Prasanna Puwanarajah transformed into disgraced BBC journalist Martin Bashir as he was seen on the set of The Crown this week.
The actor, 40, was filming scenes for the Netflix drama that recreate the time of Bashir’s deceitfully arranged Panorama interview with Princess Diana in 1995.
Dressed in blue jeans, a black leather jacket and glasses similar to those worn by the journalist, he appeared alongside Michael Jibson, as ex-Panorama editor Steve Hewlett, as they drove along a country road.
The Crown’s fifth series of the show will cover the royal family’s history throughout the 1990s. Over the first four series of The Crown, the Netflix hit has become well known for bending facts to suit its narrative, and while some artistic licence is inevitable, some critics have been outraged in its rewriting of history and relationships.
Prince William is ‘frustrated’ at The Crown’s ‘commercialisation’ of Bashir’s notorious interview with his mother Princess Diana which he believes holds ‘no legitimacy’ and should never be aired again.
Prasanna Puwanarajah transformed into disgraced BBC journalist Martin Bashir as he was seen on the set of The Crown this week (left, Bashir in 1995, and right, the actor on set this week)
The actor, 40, was filming scenes for the Netflix drama that recreate the time of Bashir’s deceitfully arranged Panorama interview with Princess Diana in 1995
He appeared alongside Michael Jibson, as ex-Panorama editor Steve Hewlett, who could be seen driving up and down a country road for the scene
Meanwhile the actor could also be seen hopping out of the car and wandering around the set while looking at his mobile phone.
The filming took place six months after a report by Lord Dyson concluded the BBC covered up ‘deceitful behaviour’ used by Mr Bashir to secure the interview.
The Duke of Cambridge is understood to be deeply frustrated by broadcasters who have cashed in on the interview, in which Diana infamously said, ‘There were three of us in this marriage’.
Despite the wave of criticism, insiders said The Crown will include an episode on it after millions were said to have been spent on the pivotal part of the upcoming instalment.
Meanwhile the actor could also be seen hopping out of the car and wandering around the set while looking at his mobile phone
The filming took place six months after a report by Lord Dyson concluded the BBC covered up ‘deceitful behaviour’ used by Mr Bashir to secure the interview with Princess Diana
The actor appeared thoughtful as he filmed the scenes on set of the hit Netflix sho earlier this week (pictured)
Over the first four series of The Crown, the Netflix hit has become well known for bending facts to suit its narrative, and while some artistic licence is inevitable, some critics have been outraged in its rewriting of history and relationships
The actor could be seen holding similar glasses to those worn by Bashir, donning a leather jacket, medium-wash denim jeans and a matching denim shirt
An entire episode in the upcoming fifth series will be dedicated to the shocking sit down despite the Prince Harry signing a £112million deal with the streaming service for him and his wife Meghan.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: ‘This would be extremely upsetting and the only protection William has is not to watch it.’
In May, Lord Dyson’s report into Diana’s Panorama interview concluded Bashir was in ‘serious breach’ of the BBC’s producer guidelines when he faked bank statements and showed them to Earl Spencer to gain access to the princess for the interview.
In another scandal involving Bashir exposed in December, The Mail on Sunday reported that the mother of a murdered schoolgirl whose clothes he lost has dismissed his apology for doing so as ‘utter nonsense’.
It has taken nearly 20 years for the shamed journalist, who quit as BBC religion editor in May, to admit what happened.
Karen Hadaway, nine, was murdered with Nicola Fellows, also nine, in Brighton in 1986 in the ‘Babes in the Wood’ killings.
Bashir took the clothes from Karen’s mother in 1991, claiming he would have them analysed to help crack the long-unsolved case.
But they were never returned and he maintained he could not recall anything about them.
Now it has emerged that last month BBC director general Tim Davie arranged for a letter to be sent from Bashir to Miss Hadaway.
In it, he said he was ‘deeply sorry’ and it was ‘a matter of deep regret’ that the loss of the clothes must have compounded her suffering.
Miss Hadaway said Bashir’s long overdue apology was ‘too little, too late’ and the family had been ‘let down by everyone’. She is considering suing the broadcaster.
