The Trial of Christine Keeler, episode 6 review: a powerful ending to a sorry tale

The Trial of Christine Keeler (BBC One) ended with the actual trial of Christine Keeler, in which she pleaded guilty to perjury and was jailed for nine months. Stephen Ward was dead; John Profumo had retreated from public life and begun his long journey towards redemption and a CBE; Mandy Rice-Davies had hightailed it to enjoy her newfound fame. Keeler was alone.

At least she got a decent barrister. Keeler hated the way her QC, Jeremy Hutchinson (played by Paul Ritter), portrayed her in court. But his was a compassionate view. “No one seems to have taken into account that Christine Keeler has barely left childhood.  Any wrong she has done pales into insignificance tallied against the many wrongs committed against her.”

That was certainly the view of screenwriter Amanda Coe, whose purpose has been to recast Keeler  in our minds as a woman more sinned against than sinning. Coe has said  that she drew on a book about Hutchinson’s career as her source material, and Cookson’s portrayal was no doubt informed by his recollection of first meeting Keeler:

“What sticks most forcefully in my mind is the disparity between her porcelain, mask-like looks, still undeniably beautiful, and her voice. It was the voice of a person who had lived many years longer than her 21 years and who seemed to have grown entirely weary of life.” The final scene of a defiant Cookson dancing alone in a crowded club, beholden to no one, was powerful. It hinted at future happiness that, in reality, she never really found.

Coe had less to go on with Profumo and his wife Valerie (Ben Miles and Emilia Fox) because neither ever spoke publicly about the case. Instead, she created a scene which felt too forced in its determination to make a point about the patriarchy, as Valerie raged against the imbalance of power: “Being a teenage girl is like being invited to a glamorous picnic. Then you discover you’re one of the sandwiches.” Profumo shrugged:  “I’m a man, Valerie. I only did what all my friends were doing. I just happened to get caught.”