What links Pam & Tommy to The Elephant Man?

Pam & Tommy

Between A Very British Scandal and American Crime Story (and many more), it seems as if every garish episode of recent-ish history will be retold in a multipart drama. Now coming to Disney+ is the very 90s moment when a graphic home video of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee was stolen – launching the strange sex tape era of pop culture. Lily James and Sebastian Stan star as the happy, unsuspecting couple.

Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson are played by Sebastian Stan and Lily James … Photograph: Getty Images

Dom & Lily

James, seen last year in second world war romantic drama The Dig (Netflix), was embroiled in a minor scandal of her own in 2020, when paparazzi shots appeared to show her enjoying an intimate scooter ride in Rome with her married co-star from The Pursuit of Love (iPlayer), Dominic West. All of which led to the bizarro moment when West and his wife posed for assembled photographers with a handwritten note declaring “our marriage is strong”.

… who was rumoured to be getting close to Dominic West, leading to him and his wife, Catherine FitzGerald, declaring ‘our marriage is strong’ … Photograph: Getty Images

Burton & Taylor

While West’s finest hour surely remains as McNulty in The Wire, he’s had numerous other notable roles, including opposite Helena Bonham Carter in Burton and Taylor (BritBox), revisiting the tumultuous couple’s final performances together in a 1983 production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives.

… West played Richard Burton to Helena Bonham Carter’s Elizabeth Taylor … Photograph: Gustavo Papaleo/The Guardian

Merrick & Kendal

Kate Burton, Richard’s daughter from his first marriage, is an accomplished actor, too. She’s soon to appear in Netflix’s Inventing Anna, a series about New York con woman Anna Delvey. In 2002 she picked up a Tony nomination for her role as Mrs Kendal opposite Billy Crudup in a Broadway revival of The Elephant Man. A 2014 production on Broadway that went to the West End saw Bradley Cooper take on the challenging part of Joseph Merrick.

… Burton’s daughter Kate starred with Billy Crudup in The Elephant Man in 2002 … Photograph: Getty Images

Heather & Tommy

Circa 2006, Burnt’s Bradley Cooper was briefly married to Jennifer Esposito, who in the late 90s featured in the popular political sitcom Spin City. Among its cast was Heather Locklear, one of the 80s and 90s biggest television stars. And long before the passion of Pam & Tommy, she was married to the Mötley Crüe star. All’s fair in love and heavy metal drumming.

… a role played in 2014 by Bradley Cooper, whose ex-wife Jennifer Esposito starred in Spin City with Heather Locklear, who was once married to Tommy Lee. Photograph: Getty Images

Margot Robbie in I, Tonya Photograph: Allstar

Pairing notes

Watch Craig Gillespie, the Aussie director behind the series, is best known for his comic retelling of another modern scandal in I, Tonya.

Eat During lo scandalo Romano di Dom e Lily, the pair were seen at Ristorante Da Sabatino, a traditional spot close to the Pantheon. Three and a half stars on TripAdvisor. Try the fettuccine with mushrooms!