Roofer Russell Bishop was eventually convicted of the double murder in 2018.
At the end of last year, Earl Spencer said he rejected The Crown’s request to film at his family home of Althorp.
The forthcoming fifth series of the royal Netflix drama stars Elizabeth Debicki as his late sister, Diana, Princess of Wales.
In May, Lord Dyson’s report into Diana’s Panorama interview concluded Bashir was in ‘serious breach’ of the BBC’s producer guidelines when he faked bank statements and showed them to Earl Spencer to gain access to the princess for the interview
Puwanarajah appeared pensive as he walked across the set of the hit Netflix show earlier this week while filming scenes for season five
The scenes either appear to show the preparation or the aftermath of the Diana interview, which will be dramatised by the series itself
Crew members could be seen preparing for filming during the scenes as Jibson and Puwanarajah drove up and down a country road
The 41-year-old could be seen carrying a pair of gold glasses, similar to those worn by Bashir at the time, as he filmed the scene
Cast and crew could be seen chatting as they filmed the scene for the Netflix show. The fifth season is due out in November of this year
During the scenes, a camera was fixed up to a car which actor Jibson, who plays ex-Panorama editor Steve Hewlett, was driving (pictured left and right)
In May, Lord Dyson’s report into Diana’s Panorama interview concluded Bashir was in ‘serious breach’ of the BBC’s producer guidelines when he faked bank statements and showed them to Earl Spencer to gain access to the princess for the interview
In another scandal involving Bashir exposed in December, The Mail on Sunday reported that the mother of a murdered schoolgirl whose clothes he lost has dismissed his apology for doing so as ‘utter nonsense’
Speaking to BBC Breakfast at his family estate in West Northamptonshire, Earl Spencer said he had declined when producers of The Crown asked to film on the site.
He said: ‘They applied. They wanted to shoot here. But I don’t really do that stuff. Actually, to be honest, I don’t watch The Crown so I just said: ‘Thank you but no thank you.’
Last month it was reported Earl Spencer could bring a private prosecution over the Bashir scandal after the Metropolitan Police said it had found no evidence of criminality.
Last month it was reported Earl Spencer could bring a private prosecution over the Bashir scandal after the Metropolitan Police said it had found no evidence of criminality
Both men can be seen driving cars along a country road in the scenes which were filmed earlier this week in an unknown location
And the revelation over filming at New Broadcasting House comes a fortnight after it emerged The Crown’s producers filmed the controversial Diana revenge dress scene only 800 yards from Prince William’s bedroom at Kensington Palace.
The Netflix series recreated the evening Diana stepped out in an off the shoulder, tight black dress in a break with royal protocol after Prince Charles admitted to adultery on TV.
The scene was filmed in the same spot in Kensington Gardens that Diana arrived at a dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in 1994 – a position that can almost be viewed from Prince William’s bedroom.
Also earlier this month, royal expert Penny Junor said the makers of The Crown had stuck up ‘two fingers’ at the Royal Family by casting the stepdaughter of IRA supporter Roy Greenslade in the role of Countess Mountbatten.
Cast and crew members could be seen preparing the cars ahead of the filming earlier this week in an unknown location
Ms Junor said Natascha McElhone, 51, was not responsible for the ‘sins of her stepfather’. But she said another actress should have been considered because of the role’s sensitive nature.
Former Fleet Street editor and Guardian columnist Mr Greenslade, who edited the Daily Mirror and held a top job at The Sun, revealed his support for the IRA earlier this year.
Baron Hussey was a staunch royalist and it’s believed he left the corporation after falling out with Director General John Birt over his management style and Panorama’s controversial interview.
He asked BBC governors to condemn the interview and attempted to force the immediate resignation of John Birt. He resigned two months later writing in his memoir that the incident had ‘darkened my last months at the BBC
His wife, Lady Susan Hussey, is a woman of the bedchamber to the Queen and also a godmother to Prince William.
It is understood The Crown will also dramatise Diana’s interview itself (pictured, Princess Diana and Martin Bashir)