User Reviews

This is the first known dramatisation of the infamous Moors Murders around the Northern English city of Manchester in the 1960's.Even four decades on,the case still provokes utter revulsion at such evil and depraved acts of murder.It was apparently made with full co-operation of the victims' families,which in hindsight was a sensible and sensitive decision by the filmmakers involved.It could quite easily have lapsed into sensationalism and exploitation;that it doesn't is a tribute to all involved;it is very well made with excellent performances all round;Sean Harris and Maxine Peake(previously better known for her comedic roles)are chilling and believable as the callously evil Brady and Hindley;newcomer Michael McNulty gives a very fine performance as the naive,easily-led David Smith,but Joanne Froggatt is outstanding as Hindley's sister Maureen Smith.In a part that could easily have turned into rampant hysteria,Ms Froggatt is very moving and heartbreaking as the decent-minded young woman whose life is more or less ruined by the horrific actions of her sibling.It is arguable that the stress involved led to Maureen's early death aged only 34.

The one large problem with the production is with the story being so unremittingly harrowing and unpleasant,one is somewhat confused as to what to say in conclusion.That it is very well made,acted and produced,certainly.That we do not see the killings themselves(with the savage exception of Edward Evans,very brutal and in semi-darkness),and none of the gruesome details related to them is praiseworthy;but the extreme nastiness surrounding the whole case still makes for a very dubious and disturbing cumulative effort despite it's considerable technical quality.In my view,a more documentary approach to the subject would've been the correct way to dramatise such a story,but nevertheless full marks to cast and crew for their sensitivity in handling such a dreadfully grim subject.

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

To mark the 40th anniversary of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley's convictions for the horrific 'Moors Murders', ITV1 has produced this dramatization of their hunt, capture and conviction, charting their friendship with Dave Smith (Michael McNulty), boyfriend of Hindley's sister, whom Brady tried to warp into his twisted little world. It was only when he saw Brady butchering 17 year old Edward Evans to death that it all came out and the pair were caught.

People reacted to this production with the expected mixed emotions. It was always going to be one of the most controversial productions the station had ever green-lighted, and there was understandable out-rage, offense and shock from some when it went ahead. But the families of the victims were okay with it and this drama does manage to be as realistic yet sensitive as it could possibly be.

This can hardly be described as 'entertaining', but by telling the dark true story that it is, it does play out with the required haunting gusto, with some dark camera shots and a few quiet, reflective scenes.

Performances wise, Sean Harris and Maxine Peake as the two main characters are highly effective, as are some of the supporting cast including George Costigan as the detective who lead the investigation that brought the pair to justice. Some of the others might need to brush up on their craft a bit, but they do not stop what is generally a well made and very effective timely re-telling of events nobody wanted to know but had to hear. ****

The thing that struck me most after watching this was how eerily normal it all was. Not Ian Brady (Sean Harris) His behaviour screamed dangerous individual. But everything else. This drama depicts so well the minute details of everyday, boring life. The conversations, the slang, the setting just reminded me of people i knew and places I've been. It made the eventual reveal of the crimes all the more effective.

It reminds you this can happen anywhere and be anyone you know. The show has great attention to detail and 1960s Working class England is brought to life amazingly well. You feel like you are actually there. The houses and streets are grim and so are the people and their life's: Teenagers married with babies, young men struck on the dole, violent men ignored and semi accepted by everyone. It doesn't strike me as a time of innocence shattered by the Moor Murders but a time full of narrow-mindedness with a simmering undercurrent of brutality.

The cast all play their roles fantastically and the script is excellent. No character is completely sympathetic and no character (with the exception of Brady) is one dimensional . Even Hindley, in a controversial move is portrayed as someone who loves her sister fiercely and is capable of compassion for her niece and dogs. All in all, an excellent sensitive, realistic portrayal of the banality of evil and the extraordinary aspects of normality .

