Netflix scoops series of Vaughan's Anatomy of a Scandal

Sarah Vaughan’s thriller Anatomy of a Scandal (Simon & Schuster) is being turned into a six-part Netflix series.

The deal for screen rights was brokered by Penelope Killick at David Higham Associates in partnership with Flora Hackett at William Morris Endeavor and Andrew Hurwitz at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.

It will be executive produced by Liza Chasin (“The Loudest Voice” and “Baby Driver)” of 3Dot Productions, and Bruna Papandrea ("Gone Girl" and “Big Little Lies”), Steve Hutensky and Allie Goss of Made Up Stories. Sarah Vaughan and Margaret Chernin will also executive produce.

David E Kelley (“Big Little Lies” and “Goliath”) and Melissa James Gibson (“House of Cards” and “The Americans”) will show-run, co-write and co-executive produce the series. S J Clarkson (“Jessica Jones” and "The Defenders") will direct and executive produce all episodes.

 The drama, to be filmed in the UK, is billed as “an insightful and suspenseful series about a sexual consent trial involving the British elite, the unravelling marriage of the man accused, and the women caught up in its wake”.

Released in 2019, the novel has sold sold 116,905 copies for £673,058 across all editions through the BookScan Total Consumer Market, although S&S says it has sold over 224,000 in all editions.

Vaughan said: “"Having a novel dramatised by Netflix is a dream come true. Not only that, but it really couldn't be in safer hands. To have such talented producers as Bruna and Liza and writers of David and Melissa's calibre developing and overseeing it — and with SJ at the helm — is absolutely incredible."

Jessica Barratt, publicist at S&S UK, added: “Sarah Vaughan’s compulsive and intelligent storytelling coupled with the quality of her writing and a zeitgeist-capturing moment meant that Anatomy of a Scandal has been read and loved by hundreds of thousands of readers. We are so excited to see its transformation from the page to the screen.”