STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful
In August 2002, in the Cambridgeshire town of Soham, ten year old best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman went missing, leading to a nationwide manhunt to find them. Eventually, the inevitable, grim truth came to light, when their charred clothing was found, and soon after their bodies. In the immediate aftermath, attention fell on the school caretaker, Ian Huntley (Scott Reid) and his girlfriend Maxine Carr (Jemma Carlton), leading to local journalists Brian Farmer (Steve Edge) and Jane Kerrigan (Natalie Britton) to pursue their version of events, leading to Huntley's conviction for the girl's murders, and Carr's for providing him with a false alibi, before her release and new life under an assumed identity.
True life crime stories are inevitably a tricky subject to tackle, especially if they're still raw in the public's consciousness, and with the feelings of the victim's families to take in to consideration. And so, twenty years after the horrors of the Soham murders, director Laura Way and writer Simon Tyrell deliver this made for TV dramatisation of a figure who was the most hated woman in Britain for a while. Whether she was really a cunning manipulator, or an abused partner coerced in to doing something against her will, is subject to speculation, but like many things, is something this hollow production doesn't really have the meat and bones to tackle.
It's usually a particular type of girl who falls into a particular sort of relationship, with an abusive, controlling partner (often with a history they don't mention) and Carlton's portrayal of Carr certainly gives off this vibe, but nothing of substance about her background is offered to show what formed her to be this way. Indeed, although the title specifically frames it as a drama about her, she feels no more drawn out or explored than any of the other key characters. This lack of depth extends further afield to the wider story, with the parents of the murdered girls not even given a mention. In its place, we just get something that plays out pretty much like your average Channel 5 daytime TV drama, in look and feel. Part 2 and 3 are a little grittier and more effective than Part 1, but not enough to really lift it up any higher than it is.
Despite some strong, solid central and supporting performances, this is just a puff piece that fails to do justice to one of the most heinous crimes of recent times. **
In August 2002, in the Cambridgeshire town of Soham, ten year old best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman went missing, leading to a nationwide manhunt to find them. Eventually, the inevitable, grim truth came to light, when their charred clothing was found, and soon after their bodies. In the immediate aftermath, attention fell on the school caretaker, Ian Huntley (Scott Reid) and his girlfriend Maxine Carr (Jemma Carlton), leading to local journalists Brian Farmer (Steve Edge) and Jane Kerrigan (Natalie Britton) to pursue their version of events, leading to Huntley's conviction for the girl's murders, and Carr's for providing him with a false alibi, before her release and new life under an assumed identity.
True life crime stories are inevitably a tricky subject to tackle, especially if they're still raw in the public's consciousness, and with the feelings of the victim's families to take in to consideration. And so, twenty years after the horrors of the Soham murders, director Laura Way and writer Simon Tyrell deliver this made for TV dramatisation of a figure who was the most hated woman in Britain for a while. Whether she was really a cunning manipulator, or an abused partner coerced in to doing something against her will, is subject to speculation, but like many things, is something this hollow production doesn't really have the meat and bones to tackle.
It's usually a particular type of girl who falls into a particular sort of relationship, with an abusive, controlling partner (often with a history they don't mention) and Carlton's portrayal of Carr certainly gives off this vibe, but nothing of substance about her background is offered to show what formed her to be this way. Indeed, although the title specifically frames it as a drama about her, she feels no more drawn out or explored than any of the other key characters. This lack of depth extends further afield to the wider story, with the parents of the murdered girls not even given a mention. In its place, we just get something that plays out pretty much like your average Channel 5 daytime TV drama, in look and feel. Part 2 and 3 are a little grittier and more effective than Part 1, but not enough to really lift it up any higher than it is.
Despite some strong, solid central and supporting performances, this is just a puff piece that fails to do justice to one of the most heinous crimes of recent times. **