2016
Dee begins to wonder if her father, Paul, was abusing her as a child. She attempts to confront her former babysitter, Christina, who has formally accused Paul. Flashback sequences show that Christina introduced Dee to drugs. On deciding that Paul is innocent, Dee crashes her car in a suicide attempt.

Air date 4 October 2016
Marie is confronted by Rebecca in the Ladies toilet. She starts questioning Paul's innocence. Paul is advised by his barrister to claim he had consensual sex with Rebecca.^[7] Marie starts wondering why she has stayed married to Paul, despite his numerous extra-marital affairs.^[8]

Air date 11 October 2016
Paul's trial takes place. Marie has sex with Karl, Paul's comedy partner. Paul is cleared of historic rape and sexual assault charges. However, in a twist, viewers learn that Paul was in fact guilty. A flashback sequence confirms that he did have sex with his daughter's under-age babysitter (which is statutory rape) and he raped Rebecca on a television set. Karl was outside the caravan where the rape took place, and overheard Rebecca's screams, however he decides to perjure himself in court, as he fears the ramifications of being associated with a convicted sex offender.^[9] After the verdict, it is implied that Marie leaves Paul, and his relationship with Dee seems strained.^[10]

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