Martin Clunes praised for 'skin crawling' Huw Edwards performance following backlash

The brand-new Huw Edwards drama Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards is out and, despite the attempts by the disgraced newscaster and his newly hired crisis publicist to discredit the film, the Martin Clunes led film has been a massive success.

The Channel 5 movie tells the story of how Huw Edwards was exposed for downloading images of child pornography. Edwards was charged with three counts of ‘making indecent images of children’, a charge that refers to downloading any photos of child sex abuse material as downloading it ‘makes’ another copy of the images. He was served a six month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The TV presenter was also accused of grooming by an 18-year-old who was still in school when he began speaking to Edwards, claiming that the news presenter paid him for explicit images.

Huw Edwards avoided jail due to his sentence being suspended for two years (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The former BBC newsreader has been critical of the series, claiming to MailOnline that it was unlikely to ‘convey the reality of what happened’ and accused Channel 5 of not consulting him for the series.

Martin Clunes stars as Edwards in the movie and has hit back at the former newscasters criticism, pointing out hypocrisies in his statement.

Clunes was considered an odd choice when he was first cast in the role, however these concerns have been assuaged slightly by the overwhelmingly positive reaction to his performance.

Martin Clunes’ performance was deemed ‘skin-crawling’ by viewers

One fan posted on X, saying: “Martin Clunes is delivering a performance that makes the skin crawl. Absolute tour de force.”

Another suggested he was playing the role so well it was ‘scary and really dark’, whilst another said: “He was spell binding. The flip from wheedling to outright nasty was outstanding.

“He had the mannerisms down to a tea. A very chilling watch but plaudits to Martin Clunes.”

Clunes has been widely praised for his performance (Channel 5)

This opinion was one shared by reviewers too, with The Guardian saying his performance is ‘sickening’ to watch, whilst The Times called the actor a ‘skillfull mimic’, saying: “I must say that Clunes didn’t initially seem to me like the obvious casting choice, but he is skilful and convincing as Edwards, blending irascibility, a thin skin and self-importance with genuine terror that the media would crucify him if it discovered his secret.”

Clunes went deep in his preparation for playing the disgraced newscaster

Clunes has spoken about how deep he went in his preparation for playing Huw Edwards in the film, and the more you hear about it the less surprising it becomes that he has transformed into Edwards.

The Wuthering Heights and Doc Martin actor said: “I was familiar with Huw Edwards, the newsreader, and how he presented himself when he was reading the news.

“But I've seen other actors make the mistake of just inhabiting that projected face of a famous person or politician – I knew that we needed the other side of him too.

"Finding archive clips of Edwards away from the news was less easy, but I wanted to make sure I did.

“I noticed from looking at that archive that he was different when he wasn’t reading the news, and I wanted to make that distinction. If you listen to his rhythms, he’s far more Welsh when he’s not newsreading.”

Discussing the heavy subject matter of the drama however, Clunes said: “I’m not a very heavy person, so my way of dealing with things is generally to be a little facetious and sort of lighthearted, even though I take the work very seriously.”

Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards is available to watch on Channel 5 now.