This show was recently shown as a two part mini-series . Some fine performances here from Maxine Peake as Myra Hindley and Mike McNulty as David Smith . Though the truly horrible events of the Moors Murders are dealt with in a manner sympathetic to the victims and victims' families ( no blood gore and detail here ) . You do discover a side to Hindley and Brady that has rarely been shown - both may have been monsters and inherently evil but also both were highly manipulative and believable . Some very daring performances , particularly by Peake as Myra Hindley and Sean Harris as Brady , this together with a haunting soundtrack , rare levels of authenticity and the bleak but beautiful Moors setting make this a reasonable thing to watch .

this fact based movie about Myra Hindley and Ian Brady,Britain's notorious child killers of the 1960's is sure to send chills down your spine.it doesn't sensationalize the murders.in fact,most of the murders themselves are not shown.instead,we are shown the bizarre behaviour of Hindley and Brady and their sadistic leanings.one murder is shown,but it's not explicit or graphic.but the way it is shown is horrifying.it's hard to say which of the two was the initiator of the crimes,or if both played equal parts.they both are shown as manipulators and without remorse.The acting is stellar,form Maxine Peake as Hindley and Sean Harris as Brady.but equally effective are Joanne Frogatt as Hindley's sister Maureen ans Matthew Mcnulty as Maureen's husband.the rest of the supporting players are also exceptional,too numerous to mention here,although i have to mention Joe Costigna as DCI Joe Mounsey.this is a first class production all the way.it broken my heart,and will stay with me for a long time. 10/10

The quality of this tele-movie was very high and well-acted. The only downfall I felt that made if feel like a tele-movie rather than something worthy of a cinema release was the soundtrack which sounded very much like someone through it together in one night for a low budget TV series like EastEnders or Cell Block H. I appreciate that might sound like a petty criticism, I still strongly recommend this movie, but if there was just some minor editing adjustments and a completely new soundtrack, it then could comfortably would have been at least a 9 star rating from me.

Sean Harris and Maxine Peake really bring the monsters that were the Moors Murderers to life. Harris is fantastically disturbing,chilling and creepy as the ultimate manipulator and chief instigator of the most infamous series of murders in the last century. George Costigan as the policeman is also seen performing at the top of his game. I was worried about the way this extremely sensitive subject was going to be handled but it was perfectly done. Still shocking but not graphic apart from one scene of the murder of Eric Evans. That shocked me and I thought I was unshockable after a lifetime of watching all genres of movie. I never imagined that anyone would tackle this gruesome story for many more years but it is a story crying out to be dramatised. We never learn about why the couple did what they did but we do see the devastating effect it had on the people surrounding them. I do not think I will see anything which will stay with me for so long as this will.

Having read most of the literature on the Moors Murders, I was looking forward to seeing this. But when it was over, I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Suffice to say, "See No Evil" seems more or less like an extended episode of "Prime Suspect" or "Cracker" set in the 1960s. The story begins in medias res with not a whole lot of context provided for what we're seeing. More often than not, things are awkwardly explained by characters after the fact; and the banal, obvious dialogue tends to emphasize this problem a bit too much.

While I was watching I was struck by all of the things that weren't or couldn't be shown in the film (such as the kidnappings of the children and the disposal of their bodies on the moors, as well as the infamous photographs and tape recording of Lesley Ann Downey's torture and murder). These omissions tend to throw the viewer off a bit since there is barely anything that suggests the killers' motivations. Too many important facts and details are mentioned in the past tense, and not enough is dramatized and shown as happening in the present moment -- this circuitous approach tends to blunt the impact of the story as a whole.

