Channel 5 Orders Explosive Nicola Sturgeon Drama Exploring Peter Murrell’s Downfall and a £400,000 Embezzlement Scandal.

Nicola Sturgeon’s political downfall and the collapse of her marriage to Peter Murrell are being turned into a feature-length television drama for Channel 5 — with the story promising a deeply personal look at one of Scotland’s most turbulent political scandals.

Working under the title To Nicola, Love Peter, the 90-minute factual drama will explore the relationship between the former Scottish National Party leader and Murrell, the former SNP chief executive, as their private life became entangled with a criminal case that shook the party.

Channel 5 has described the project as an “epic tale of Shakespearean proportions” and an “extraordinary tale of power, envy, deception and greed”.

From political power to personal betrayal

Sturgeon and Murrell first met in 2003 and married seven years later.

Their relationship eventually became intertwined with the SNP’s political world, with Murrell serving as the party’s chief executive from 2001 until 2023.

But their personal and professional lives came under intense scrutiny after Murrell was accused of embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP.

In June 2026, Murrell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years and three months in prison.

Sturgeon, who had served as SNP leader and Scotland’s First Minister, announced in January 2025 that she and Murrell had separated and were heading for divorce.

The new drama will examine how the scandal unfolded and how its consequences reached far beyond the couple themselves.

‘A downfall of one of the biggest political figures’

The project is being made by Wonderhood Studios, the production company behind Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards.

Ben Frow, Chief Content Officer at 5, said the story combines political drama with a highly unusual domestic dimension.

“It’s both a high-stakes political melodrama and bizarre domestic drama that has dominated headlines and gossip columns,” he said.

“We will be pulling together the events and characters involved to create a compelling revealing drama.”

Frow also described the project as an “epic tale of Shakespearean proportions”, calling it an “extraordinary tale of power, envy, deception and greed”.

David Abraham, Executive Chairman of Wonderhood Studios, said the programme reflected the company’s ambition to produce dramas based on contemporary stories capable of reaching a broad audience.

A political reputation left ‘in tatters’

The drama’s official logline sets the scale of the story against Sturgeon’s position at the height of her political career.

“By the end of 2022, Nicola Sturgeon was Scotland’s most popular and longest serving political leader,” it states.

“But little did she know that within months, her hard-earned political reputation would be left in tatters.”

The synopsis focuses not only on Murrell’s alleged actions but also on the personal betrayal at the centre of the story.

“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,” it continues.

The fallout, according to the drama’s description, would ultimately plunge the wider political movement into chaos.

The scandal that shook the SNP

The case surrounding Murrell became one of the most damaging episodes in the SNP’s recent history.

As the investigation progressed, questions surrounding the party’s finances and internal leadership intensified, while Sturgeon’s own political legacy came under increasing pressure.

The Channel 5 drama will therefore place the personal story alongside the wider political consequences, examining how a relationship that had lasted for years became caught up in a scandal capable of shaking an entire political movement.

Its synopsis goes further, suggesting the affair damaged Sturgeon’s legacy while also “shattering” the hopes and dreams of a nation that had spent years debating the prospect of Scottish independence.

Casting is still to be announced

To Nicola, Love Peter is being written by Lucy Brydon, with Misha Manson-Smith directing.

Channel 5 has not yet announced the cast, although further casting details are expected in the near future.

The film is currently expected to premiere in 2027.

Rather than presenting the story solely as a political scandal, the production promises to combine the collapse of a powerful political career with the breakdown of a long-term relationship — bringing together questions of ambition, loyalty, deception and betrayal.

To Nicola, Love Peter will air on Channel 5.