BBC screens drama of Hutton probe

The BBC is to screen a dramatised recreation of the Hutton Inquiry on the eve of the report into the death of Dr David Kelly.

Justifying War - Scenes From The Hutton Inquiry will use actors to represent key players in the proceedings.

It was first staged as a play at London's Tricycle Theatre this autumn and has now been adapted for television.

The drama will be screened on BBC4 next month. Lord Hutton is expected to publish his report early in the New Year.

BBC4 controller Roly Keating said: "This is not just a good play but a timely moment to do it. It's amazing how these things recede and get taken over by other events.

"In a sense, it is a courtroom drama without the verdict."

All of the actors' lines have been taken verbatim from transcripts of the inquiry. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, Alastair Campbell and BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan are all represented in the play. Tony Blair is not.

An actress off-stage reads Dr Kelly's widow Janice's moving description of the weapons inspector's final days.

Dr Kelly apparently killed himself after being named as the suspected source of a BBC report claiming the Government "sexed up" a dossier on the threat from Iraq. Editor Richard Norton-Taylor has condensed the inquiry's 25 days into two-and-a-half hours.