Rupert Murdoch is reportedly in a secret legal battle with his four eldest children over the future of his media empire, in a turn of events that has sparked comparisons with the battles of the Roy family in the hit HBO drama .

According to sealed court documents seen by the New York Times, Murdoch, 93, is in a move that would in effect freeze out his other children – James, Elisabeth and Prudence.

Succession chronicles the power play between the children of a fictional media mogul, Logan Roy, after he has a stroke on his 80th birthday; his three sons, Kendall, Roman and Connor, and daughter, Shiv, all have varying ambitions and are frequently caught up in toxic battles for their tyrannical father’s approval.

Perhaps Lachlan curried favour by performing a rap celebrating his father’s life or maybe James fell into disrepute after he oversaw a failed rocket launch – but it has been suggested Murdoch’s move was prompted by fears the three apparent exiles would soften the rightwing politics of the organisation.

Here we take a look at the real-life row – and how it compares to the fiction of Succession.