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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Marina Hyde

Huw Edwards hates the TV dramatisation of his life. Maybe he should have thought of that before … you know

Huw Edwards arriving at Westminster magistrate's court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, 16 September 2024.
Huw Edwards arriving at Westminster magistrate's court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, 16 September 2024. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

I see Huw Edwards is still not the subject of any of his verbs. The BBC’s former iconic newsreader (trademark: Huw Edwards) has emerged from a minibreak in the wilderness to excoriate Channel 5’s forthcoming dramatisation of his downfall. “Mental illness is misunderstood by many but can never be an excuse for criminality,” Huw informed the public, the overwhelming majority of whom are already well across this particular point. “It can, however, at least help explain why people sometimes behave in shocking and reprehensible ways, and why things fell apart for me in the way they did.” Fell apart because of you, I think you’ll find.

Anyway, there was a lot more of Edwards’s lengthy statement. “I have been open about my struggle with persistent mental illness over a period of 25 years,” he continued. “What is less well known is the severity of that condition, which was managed successfully until the downward spiral which led to an appalling outcome.” Again, note the tragic passivity of “an appalling outcome”, as though a flow chart and not a person has led us somewhere we’d very much rather not be.

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