From reality to fiction, there is only one step. A rich and powerful family freely inspired the characters of the Succession series.
The multi-award winning series Succession is coming to an end with the arrival of the fourth and final season. Fans will thus have to say goodbye to the rich and powerful Roy family.
Who will succeed aging media mogul patriarch Logan (Brian Cox), who is desperate for a replacement among his children Connor (Alan Ruck), Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) to lead his business ?
The long-awaited answer will be revealed at the end of season 4, which will be available via the Warner Pass on the Prime Video platform in France, from March 27. Before discovering the outcome of Jesse Armstrong’s series, a look back at the origins and inspirations of Succession.
Which family inspired Succession?
The Roy family is very loosely inspired by a powerful Australian family, the Murdochs. And while this is definitely not a biopic disguised as social satire, there are a lot of similarities between the Roys and the Murdochs.
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Starting with the Australian-American patriarch Rupert Murdoch, businessman, media magnate and billionaire. He is the majority shareholder of News Corporation, one of the largest media groups in the world.
In 2015, he was ranked 32nd most powerful personality in the world and 76th richest person in the world by Forbes magazine. He has been quoted in a few pop culture works such as The Simpsons, Big Bang Theory and The Devil Wears Prada.
Like Rupert Murdoch, patriarch Logan Roy is an immigrant, coming from Scotland in his case and with more humble beginnings than those of Murdoch, who inherited the business from his father.
The two men are at the head of a large media group (News Corp and Waystar Royco) and are conservatives close to the Republican Party. They have several divorces to their credit (4 marriages for Murdoch against 3 for Roy) and above all have several children working in the family business.
Regarding the eldest of the siblings, Kendall Roy is inspired by the eldest of the Murdochs: Lachlan Murdoch. Often referred to as the potential successor to Rupert Murdoch, the latter has held several influential positions within News Corp since he was eighteen. Lachlan, for a time, left the family business before returning and faced some competition from his siblings.
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As for the other Roy children, we find the ugly duckling Roman. The youngest of the siblings accumulates a lot of personal and professional escapades and surrounds himself with controversial political figures. He is reminiscent of James Murdoch, one of the young children of the Murdoch family. This rebel would have been involved in one of the biggest scandals that the Murdochs have known.
In 2011, News of the World, a subsidiary of News Corp, was implicated in a phone tapping scandal involving British personalities. The British police and government, as well as the FBI, investigated the case, which seriously harmed James, who was in charge at the time, who lost his status as a favorite to succeed his father.
Rebel of the Murdoch family, James is also distinguished by his different political opinions. Rather centrist and liberal, James supported Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy.
Finally, Shiv Roy and Elisabeth Murdoch are both women who have flourished in activities far removed from their father’s businesses. Shiv built her career in business and politics while Elisabeth developed her own television production companies, Shine Group (MasterChef) and Sister (Chernobyl).
Season 4 of Succession will be available from March 27 on Prime Video via the Warner Pass.