Julia Stonehouse, daughter of the late 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, a challenging escape to Australia.
