Steve Coogan and his production company are facing a libel lawsuit over their 2022 film "The Lost ... [+]
A well-known English comedian is facing a lawsuit tied to one of the 21st century’s biggest archaeological finds—the discovery of King Richard III’s remains under a parking lot more than 500 years after he died.
That comedian is Steve Coogan, perhaps best known for creating the character Alan Partridge, a politically incorrect British TV presenter, and for his dueling Michael Caine impressions with fellow funnyman Rob Brydon. Coogan wrote, produced and stars in The Lost King, a 2022 comedy-drama film based on the much-heralded discovery of the monarch’s bones in Leicester, England, in 2012.
The battle-scarred bones offer stunning insights into the 15th century king’s life and death. One of the academics who helped oversee and coordinate the search, former University of Leicester official Richard Taylor, is suing Coogan, his production company Baby Cow and Pathé Productions for libel. The film presents Taylor as a "devious, weasel-like person," Taylor’s lawyer told the High Court of Justice in London during a Thursday hearing, British media reported.
The attorney who represents Coogan and the other two defendants in the case, however, argued that The Lost King is a feature, not a documentary, and that "it would be clear to the ordinary reasonable viewer that the film is not a documentary, it is a dramatization of events,” according to the BBC.
The film focuses largely on British writer/producer Philippa Langley’s leading role in the search for Richard III’s lost grave. Langley, played by Sally Hawkins (Coogan plays her husband, John) has long been fascinated with the much demonized ruler and founded the Scottish branch of the Richard III Society. In The Lost King, says the film’s description, “an amateur historian defies the stodgy academic establishment in her efforts to find King Richard III's remains.”
Over email, Taylor said he is unable to comment on the case. But at the hearing, the BBC reports, his attorney William Bennett told the court the film presents his client as "dismissive, patronizing and misogynistic" toward Langley, who didn’t respond to a request for comment.
"Ms. Langley is portrayed as the gutsy underdog heroine struggling against opposition and the claimant as the arrogant villain,” read documents submitted to the court. "He not only takes steps to make sure that people do not know about her role but takes the credit, which was rightfully hers, for himself and the university."
Andrew Caldecott, the attorney who represents Coogan and the other two defendants, denied Taylor’s categorization of his onscreen character as a misogynist.
"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,” Caldecott said. "No reasonable viewer would conclude that his motive was sexism or misogynism."
From Dig To Courtroom
Thursday’s proceeding was a trial of preliminary issues meant to determine the “natural and ordinary meaning of the film, whether the meaning found is defamatory at common law, and whether the film was or contained statements of fact or of opinion,” said the office of Taylor’s attorney. In an email, Coogan’s production house Baby Cow said it was unable to comment on ongoing legal matters.
Taylor, played by Lee Ingleby in the film, is former deputy registrar at the University of Leicester. The university collaborated with the Richard III Society and Leicester City Council on the ambitious “Looking for Richard” initiative to find the king’s grave, which history buffs can now visit via a 3D interactive model. On the basis of DNA and isotope tests, the university announced in 2013 that the remains belonged to the king “beyond any reasonable doubt.”
In 2015, the researchers published a study detailing their analysis of skeletal trauma using modern forensic techniques, which confirmed the king’s violent death on August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field. It was the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought over who would control the English throne.
“The head injuries are consistent with some near-contemporary accounts of the battle, which suggest that Richard abandoned his horse after it became stuck in a mire and was killed while fighting his enemies,” the study reads.
History Etched In the Bones
Another study conducted after the time of the grave’s discovery provides a fascinating picture of the king’s diet and environment at various stages of his life, all revealed through isotope techniques to reconstruct his life history.
Taylor now works as chief operating officer at the U.K.’s Loughborough University. But when the film first came out two years ago, his former employer, the University of Leicester, released a statement titled “setting the record straight.” It said the portrayal of the University of Leicester’s role in the project is far removed from the work that took place. The statement also defends Taylor.
“We understand the portrayal of Richard Taylor in the film does not in any way resemble the reality during this period, whilst an employee of the University of Leicester,” the statement reads. “Our records point to a colleague engaging constructively, collegiately, fairly and professionally throughout the project.”
Richard III’s remains are now reinterred in Leicester Cathedral.
