Julia Stonehouse, daughter of the late Labour MP, does not like his portrayal in ITV’s new dramatisation, Stonehouse. She says it makes his conduct, which she attributes, like her father, to a breakdown, look like “that of a hapless fool”.
You do see her point. For whatever reason, Stonehouse, played with genius by Matthew Macfadyen, appears so idiotic that it’s hard to understand how the real-life fraudster organised a convincing disappearance in Miami and, almost, a new life with his secretary lover. This administrative feat required him, while duping his family, to shift money around multiplying bank accounts and to steal – having personally deceived their widows – the identities of two prematurely dead men, prior to fraudulently obtaining passports in their names. Plus tickets, hotels, and a challenging escape to Australia.
