Channel 4’s Wagatha Christie drama airs tonight and it might just be the best TV of the year

The war of the WAGs kicks off tonight with Channel 4’s newest courtroom drama documenting the sensational story of Rebekah Vardy’s libel case against Coleen Rooney.

The now notorious feud between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy began in October 2019 after Rooney publicly accused Vardy of leaking her private Instagram posts to the press. 

Everyone remembers where they were when the infamous “It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account” tweet dropped after Rooney named and shamed the alleged culprit. Given the stellar detective work conducted by Rooney in her attempts to expose Vardy, including feeding fake stories to her Instagram Stories, Rooney was swiftly dubbed Wagatha Christie.

Vardy denied leaking any stories, and in turn, sued Rooney for libel.

Now, Channel 4 has dramatised the celebrity scandal in a gripping new series, Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama.

“It was the court case that gripped the nation, dubbed ‘#WagathaChristie’ online, and put social media under the legal spotlight,” Channel 4 tweeted when they announced the news back in July.

“A new two-part drama-documentary……….will reveal all”.

The series will be released in two parts, with its script pulled directly from court transcripts – which makes sense, given that the entire debacle was dramatic enough within itself – and even includes the infamous discussion surrounding Peter Andre’s manhood. Poor Peter.

Natalia Tena and Chanel Cresswell star as the warring Wags, while national treasure Michael Sheen takes on the role of Rooney’s barrister.

Part one hears Vardy’s side of things, while tomorrow’s concluding part sees Rooney refer to memes as evidence (including one of the two women’s faces Photoshopped onto Scooby-Doo characters). Wild.

The best thing about the entire series is that not a word of Wagatha Christie is a written script, but every line uttered by the actors is fiction. It’s billed as a drama but the word ‘farce’ comes to mind.

Creative director, Tom Popay, said: “The Wagatha Christie phenomenon has become one of the most talked about moments in the history of social media. 

“The court case that followed has captivated the entire nation but very few people actually got to see what happened inside the courtroom.

“We’re excited to bring the trial to life in such a unique way and we’re hoping we can get to the bottom of how this case fascinated and amazed so many.”

Director Oonagh Kearney added: “Behind this, is a story of two women under constant public scrutiny, fighting for their reputations.”

Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama airs on Wednesday 21 December on Channel 4 at 9pm.