As the psychopath Ian Brady, Sean Harris is a fine actor with an interesting, enigmatic presence, and his performance is more or less adequate. But strangely, he doesn't seem to project enough menace in the role. He scowls and looks pale and ghastly and speaks in a soft-spoken Scots accent -- which, to my ears, sounds a little forced and put-on. For the most part (and the limitations of the script may be partly to blame for this), he comes across as an actor merely playing at being a psychopath, rather than a man genuinely unhinged -- someone who feels compelled to commit senseless, heinous acts of violence. He is at his most convincing (and scary) when he sees that Dave Smith (Michael McNulty) has given him up to the police, and he flashes his young friend a condescending smirk. Harris is also quite believable when he has a battle of wits with George Costigan, who plays police DCI, Joe Mounsey -- giving defiant, insolent non-answers to the detective's incisive, probing questions.

As the notorious Myra Hindley, Maxine Peake probably delivers the best performance, but the script seems to undermine and shortchange her character. We never really learn very much about her -- such as what her life was like before she met Ian Brady and what attracted her to him, what the dynamic of their relationship was, as well as how her personality changed as a result. We certainly don't learn anything about why she participated in the sadistic murder of young children. The movie also makes the mistake of trying to replicate Myra's infamous 1965 mug shot and it only serves to emphasize that, apart from the clothes and the hair, Maxine Peake really doesn't look that much like the actual person she's portraying.

As David Smith, Michael McNulty does indeed look a great deal like the actual person he is meant to be. Although, I got a sense that the writer sanded the rough edges off his character a bit too much -- especially Smith's putative alcoholism and spousal abuse -- in order to make him more palatable and sympathetic to the audience.

Joanne Frogatt plays Maureen Hindley, Myra's kid sister and Dave Smith's shotgun bride, and the film takes her point of view. While the filmmakers were clearly trying to preserve a little taste by maintaining a slight distance from the two killers and their crimes, adopting Maureen's perspective (especially as played by Frogatt) seems a mistake. Indeed, it turns out to be a rather unrevealing vantage point that yields precious little insight about events.

Not surprisingly, Frogatt's Maureen turns out to be the sole straight arrow amidst this otherwise unsavory quartet, and the movie seems partly intended as a rehabilitation of both her and David Smith's public image in connection with the murders. Unfortunately, Frogatt is as dull as ditchwater in the role, and with her pasty, angular, dark-haired features and de rigueur beehive hairdo, Frogatt looks like she could be one of Sean Harris' siblings rather than Maxine Peake's. By the end of the movie, despite all of my prior knowledge about the case, I was left feeling just as bewildered and in the dark about everything as Maureen did. With Frogatt's character as the story's center of gravity, the moral sense of the movie seems rather uncertain and hesitant and vaguely apologetic. An earnest, token effort is also made to show the suffering of the relatives of the victims, so as not to run the risk of inadvertently valorizing the two killers. These people -- in particular, the actors playing John Kilbride's father and Lesley Ann Downey's mother -- often come across more vividly than the two criminals and their close relations do. This aspect of the movie focuses on the efforts of Detective Mounsey and as such, "See No Evil" awkwardly tries to tell two converging stories from two different outside points of view at the same time.

In the end, I just didn't feel that this production really did justice to the Moors Murders (pardon the pun). The only time that the grisliness and horror of the killings are really felt is when the police search team digging on Saddleworth Moor retrieves Lesley Ann Downey's body from her grave in the middle of a foggy night. A story like this demands a more detailed narrative context and a stronger viewpoint (even if this necessitates a bit of speculation and guesswork) or it risks wishy-washy banality. This subject would be served by a proper feature film treatment, even though the serial murder genre has practically been done to death in the movies (again, pardon the pun).

Maxine Peake and Sean Harris both have wonderful performances as the infamous Moors Murderers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. Such a powerful programme, yet there was hardly any gore. The silence just before it cut to adverts was creepy and surreal and let the events really sink in. After watching countless two part dramas on television I can safely say this is the best yet. The acting was second to none; you generally believed that Maxine and Sean were the people they portrayed. The devastation of the families was so well shown, your heart went out to the families of the murdered. A wonderful dramatisation of a relatively touchy subject. Very well done.

