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johnrepsch
Reviews
Murder on the Victorian Railway (2013)
Good but flaws.
I enjoyed the programme and feel that it could easily have been longer. There's no question that Kate Colquhoun had provided a rich source of background material in her book for the documentary makers to feast on. I found the conjuring up of the 1864 atmosphere especially impressive.
However, as for creating the uncertainty as to whether or not Muller was guilty, I think they took too much artistic licence. Just because he was relaxed on the voyage home didn't make him innocent!
For example, my great-great grandparents, Ferdinand and Elizabeth Repsch, were friends of Muller's, but were not mentioned in the documentary. Muller often worked with Ferdinand in his tailoring shop, and Elizabeth recognized the hat that had been left at the scene of the crime as Muller's. No doubt raising such evidence in the documentary would have made the case against Muller even more overwhelming, and cost it some of the drama they wanted to drum up.