We all know the story of Watergate. At least, we all think we do. The 1972 scandal – in which a team of Richard Nixon’s subordinates burgled the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, DC – as well as the ensuing cover-up, constituted a controversy so monumental that it toppled a presidency and coined a whole new suffix.
Watergate has been the focus of many films and TV series before, from All the President’s Men to Oliver Stone’s Nixon. Most of these films tackle the story from the top down, framing the scandal as a tale of Machiavellian politicians and heroic investigators. White House Plumbers, a new five-part miniseries premiering on Sky and NOW, flips this narrative on its head, and looks at the men actually responsible for the break-in (or, to be more accurate, four separate break-ins). Here, Watergate becomes the story of bungling dogmatists run amok.