This film was portrayed in a very strong and parsonage way. The cast played daunting characters with tremendous effort. This movie is chilling in the fact that it is still on the mind of many people. I only rated it a 6 as I thought maybe more could have been put across about how these two absolute animals lived their horrific murderous life's. There may have been some restraints on what could be told.

I lived local as a child to these areas and today the mention of Brady and Hindley runs chills through peoples bones.

Great film - Great Cast

A must on the TO WATCH list !

When I saw this television drama advertised I didn't think I'd be watching it; I don't believe in recent (in the last 50 years) true crimes being 'used' as a source of 'entertainment'.

I did watch the second half of 'See No Evil', however. I think the cast was uniformly excellent, especially the two actors in the lead roles. It was intelligently written and focused more on how the crimes affected those around the killers than on the heinous nature of their murders.

It also brought to light the hard work of some of the police involved in the case as well as the ordinary people who volunteered to search the moors for the victims' bodies with nothing more sophisticated than sticks. At one end of the human spectrum was the bewildering amorality of the murderers; at the other, the generosity of those trying to help with the police searches. When the end credits rolled over silence, I found myself in tears.

A brave and sober account of events that no one who was alive and living in Manchester at the time will ever forget.

This is the true story about the serial killer couple Ian Brady and Myra Hindley and their folie a deux that consisted of killing children, burying them on the moors and then frolicking over their graves. Their favorite was to do so with others, i.e., unsuspecting folks who thought they were just hanging out on the moors. It's such an unsettling story that it's difficult to find the streak of Ian that was so attractive to Myra that she could be duped into this life, but duped she was. Like a lemming, she then jumped whole heartedly in. This is a TV show, but true crime is some of the best TV there is.

I was quite young [7 - 9 years of age] when these events took place, and remember the dreadful feelings that were prevalent. Before this drama was screened, I was not sure it would be possible to dramatize such an horrific episode without it coming across in a way that either glossed over or overemphasized many aspects. However, I feel this was a well pitched production. For me it has gone a small way towards dealing with something that has been uncomfortable to think about in recent times, when those involved were for one reason or another in the news. I don't think it would be appropriate for the full details to be made public in a television programme, but hopefully there was enough to be informative yet not too distressing. I hope the families concerned did not find the drama hurtful, and that it didn't reopen deep wounds for them - probably a vain hope, unfortunately.

This was a superb, well written very emotive drama. It handled a very difficult subject with sensitivity and respect. Maxine Peake and Sean Harris were brilliant in their often chilling portrayal of Hindley and Brady. As were Michael McNulty and Joanne Frogatt as Hindleys sister and brother in law. The subject matter was done with a care not to over sensationalise it for the drama. The inclusion of the actual photographs of the children who were murdered kept reminding the viewer that this was a drama based on REAL events that meant a lot to the families involved. The follow up of the effect that it had on Hindleys sister was also interesting as it enabled the viewer to see that it wasn't just the families of the murdered children that suffered as a result of what Hindley and Brady had done. An excellent piece of factual drama, well worth a viewing.

The sickening crimes of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, told through the eyes of Myra's sister Maureen and her husband Dave.

It's taken fifteen years for me to watch this, in truth it's because I find the whole case so sickening, so upsetting, buy here are my thoughts.

A two part series, which is largely shown through the eyes of Myra's sister Maureen, the effects on her life, and how the crimes impacted on her life going forward.

The Moors murders shocked and sickened everyone, the crimes of Brady and Hindley so cruel, sickening and wicked. Even now my family won't have their names mentioned.

The series is quite violent, but fortunately it spares you details of some of what they did, it implies events.

The period detail is amazing, clothes, costumes, cars etc, it's very well made.

The acting is sensational, each does a great job, for me Joanne Frogatt stands out, what an actress she is.

I'm glad I watched it, it's very good, 8/10.

