Steve Coogan has said he will not apologise for his film The Lost King, which depicts the University of Leicester's treatment of Philippa Langley as a 'profound injustice'. The actor and co-writer was sued over the portrayal of Richard Taylor, the university's former deputy registrar, but settled the case out of court.
Coogan said the film gave a voice to Langley, the 'amateur' historian who led the search for the remains of King Richard III. He described her discovery as a 'staggering achievement' that was overshadowed by louder voices in academia. The film shows Langley as imperfect and sometimes challenging, but ultimately ordinary and extraordinary.
The settlement required a clarification in the pre-title sequence stating that the Richard Taylor character is fictional and bears no relation to the real Richard Taylor, who 'always behaved with integrity'. Coogan noted that not a single frame of the film was altered, and he remains proud of the project.
Coogan criticised the university for sidelining Langley at the press conference announcing the discovery, where she was the 13th speaker out of 13. He argued that if she had been on the university's payroll, she would have been front and centre of all announcements.
