Anatomy of a Scandal ending explained: What happened to Olivia Lytton?

That is, until the end of Anatomy of a Scandal’s first episode, when James is accused of rape.

Sophie initially insists on James’ innocence but, when prosecuting barrister Kate Woodcroft (Michelle Dockery) tears him apart at trial, she begins to doubt everything.

But how did the events of Netflix's Anatomy of a Scandal play out, and was James found guilty of the awful crime?

Read on for everything you need to know about the show’s dramatic ending.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Anatomy of a Scandal ending explained

Was James Whitehouse found guilty of raping Olivia Lytton?

The jury ruled that James was not guilty of raping his junior colleague Olivia.

She alleged that he was in a poisonous mood after learning that The Times had published a piece in which he was described as "arrogant".

The pair entered a lift together – Olivia claimed that James beckoned her in, while he asserted that she took the lead. Once inside, they "collided", according to James, and essentially picked up where they left off.

But Olivia maintained that their encounter wasn't consensual on that occasion, pointing to the bruise on her breast and her torn underwear as proof.

But over-exuberant or rough sex is not a crime and without CCTV or any external witnesses, it became a case of he-said-she-said, which James won.

Kate Woodcroft was revealed to be Holly Berry

"I was so gripped by that turn of events," Michelle Dockery told RadioTimes.com. "I think they did a really good job of not revealing too much as the series went on."

Holly Berry was Sophie's studious first-year tutorial partner at Oxford University. Following a party towards the end of term, she ran into James on campus, with the pair exchanging a few words, before kissing.

"I should go," said Holly, visibly unsteady as she pulled away.

"I don't think that's what you want to do at all," replied James, a big grin splashed all over his face.

"No, really," she responded, before walking off.

But James kept hold of her hand and they kissed again, the moment tender. But in an instant, he was clawing at her body, before he pushed her up against a wall with significant force. She said, "No," but he didn't stop, instead of instructing her not to be a "prick tease".

Following her ordeal, Holly left Oxford and fell off the radar. She attended a different university and later changed her name to Kate.

"Kate was a really interesting character to play because there are lots of layers to her," explained Dockery. "And she has lots of boundaries, and her personality is quite unreadable.

"She's quite detached from people. Even the relationship that she has with Richard, it suits her that he is unavailable. And I think that is a way of protecting herself because she has been hurt very deeply.

"Part of the performance was playing that stoicism and not letting anybody in. And then, of course, as the show goes on, you see she begins to unravel."

How did Sophie Whitehouse clock Kate's true identity?

The more Sophie observed Kate, both up close and from afar, the more she sensed that they'd met before – on one occasion the pair crossed paths with one another while travelling to their respective destinations, during which their eyes locked, and Sophie unexpectedly arrived at Kate's office late one night, where they had a brief conversation.

But above all else, it was Kate's "left-handed scribbling and colour-coded notes" that had jolted Sophie's memory.

What secret was James keeping for Prime Minister Tom Southern?

Prior to Holly's rape, James had been at a Libertine gathering with Tom Southern, his friend who went on to become prime minister. Tom had slipped away to the roof to smoke heroin with another student, but James arrived in the nick of time and swiped it off him, before demanding that they head back to their dorms.

On leaving, Tom thoughtlessly encouraged the student he'd been sitting on the roof with to jump, which he did and subsequently died.

James vowed to keep Tom's secret – "Omertà Libertine" – but when Tom was starting to show signs of withdrawing his public support for James due to Olivia's claims, he threatened to expose him.

"Playing the pariah at the centre of the story was certainly a tall order," Rupert Friend told RadioTimes.com. "And not necessarily an attractive proposition. But trying to understand where people get this sense of entitlement from and this sense of never having done anything wrong was an interesting challenge."

He added: "He's very much an amalgam of people. We didn't want to make this a biopic about a particular politician.

"But I was very inspired by the politicians who I saw were charismatic and charming and full of potential, but there was a foible or an inner weakness, darkness or secretiveness that was their undoing. There was something quite Greek about that idea."

What happened to Olivia Lytton?

Olivia's fate remains a mystery. Following the verdict, we don't see or hear from her again, but it's safe to assume that her reputation is in tatters, with any future career in Whitehall an impossibility.

"We did actually shoot something, [a scene showcasing] Olivia after everything, but it didn't feel right," Naomi Scott told RadioTimes.com. "It didn't feel like it did the character justice, to tie it off with a bow.

"I actually think it's more powerful to just allow people to go, 'Wow, what happened to her?' And a lot of the time these types of victims are forgotten, so I think it's really fitting."

Why did Sophie Whitehouse expose her husband's crimes?

It emerged that Sophie was not the dutiful wife that she initially appeared to be. Not only did she decide to walk away from James and their marriage, but she also lifted the lid on what happened on that fateful night back in Oxford.

During her conversation with Kate in the finale, Sophie revealed that she had contacted an acquaintance in the press and detailed what her soon-to-be-ex-husband had inflicted upon Holly, as well as revealing the circumstances surrounding the death of the student who had hurled himself off a roof.

"Her Majesty's Government is about to implode," said Sophie, with both James and Prime Minister Tom Southern's futures in ruins.

When Kate asked her why she had chosen this course of action, Sophie's answer was two-fold: to correct the false perception that people have of her and for the "greater good".

"I was so excited for that scene," Sienna Miller told RadioTimes.com. "That was one of the things that I found incredibly moving every time I read the scripts. I loved that there was that resolve in her. I think had there not been the art of self-discovery or self-realisation, if she had remained the steadfast person that she was in the beginning, I don't think I would have been interested.

"I like that with all of the characters, you go on a journey of self-discovery with them. And Sophie is very different at the end to how she was at the beginning, and I respected the steps that she was beginning to take towards changing her life and perspective."

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