I am surprised that this series got so many positive reviews. Perhaps I am completely spoiled by Emlyn Williams' book "Beyond Belief", which is the definitive book on the case, written in the late sixties. It is profoundly eerie, giving you a sense of "being there" that this series completely seems to ignore. It feels like a TV movie, with an almost total lack of real atmosphere. And if ANY case deserves to scare you, or has the power to, this one does. Brady and Hindley were truly, and I believe happily, evil. They exulted in it. The actor playing Brady could have been used to much greater effect, and is the only one in the film that really delivers. The period production lacks HORRIBLY- this is comparable to some VH-1 ham-handed treatment of the sixties where everyone is wearing headbands and peace signs. Things like this give a film heft, gravity, and atmosphere. And this has none, in my opinion.

A dark, gritty portray of a dark and gritty time in the UK. The cast not only LOOK LIKE the real people ... They give a genuine portrayal of the characters and thant alone is scary. Sean's portray of Ian exceedingly so. I'm glad that this program showed what happened to them AFTER they were put in jail and the effect it had on the family. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Wonderful TV despite a moot so wonderful topic.

The crimes of Brady and Hindley were so appalling, so cruel and so unfathomable that the only way this story could be told was to not dwell on their crimes but on the people innocently drawn into the orbit of this vile couple's crimes.

We don't get to understand the motivations for what they did because, as I said, their actions were unfathomable but we do see how Hindley's young sister, her husband and the parents of the victims were affected. I think this was the only way to tell this story because too much focus on the horrific details would have been too sensationalistic and harrowing.

The attention to the period detail and the performances are excellent.

The director and writers along with the cast and crew don't forget the victims in this senseless crime spree by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley who committed them in the early 1960s. The five victims included three young children and two teenagers. Pauline Reid and Edward Evans were the teen victims while younger children, Keith Bennett, Lesley Anne Downe, and John Kilbride were also met by cruel fates. The film version is dramatic, tragic, and doesn't show the actual murders. This television movie has a haunting move and maybe more on Myra's side of the story with her sister, Maureen, and mother more involved. We don't know much about Ian Brady's background. Once Maureen and her husband began spending time with Myra and Ian. It becomes dark especially since they go to the Saddleworth Moors to spend their free time. It seems like a haunting place to be for anybody. Maureen and Dave are unaware of Ian and Myra's crimes at the time. When Dave and Maureen go to the police, it unravels the Pandora's box of secrets held by the couple. Although Myra Hindley and Ian Brady's crimes are always being written about, there is an interest especially in an attractive and intelligent woman like Myra who did everything for Ian. You have to wonder why Myra did it. The two part version is well-acted by the cast and crew. Maxine Peake is in rare form as Myra Hindley. Joanna Frogatt is perfect as her long suffering and guilt ridden sister, Maureen. Sean Harris is fine as Ian Brady. The film is a haunting look at one of the most disturbing crimes in British history.

