The portrayal of an academic in a Steve Coogan film about the discovery of Richard III’s remains is defamatory, a high court judge ruled today.
Richard Taylor, formerly deputy registrar of the University of Leicester, is suing Mr Coogan, who was a writer and producer of the 2022 film, The Lost King.
The film focuses on the role of historian Phillipa Langley in the search to find the controversial king’s skeleton. The lost remains of the Plantagenet king were found in a Leicester car park in 2012, more than 500 years after his death.
Mr Taylor, whose screen character was portrayed by British actor Lee Ingleby, has brought legal action against Mr Coogan, his production company Baby Cow, and Pathe Productions over his ‘devious’ and ‘weasel-like’ portrayal in the film.
Mr Taylors’ lawyers, William Bennett KC and Victoria Jolliffe, argued that their client was presented as being ‘dismissive, patronising and misogynistic’ towards Ms Langley, who was played by actress Sally Hawkins.
Richard Taylor, formerly deputy registrar of the University of Leicester, is suing Steve Coogan (pictured), who was a writer and producer of the 2022 film, The Lost King
Mr Taylor argued that their client was presented as being ‘dismissive, patronising and misogynistic’ towards Ms Langley (left), who was played by actress Sally Hawkins. Coogan starred in the film but not as Mr Taylor
The Lost King was released in 2022 and follows the story of ambitious writer and amateur historian Philippa Langley who unearths Richard III’s remains in a Leicester car park
They also say the film ‘misrepresented the facts concerning the search for and discovery of Richard III’s remains to the media and the public’.
They said this was done ‘by deviously manipulating the public presentation of information about the find, so as unjustly to conceal Philippa Langley’s true role, and to take credit that was rightfully hers, for himself and the University of Leicester’.
The judge ruled on Friday morning that the portrayal of Mr Taylor did have a defamatory meaning.
His Honour Judge Lewis said: ‘The character Mr Taylor was portrayed throughout the Film in a negative light. At no point was he shown in a way that could be described as positive, or even neutral.
‘Whilst an individual scene may not in itself cross the threshold of seriousness, taken together the Film makes a powerful comment about the claimant and the way he conducted himself when undertaking a senior professional role for a university.
‘The poor way in which he was depicted as behaving towards Ms Langley was contrary to common shared values of our society and would have been recognised as such by the hypothetical reasonable viewer.’
However, he rejected Taylor’s argument that the hypothetical reasonable viewer would have come away thinking he was misogynist or sexist.
The ruling after a preliminary hearing means the case can proceed to a full trial, where Coogan, Baby Cow and Pathe will have to defend the defamatory portrayal.
Andrew Caldecott KC, for the Alan Partridge star and the two production companies, previously said in written submissions: ‘It is a feature film, not a documentary.
‘It would be clear to the ordinary reasonable viewer that the film is not a documentary, it is a dramatisation of events.
The judge ruled on Friday morning that the portrayal of Mr Taylor was defamatory. Pictured: Steve Coogan
‘The concept of fictional films based on real events is not a new one.’
Mr Caldecott said the film states it was ‘based on a true story’, adding: ‘It is not a literal portrayal of exact words…. and would be understood as putting forward Ms Langley’s perception.’
The barrister denied that Mr Taylor is shown to be sexist or misogynist, adding his ‘concern is about Ms Langley’s amateur status and lack of historical expertise, and not her gender’.
He continued: ‘Whilst the film is clearly strongly critical of Mr Taylor and the university for sidelining Ms Langley at the dig and after the discovery of the body and not giving her sufficient credit, his clear motive is to exploit the discovery to further the university’s commercial interests.
‘No reasonable viewer would conclude that his motive was sexism or misogynism.’
Mr Caldecott also said Mr Taylor was not portrayed as mocking Richard III’s disability, ‘and certainly not mocking disabled people in general’.
Coogan is best known for creating the character Alan Partridge. He earned rave reviews for his portrayal of serial sex abuser Jimmy Savile in BBC series The Reckoning last year.
Daniel Jennings, defamation partner at law firm, Shakespeare Martineau, who represented Mr Taylor, said: ‘This is a significant win as today’s judgement makes clear that, as maintained from the start and despite the Defendants’ denials, Pathe’s film ‘The Lost King’ did have a defamatory meaning for Mr Taylor.
‘Recently, there has been a growing trend of film and television productions being labelled as ‘true accounts’ to grab audience attention and heighten media buzz around new releases.
‘Given this trend and the use of this as a marketing strategy it is imperative great care is taken about what is being published about individuals. This will not only avoid misleading viewers, but also protect individuals from character assassinations, which can be hugely damaging.
‘Whilst there’s still some way to go in this case, today’s judgement is an important milestone and increases our confidence both of success for Mr Taylor, but also that similarly affected individuals will be able to see a route to vindication.’