It is a saga with many twists and turns that has dominated Scottish politics for years.
Now the ‘Shakespearean’ story of former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell’s embezzlement from the party is to be told in a new factual drama by Channel 5.
With a working title of To Nicola, Love Peter, the 90-minute show will explore the theft of more than £400,000 from the SNP which saw Murrell, 61, jailed for more than five years in June.
It is to be made by the same team which produced Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, in which Martin Clunes played the disgraced newsreader.
The announcement of the new drama sparked speculation about who will play Ms Sturgeon.
Elizabeth Caproni, who impersonates the former First Minister on social media, told the Mail: ‘I’d certainly love to play Nicola in a factual drama.
‘I enjoy doing parodies of her, but to play her in a more serious light would be great.’
Ms Sturgeon, 56, has said she would ‘love someone cool like Helen Mirren to play me in the film about my life’.
A new 5 docu-drama will explore the ‘Shakespearean” story of Peter Murrell’s £400,000 embezzlement from the SNP and the collapse of his marriage to Nicola Sturgeon
She said she thought the actress could ‘pull off the accent’ despite being English and 25 years older.
Ms Sturgeon has also said that Sidse Babett Knudsen, the Danish actress who played Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg in Borgen, could play her.
In 2015, Ms Sturgeon, a well-known fan of Danish political drama Borgen, said she had watched the series more than once and suggested Ms Knudsen could portray her on screen.
Other candidates include Tracey Ullman who played Ms Sturgeon in a series of BBC satire sketches between 2017 and 2018, first in the one-off election special Tracey Breaks the News broadcast in 2017, and then in the subsequent series that ran on BBC One.
Channel 5 said it had commissioned Wonderhood Studios to make the drama.
Explaining the pitch for the programme, producers said: ‘By the end of 2022, Nicola Sturgeon was Scotland’s most popular and longest serving political leader.
‘But little did she know that within months, her hard-earned political reputation would be left in tatters when police officers knocked on the door of her family home and arrested her husband in April 2023.’
Speculation is mounting over who will play the former First Minister in the new docu-drama
It draws on an ‘extensive range of factual sources including evidence gathered by Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service; extensive TV and newspaper interviews with Nicola Sturgeon; and interviews with other key protagonists’.
The show promises to ‘lift the lid on this extraordinary story and how it contributed to the downfall of one of the biggest political figures of a generation’.
Ben Frow, chief content officer at Channel 5, said: ‘This is an epic tale of Shakespearean proportions.
‘An extraordinary tale of power, envy, deception and greed.
‘It’s both a high-stakes political melodrama and bizarre domestic drama that has dominated headlines and gossip columns.
‘We will be pulling together the events and characters involved to create a compelling revealing drama, as well as answering that very important question – why would anyone pay £2,600 for a pair of salt & pepper grinders…?! [items which Murrell embezzled].’
David Abraham, executive chairman of Wonderhood Studios said: ‘This project reflects our growing ambition to develop quality dramas about contemporary stories that resonate with broad audiences.
‘We are delighted to be working with the brilliant team at 5 once again.’
According to the producers, Nicola ‘came to discover that the man she thought she knew, shared a home with and who helped build her career, had deceived and betrayed her over the course of 12 years’.
Murrell ‘falsified receipts, gaslit junior staff and used secret codes in order to embezzle £400,000 to bankroll his compulsive shopping habit’.
Scots actor Elizabeth Caproni has been praised for her pitch-perfect impression of Ms Sturgeon
Channel 5 said: ‘In May this year, Peter Murrell pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for over 5 years.
‘When he pleaded guilty, his crimes appeared to be purely financial.
‘But he plunged a whole political movement into chaos, tarnished the legacy of Scotland’s most popular politician and shattered Sturgeon’s and Murrell’s shared ambition of achieving Scottish independence, along with the hopes and dreams of a nation.’
Scottish and Bafta-nominated director Misha Manson-Smith is directing.
The drama will be written by Scottish Bafta-nominated screenwriter Lucy Brydon.