To me, when I first learn't about who Myra Hindley was, when she died back in 2002, I was again convinced that there are people out there who are just pure evil. To do what she did, the heaviest penitence is irreversible. Her and her partner, Ian Brady who unfortunately is still with us, sent chills through my imagination of what those poor kids suffered at the hand of these two monsters. This killer couple I've found the most disturbing in crime history, more so than the Wests. One reason, especially when you consider, one of the victims (a little girl) was asked to perform a horrendous sexual act for the sick gratification of these two scumbags, recorded on a tape seized, when found in a suitcase, amongst some other items that a proved a freaky find. The torture of this poor little girl, ran for sixteen minutes, played in court. I just recently read the actual transcript that was disturbing, even though I thought the dialogue was gonna be much worse. I know I would be much more disturbed if I heard the actual tape, where there's nothing worse than hearing a little girl, crying out for her mother. The 138 minute movie here, takes off, just before Hindley's sister's husband, Dave Smith, is introduced to Brady, at the invitation of Myra. Smith, the supposed third party in the murders, really got the short end of the stick, subjected to verbal and physical abuse, from angry crowds. Soon Brady and Smith are really buddying it up, where Dave, struck for cash, is thrown an offer by Brady to knock over a young guy. But that night, Smith really sees Brady's true colors, where he goes radge on the victim Edward Evans, a homosexual with an axe. This scene is violently confronting, but is sufficient to the rest of the movie, where other parts could of been bloody but were wisely held back, as Snowtown smartly did. We should be praising Smith who went to the authorities the next morning, where if he didn't, these two monsters could still walking among us. When Hindley and Brady are taken in they, they stick with their stories, making Smith to be the bad guy. When finding a notebook with a victim's name, amongst many movie stars, and that infamous suitcase, this is when the real horror was discovered, and these two became the most hated couple in Britain. In my opinion the story structure was so well formulated here. You can see it was done with care, as the writer honed in on all the important parts of this atrocity, you never hope in any lifetime you'll see an exact repeat of. In the roles, of Hindley and Brady, Peake's fantastic as Myra, showing a manipulative menace, as a normalcy that masked true evil, only Harris is better as the psychopathic nut, Brady. This fantastic British actor that you better watch out for, nailed it. A truly flawless performance, if I ever saw one. Harris truly sent chills down my spine, every moment he was on the screen, as I really got to know the face behind this evil monster, who personally, his death won't come soon enough. One point the nut, and Smith, were taking a slash outside, as Brady openly admits, "I've killed four people, I haven't finished yet". And of course, Smith didn't believe him, like most acquaintances of serial killers wouldn't. We are put through the horror with all the legwork on the Moors, where a couple of victims surfaced, plus the trial, Smith pleading his innocence to the victim's families to no avail. In the end he was acquitted, where a violent brawl years later, ended him one in the nick. And then there's the aftermath of Smith's wife, alone, who's really broke down and had sunk into an abyss of depression. It's just so terrible and unfair, how the surrounding family members cop it, over one evil doer, that happens to be related. I couldn't by it, how when Maureen, the sister, went to visit Myra with her mother in prison, how innocent Hindley seemed, her act of redemption, where she had cut of contact from Brady altogether. But we too remember Hindley was a manipulative SOB, better put to rest 12 feet under. Apparently 12 people showed up at Hindley's funeral. That many, hey. Smith, (who's kids had grown, forgetting one loss at birth, earlier) and Maureen had reunited years later, but I guess the past was all too much for her. The two players of these characters were convincingly good, no more than the impressive Froggart who really brought the helplessness of Maureen, at times almost too good, not that there's anything wrong with that. They just weren't up to the main players standard. This movie, that could of of had a better title, is involving, absorbing, and for some I can imagine disturbing, and even more so, to the British public, with ground knowledge of this terrible sixties shock event, worse than any horror movie, you'd rent instead.

I assumed this drama would be just another glorification of the moors murders,however i was wrong. This was portrayed in a sensitive and yet compelling way.The acting from all concerned was faultless. Maxine Peake was amazing,so different from her usual acting in shameless etc.Her portrayal of Myra Hindley was chilling. Sean Harris (creep) was fantastic as Ian Brady.His accent was rather poor,but he deserves an award for his portrayal of Brady. Joanne Frogatt (formerly in Coronation Street,Bad Girls,and most recently The Street.)simply shone as Maureen Smith (Myra's tragic innocent,and somewhat naive sister) Newcomer Michael McNulty was amazing as David Smith.He really made this role his own.He was very convincing in the part. In fact all the other actors,including George Costigan (Rita,Sue,and Bob, The Hawk) were outstanding. Thankfully we were spared the gory details of the horrific murders,but the photographs of the victims were bad enough. There will be some who will argue that this should never have been made,let alone shown,but it was made with the families' backing. This poignant,sensitive,thought provoking and well made drama truly deserves a Bafta award.A gem of a drama,in a schedule full of reality shows and rubbish.