Steve Coogan film defames university administrator, judge rules

A film portraying the discovery of the remains of Richard III could be viewed as defamatory towards a former official at the University of Leicester, a judge has ruled.

Richard Taylor, formerly deputy registrar of the university, is suing actor Steve Coogan and both Pathé and Baby Cow production companies over his depiction in the film The Lost King, which was released in 2022. Mr Coogan produced, co-wrote and starred in the film.

The film is told from the perspective of Philippa Langley, one of the figures who led on the discovery of the remains under a Leicester car park in 2012. The real Mr Taylor, now chief operating officer at Loughborough University, claimed that his character is portrayed as dismissive and misogynistic towards Ms Langley and as having taken credit for her work.

The defendants argued that Mr Taylor had “publicly exaggerated” the university’s role in locating the remains and had “marginalised” Ms Langley’s role, and that he was, at times, “unduly dismissive and patronising” towards her.

His Honour Judge Lewis ruled in Mr Taylor’s favour on 14 June, saying the character Mr Taylor was portrayed in “a negative light” throughout the film.

“At no point was he shown in a way that could be described as positive, or even neutral,” the judge writes in the ruling. “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.”

However, the judge says, he did not believe that a “reasonable viewer” would come away viewing Mr Taylor as misogynistic or disablist, a reference to a part of the film where the character mimics a hunchback.

The judge concludes: “The poor way in which [Mr Taylor] 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.”

This ruling means that the case can now proceed to a full trial.

The University of Leicester previously released a statement arguing that the film contains “many inaccuracies” and that the production team “took no steps” to establish the facts with Mr 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,” a university spokesperson said. “Our records point to a colleague engaging constructively, collegiately, fairly and professionally throughout the project.”

After the film’s release in 2022, a spokesperson for the film-makers told the BBC: “We stand by our film and Philippa’s narrative. The university and Richard Taylor have a different narrative, much of which is factually incorrect.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com