To Nicola, Love Peter: Channel 5 announces Sturgeon-Murrell drama

Channel 5 has announced plans for a TV drama about Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell.

To be titled To Nicola, Love Peter, the programme will centre around the couple’s relationship and his £400,000 embezzlement from the party she led.

The programme will be made by the producers of Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, with casting and a run date yet to be announced.

The announcement was made at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Murrell was sentenced in June for misusing money donated to the party by members.

Spanning a 12-year period, his offending saw him purchase items from hand cream to a luxury campervan using party funds.

He was sentenced to five years and three months imprisonment after a court heard that he had signed off his own expenses and falsified invoices and receipts.

Sturgeon was also interviewed as part of the Operation Branchform investigation, but no charges were brought against her and the couple has split.

The former first minister has said she had no knowledge of Murrell’s actions and will not visit him in jail.

She stood down before charges were brought in 2023 and has said this was not due to the investigation.

The TV drama will look at their relationship during his embezzlement. The broadcaster has said it will “lift the lid” on an “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 £2,000 for a pair of salt and pepper grinders?”

David Abraham, executive chair of production company Wonderhood Studios, said: “This project reflects our growing ambition to develop quality dramas about contemporary stories that resonate with broad audiences.”