Available on Arte since June 12th in seven episodes, The Hack recounts one of the darkest chapters in the history of the British press. Created by Jack Thorne (Adolescence), and co-written with Annalisa D'Inella (Sex Education), the series follows Guardian journalist Nick Davies, played by David Tennant, as he investigates the illegal phone hacking carried out by the tabloid News of the World, owned by Australian-American media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The weekly newspaper, founded in 1843, hired private investigators and the firm Southern Investigations to hack into the voicemails of more than 4,000 people between 2000 and 2006: politicians, celebrities like Jude Law and Sienna Miller, members of the royal family including Prince William, as well as victims of crime. The goal: to unearth confidential details to publish on the front page, even if it meant destroying lives.
Milly Dowler, Murdoch and the fall of an empire: a state scandal
The revelation in July 2011 that the voicemail of Milly Dowler, a teenager kidnapped and murdered in 2002, had been hacked caused a national shock and precipitated the closure of the newspaper on July 10, 2011, after 168 years in existence. To quell the scandal, News of the World paid over one million pounds sterling to some plaintiffs, and Murdoch would eventually pay out tens of millions in compensation. The ensuing parliamentary inquiry revealed dangerous links between the News Corp. empire, parts of Scotland Yard, and the political world: Prime Minister David Cameron's communications director in 2010 was none other than the former editor of News of the World, Andy Coulson, who was sentenced in 2014 to 18 months in prison. David Tennant is himself a real victim of the phone hacking: "I received a phone call from the police informing me that my name was in a notebook, and I joined the group of people who took the matter to court," he told the Guardian.
A gripping series about a cold-blooded murder, but with a sometimes confusing narrative.
Against the backdrop of the series, the unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, killed in 1987, is being investigated by police officer Dave Cook, played brilliantly by Robert Carlyle. One of Morgan's former associates, Jonathan Rees, finds himself at the heart of the case: accused of having ties to corrupt police officers, he regularly worked for the News of the World. For Jack Thorne, this murder represents the "original sin" that explains how the tabloid was able to operate for years, believing itself untouchable. However, the parallel between the two cases is difficult to follow, especially at the beginning: the connection between the two storylines takes time to emerge, and David Tennant frequently breaks the fourth wall to directly explain the intricacies of the investigation to the viewer, which disrupts the narrative flow. Despite these reservations, the series is worth watching to the end, as the dense and well-researched story it tells vividly illuminates the potential pitfalls of the links between media, financial, and political power.
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