The Sun’s splash, Huw Edwards and the drama that gripped Britain and shook the BBC

In one week, the allegations and responses to them have plunged the national broadcaster into yet another crisis - and raised serious questions about the Murdoch tabloid

It was a grim sort of guessing game played across Britain last week: who was the mystery BBC broadcaster who had reportedly paid 35,000 to a young person in exchange for sexual images? By Tuesday the field of suspects had narrowed, as horrified presenters, misidentified in social media posts, attempted to distance themselves. Then on Wednesday came the revelation: the hidden man at the centre of this tabloid newspaper accusation was Huw Edwards, the BBC's lead news anchor, whose calm and authoritative voice had announced the death of the Queen.

The astonishing allegations carried in the Sun newspaper last weekend have split the nation and put many leading commentators at loggerheads, to say nothing of pitting an endangered BBC against Rupert Murdoch's news empire.