Five Daughters (2010– )

Based on the personal testimonies of many of those most closely involved, Five Daughters recounts the final weeks in the lives of the five young women murdered in Ipswich in 2006.

Stars:

Adam Kotz, Juliet Aubrey, Natalie Press

5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Adam Kotz	...	D (3 episodes, 2010)
Juliet Aubrey	...	Maire Alderton (3 episodes, 2010)
Natalie Press	...	Paula Clennell (3 episodes, 2010)
Ian Hart	...	DCS Stewart Gull (3 episodes, 2010)
Eva Birthistle	...	Annette Nicholls (3 episodes, 2010)
Sarah Lancashire	...	Rosemary Nicholls (3 episodes, 2010)
Ruth Negga	...	Rochelle (3 episodes, 2010)
Lisa Millett	...	PC Janet Humphrey (3 episodes, 2010)
Alison Reid	...	Journalist (3 episodes, 2010)
Andy Gathergood	...	DCI Dave Skevington (3 episodes, 2010)
Joseph Mawle	...	Tom Stephens (3 episodes, 2010)
Christopher Fairbank	...	DCI John Quinton (3 episodes, 2010)
Vicky McClure	...	Stacy Nicholls (3 episodes, 2010)
Lauren Socha	...	Dawn (3 episodes, 2010)
Kierston Wareing	...	Nina (3 episodes, 2010)
Sean Harris	...	Brian Tobin (3 episodes, 2010)
David Bradley	...	Patrick Palmer (3 episodes, 2010)
Jaime Winstone	...	Anneli Alderton (3 episodes, 2010)
John McAndrew	...	Felixstowe Road Man (2 episodes, 2010)
Al Weaver	...	Tom Alderton (2 episodes, 2010)
Aisling Loftus	...	Gemma Adams (2 episodes, 2010)
Kate Dickie	...	Isabella Clennell (2 episodes, 2010)
Anton Lesser	...	Dr Nat Cary (2 episodes, 2010)
Roland Oliver	...	Annette's Father (2 episodes, 2010)
Dan Tetsell	...	Journalist (2 episodes, 2010)
Sabet Choudhury	...	News Reporter (2 episodes, 2010)
Holliday Grainger	...	Alice (2 episodes, 2010)
Jo McInnes	...	ACC Jacqui Cheer (2 episodes, 2010)
Tim Lewis	...	Martin Nicholls (2 episodes, 2010)
Tim Plester	...	Billy (2 episodes, 2010)
Chris McCalphy	...	Steve Wright (2 episodes, 2010)
Geoff Bell	...	D (2 episodes, 2010)

Storyline

Dramatised documentary about the killings of five young women by Steve Wright in the Ipswich area in 2006, concentrating on the last few days of the victims' lives, the effects of their deaths on their families, and the police investigation to find the murderer.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 April 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

Sex, via kai aima

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Television

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

Explanatory text at the beginning of each episode: "This drama, written by Stephen Butchard, is based on the personal testimonies of many of those most closely involved in the events that took place in Ipswich in the winter of 2006".

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Connections

Featured in Grierson 2010: The British Documentary Awards (2010)

User Reviews

Realistic murder drama from a different perspective

Spread over three nights, this BBC drama on the murders in Ipswich of five women in the run up to Christmas 2006 made for challenging and occasionally disturbing viewing. That time-proximity today to the actual events only heightens the required empathy and sympathy of the programme-makers to the subject matter and this it patently does, from the title of the piece onwards (the original tabloid coverage of the killings unfeelingly focused on the murdered women all being prostitutes, dehumanising the victims at a stroke).

For me, probably like most UK residents, the two most remembered TV images from the original investigation were firstly the CCTV images of one of the young women heading into the red light district on the local train, preening herself, readying herself for her "work" and just as tragically the fact that another of the victims was actually interviewed by national TV (her back to camera, obviously) before being killed the next night.

Boldly and justifiably, the drama makes no concession to the murderer at all, concentrating wholly on the lives and desperate motivations of the women themselves. There's zero sensationalism either, with the murders themselves only suggested by the killer's car ominously approaching the victims at night-time. He's duly caught at the end, but in no sense was this a conventional crime drama.

That said, I did personally find the candid insight into the drug addicted, poverty driven lives of the prostitutes disturbing and hard to stomach at times and occasionally the dialogue tended to be, although only very occasionally, maudlin and over-ripe. The ensemble acting was laudably grounded in realism, although not wholly consistent, if anything, I appreciated more the actors playing the over-run police service than those portraying either the victims or their families.

My biggest qualm however was that the story opened with one girl already murdered with no background story at all to her situation, making me wonder if her family denied the producers access to her information. For me this did however imbalance the whole, almost reducing the drama to "four daughters" but all told, this was a commendably brave approach to a difficult subject, treating its difficult central, characters by and large with honesty and dignity, as they deserved.