The Issues in a Nutshell
Read a summary of our issues with the Amirani Media’s film ‘Coup 53’ here.
The Darbyshire Transcript – A Research Interview
Read about the difference between our audio-recorded research interviews, and our film transcripts here.
Our Film Transcripts – Which Look Very Different
Contrast the Darbyshire research transcript with an End of Empire film transcript such as this transcript of a filmed interview with CIA operative Stephen Meade. Professionally typed , double spaced with roll numbers.
How Coup 53’s Witnesses Were Set Up:
1. The Cameraman
Cameraman Humphry Trevelyan has described how he was assured by Amirani that he had filmed an interview with Darbyshire for the End of Empire Iran film. He has since requested Coup 53 to remove his contribution from the film. Read his letter here.
2. The MI6 Expert Witness Stephen Dorril
Author Stephen Dorril, who was interviewed for Coup 53, has denounced the film as “essentially fraudulent”. He too was told categorically by Amirani that the Darbyshire transcript was of a filmed interview. Which is why he says in Coup 53 that the government would have intervened to stop transmission. “MI6 agents never went on camera in 1983”. Read his letter here.
3. The Consultant – Heda Matin-Daftary
We dispute the statement from the End of Empire Iran consultant who describes, second hand, a screening which he did not attend. He claims he was told by us that Darbyshire had attended the screening and asked to be removed from the film. We categorically deny this. When challenged, Amirani dated this screening to late 1983/ early 1984. However editing on the Iran film did not begin till Autumn 1984. Read more here about the shaky basis of Coup 53’s false claims
How Coup 53 Misuses the Observer
Our Darbyshire research transcript was leaked to the Observer in 1985 . The article published the day before transmission of End of Empire: Iran, makes it completely clear that the unnamed MI6 agent had declined to be filmed and is not in the film. Coup 53 fails to state this. Instead the hazy memory of reporter Nigel Hawkes is used to back up the bogus conspiracy theory that Darbyshire had been filmed. Read a full transcript of the Observer article, or view the original here.
The false narrative of Coup 53
Coup 53, an important film telling the story of how Britain overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, sadly weaves its narrative around an untruth – that the Granada TV End of Empire team, filmed an interview with MI6 agent Norman Darbyshire (we did not) and then colluded with government pressure to remove it from the 1985 film. Read how Amirani and Murch invented and justified this false narrative and how the evidence proves them wrong here.
How Coup 53 Dumps on End of Empire Iran
In suggesting that End of Empire filmed Darbyshire and then removed his interview under government pressure, Coup 53 strongly implies that our programme failed to hold Britain accountable for the overthrow of Mossadegh. The contrary is the case. End of Empire: Iran revealed for the first time how MI6 and British officials conspired to remove Mossadegh. Watch our film here.
How amendments to Coup 53 in January 2021 fail to address its false narrative
In January 2021 ITV agreed to reissue a licence to Amirani Media to use the End of Empire archive footage in Coup 53 on condition that the film includes a ‘right to reply’ statement from the End of Empire Iran team categorically denying the existence of both a filmed interview and censorship. However the minor changes they made do not address the film’s false narrative.
1. Coup 53 claims an interview was filmed with Norman Darbyshire when it wasn’t – he only agreed to an off the record audio interview and refused to go on camera. .They are perpetrating a falsehood.
2. Coup 53 strongly implies this alleged interview was cut from the final film because the team colluded in censorship at government instigation. This is false, potentially defamatory and seriously impugns the editorial integrity of the End of Empire team.
3. We requested that they remove these false claims but they refused, instead making some minor alterations and placing our Right of Reply statements at the very end of the film.
4.These changes have not removed the central falsehood in Coup 53’s narrative: that a cover-up took place in collusion with the government by the End of Empire team to suppress an alleged filmed interview by Alison Rooper with the MI6 spy and architect of the 1953 Iranian coup, Norman Darbyshire. It may make an exciting platform for the director to display his ‘investigative’ skills, but what it actually shows is Coup 53’s team’s lamentable disrespect for and manipulative misuse of facts and evidence.
Why Coup 53’s Fake Facts Must Not Go Unchallenged
Helena Kennedy KC writes, “We are living in a climate of misinformation and disinformation and untruths. It is absolutely vital that we do not collude in distortion to add excitement to a film which is about telling historic truth. That is why this matters. It is not about ego or competing documentaries. It is about trying to restore sanity to a world being destroyed by lies and conspiracy theories.”
End of Empire: Iran 