'The Crown' Martin Bashir actor Prasanna Puwanarajah breaks down how season 5 recreated Princess Diana's infamous 'Panorama' interview

Over the course of his career, Bashir nabbed many high-profile interviews, such as presenting a documentary about Michael Jackson in 2003.

Puwanarajah told Insider that he used these interviews to prepare himself for the recreation of the "Panorama" interview in episode eight.

The actor said he watched Diana's "Panorama" interview "many times." He added, "I also watched most of the other documentaries and interviews that he did in the nineties and into the noughties, just to get a sense of how he functioned professionally in that environment, and in those kinds of conversations."

The actor added of the "Panorama" interview: "It was an interesting thing to revisit. I was quite young, but I remember it being in the world as a moment, so it wasn't something that I really considered for over 25 years now."

Puwanarajah told Insider that Elizabeth Debicki had already crafted her Diana portrayal when he did a chemistry read with her during his audition.

The actor said Debicki had already been cast in her role and was coming to the audition from a day of filming.

"She was already extraordinary and had already, I think, tapped a kind of essence or something," Puwanarajah said. "I think she'd been considering the role and researching and working for quite a long time, even prior to that point. And so, it immediately felt like a really seriously crafted and tuned piece of work she was doing even at that stage."

Puwanarajah also praised Debicki's portrayal of the young princess, saying: "It was incredibly rigorous and human."

He added: "She was terrific and terrific to work with."

The Martin Bashir actor told Insider that the "Panorama" interview scene itself was filmed over the course of just one day.

"It was a thing that we worked on very carefully," Puwanarajah said. "We rehearsed it on set as well for an afternoon, then there was a period of a week where the production did other things, and then we came back and we filmed that section over the course of one day."

Last year, the BBC and former UK Supreme Court Justice Lord Dyson published the findings of an independent investigation into how Bashir secured the 1995 interview with Princess Diana.

However, the inquiry found that Bashir had breached the organization's rules by producing fake documents that claimed to show security services had paid royal staff for information about Diana. Bashir allegedly used the documents to win the trust of her brother, Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl of Spencer, in order to gain access to the princess.

Following the report, for the first time, the BBC wrote apologies to Diana's sons, William and Harry, her former husband King Charles, and Earl Spencer. The organization has also returned awards the interview received in the 1990s.

Despite this watershed moment, Puwanarajah told Insider that the plot used in "The Crown" was not based on the recent inquiry.

"A lot of the understanding around how that interview was arranged has actually been public record from towards the end of the nineties," the Martin Bashir actor said.

"The BBC was investigating it internally at that time, so in a way, there was nothing recent that provided us with information that wasn't already out in the world. I think it was just how those institutions were reacting and responding, which is the thing that had shifted."

In 1996, Tony Hall, then-director of news at the BBC, did carry out an internal investigation of the interview. This was after a freelance graphic designer, who helped create the fake documents, and multiple media outlets questioned whether Bashir had secured the interview through deception.

Last year, Bashir admitted to faking documents, saying it was a "stupid thing to do," but insisted the documents "had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview."

Before Dyson's report was released, Bashir also stepped down from his position at the BBC as religion editor in May 2021 due to ill health.

Lord Dyson found that the BBC covered up the scandal and thus "fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark."

In 2020, near the 25th anniversary of the "Panorama" interview, Earl Spencer sent a letter to the BBC accusing the news organization of covering up the fake documents scandal. This letter prompted the BBC to launch the investigation that culminated in Lord Dyson's report.

According to the Daily Mail, Earl Spencer said in the letter that he introduced Bashir to his sister after Bashir presented him with fake documents that showed an employee of his receiving money for information about his family. Spencer said that he kept notes of their discussions and eventually warned his sister about Bashir, but Bashir had already persuaded the princess to take part in the interview.

Episodes seven and eight of "The Crown" season five recreate these events, including a scene in which Bashir (Puwanarajah) works with a colleague to create forged bank statements.

Other scenes, such as Diana (Debicki) asking Bashir about his Pakistani heritage, or the journalist purposely playing on the princess' fears of being spied upon by the secret service, appear not to be based on evidence provided in inquiries or by Earl Spencer.

Puwanarajah was cast in the role of Bashir over a year ago. He said that the casting was "exciting" for him because not many British Asian actors are cast in complex roles.

"It's an interesting acting challenge," the "Ten Percent" actor said. "The characters and the characterizations in the drama are complicated and complex, and as an Asian heritage actor, that isn't always the case."

Puwanarajah added: "These aren't really characters that come up that often, for me certainly, and certainly in the kind of British Asian performance space."

Over the course of the first four seasons of "The Crown," the hit Netflix series has had very few major roles played by people of color. This changes slightly in season five with Puwanarajah cast alongside Salim Daw and Khalid Abdalla, who play Mohamed and Dodi Al-Fayed respectively, and Humayun Saeed, who plays Dr. Hasnat Khan.

Puwanarajah told Insider that he personally had no contact with Bashir to gain more information about the scandal.

The actor said he had previously reached out when he was cast to play the journalist in the 2013 film "Diana," starring Naomi Watts as the princess. (Puwanarajah's scene was eventually cut from the final film.) Puwanarajah said he never heard back from Bashir before filming, however.

"I did try and make contact with him and didn't receive a response, which is completely fair," Puwanarajah said. "On this occasion, I decided not to make the attempt, not having been successful the first time."

Netflix's "The Crown" is streaming now.