The Dropout
Available on BBC iPlayer
The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her start-up Theranos was one of the most notable financial and business scandals of recent years. It has all the elements of a compelling story of fraud on a grand scale – a charismatic founder, who was compared to Steve Jobs; highprofile investors, including Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger and George Schultz; and the promise of a technological revolution, in this case in the way illness is diagnosed. Holmes’ grandiose vision of instant home blood tests dissolved, along with investors’ cash, when it was revealed that the company was simply running blood samples through existing machines from competitors. The Dropout is an eight-part mini-series that tells the story of the scandal that ultimately resulted in Holmes and her sometime partner Sunny Balwani being jailed.
The drama debuted two years ago on the Hulu streaming service, but its appearance on the BBC will be the first chance that most people in the UK have to see it. Those who do are in for a treat thanks to a mesmerising, almost creepy, performance by Amanda Seyfried as Holmes. Initially the portrayal is sympathetic as Holmes struggles to make it in the cutthroat world of Silicon Valley, but it quickly becomes clear she is no ingénue as she sheds all scruples to manipulate and intimidate her way to the top.
Seyfried is supported by a tremendous cast, which includes Naveen Andrews as Balwani, Stephen Fry as Theranos’s chief scientist Ian Gibbons and William Macy as patent troll (and Holmes’ eventual nemesis) Richard Fuisz. Andrews is particularly memorable as Balwani, who initially supports Holmes, then attempts to control her, only to find that when it comes to deception, the apprentice is no match for the master. What we learn is that a combination of venture-capital cash and self-help clichés can sustain a multi-billion-dollar deception for more than a decade. This a superb telling of a modern morality tale.