Code of a Killer 

The story of Sir Alec Jeffreys' discovery of DNA fingerprinting and its first use by DCS David Baker in catching a double murderer.

Stars:

John Simm, Anna Madeley, David Threlfall

1 win.

Cast

Series cast summary:
John Simm	...	Alec Jeffreys 2 episodes, 2015
Anna Madeley	...	Sue Jeffreys 2 episodes, 2015
David Threlfall	...	DCS David Baker 2 episodes, 2015
Lorcan Cranitch	...	DI Alan Madden 2 episodes, 2015
Jaz Deol	...	DC Taran Kholi 2 episodes, 2015
Andrew Tiernan	...	DS Geoff Taylor 2 episodes, 2015
Robert Glenister	...	DCC Chapman 2 episodes, 2015
Lydia Rose Bewley	...	Vicky Wilson 2 episodes, 2015
Tobias Burton-Rudge	...	Gavin Hopkirk 2 episodes, 2015
Farzana Dua Elahe	...	Tania Patel 2 episodes, 2015
Paul Copley	...	Sidney Jeffreys 2 episodes, 2015
Ged Simmons	...	Eddie Eastwood 2 episodes, 2015
Shirley Dixon	...	Joan Jeffreys 2 episodes, 2015
Hannah Walters	...	Kath Eastwood 2 episodes, 2015
Dorothy Atkinson	...	Barbara Ashworth 2 episodes, 2015
Jessica Woods	...	Carole Pitchfork 2 episodes, 2015
Neil Edmond	...	Robin Ashworth 2 episodes, 2015

Storyline

DCS David Baker headed up the investigation into the brutal murders of two Leicestershire schoolgirls between 1983 and 1987. Only a few miles away, Dr Alec Jeffreys, was a scientist at Leicester University who, on 10 September 1984, invented a remarkable technique to read each individual's unique DNA fingerprint. When a local teenager admitted to one of the murders but not the other, Baker asked Jeffreys to analyze the DNA evidence left at the crime scenes. Both men were shocked to discover that the teenager was innocent, his confession false. DCS Baker then took the extraordinarily brave step to launch the world's first ever DNA manhunt, testing over five thousand local men to track down the killer.

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Plot Keywords:

1980s | year 1984 | dna | police | tv mini series | 

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Taglines:

Murder is in the blood.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The outside shots of the Leicester police station were filmed at the pharmaceutical company Sanofi's site in Dagenham.

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Alternate Versions

When Code of a Killer was released on DVD, the two 90-minute episodes were re-formatted as three 60-minute episodes.

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Connections

Featured in The Wright Stuff: Episode #20.70 (2015)

User Reviews

Code Of A Killer

In the 1980s, Colin Pitchfork raped and murdered two teenage girls. The story of those horrific crimes has been minutely documented because this was the first time DNA fingerprinting/profiling was used in a criminal case. Although "Code Of A Killer" is presented as a dramatisation it contains little in the way of drama, nothing graphic, and is more of a documentary, following a number of similar historically accurate dramatisations on both sides of the Atlantic. It is also in effect two stories - that of the pioneering work of Alec Jeffreys, and of the hunt for a nascent serial killer.

The mentally challenged Richard Buckland who confessed to the second murder is renamed Gavin Hopkirk, which will certainly not please the real owners of that name, bar the fictional murderer from a 2014 ITV series. The name of the man who was duped into impersonating Pitchfork to donate blood has also been changed, even though it is widely known. He paid a heavy price for that act of misguided loyalty.

Beyond the scope of this dramatisation is the unthinkable release of this monster. In 2016 he was moved to an open prison and two years later was photographed in Bristol. He has since been denied parole, and the families of his victims have mounted a national campaign to put him back in a proper prison where he belongs.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2015 (UK)

Also Known As:

Code of a Killer

Filming Locations:

Ripley, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP0 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

World Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min 130 min (2 parts)

Color:

Color