This 3-part drama told the shocking story of the 2002 Soham murders of two young ten-year-old girls from the viewpoint of the evil murderer Ian Huntley's girlfriend Maxine Carr. She it was who, even though she knew and taught the two girls in her job as a classroom assistant, initially gave him the alibi which kept him away from police scrutiny until the growing suspicion against him grew too strong, resulting in them both being convicted at trial, he for the murders and she for covering up for him.
The $64000 question here of course is did she suspect or worse, know all along that he was the perpetrator? Huntley has since claimed that she did and certainly the zeal with which she cleaned the house where he committed his vile misdeeds and covered up for him in other ways certainly casts doubts on her own story that she loved him almost blindly and so completely believed that he was incapable of the killings. She seemed not to know all the details of his criminal past which as we later learn involved a pattern of sexual attacks on very young girls, instead preferring to believe his claims of police victimisation even in the face of his own jealous, possessive behaviour to her, to the point where we see him strike her on the face during one of their many heated arguments.
Eventually, when they're separately incarcerated awaiting trial, the scales fall from her eyes and she turns on him, her testimony no doubt helping to convict him although she was rightly convicted of obstructing justice and herself sentenced to jail for three years, going on to serving half her sentence. On release, the powers-that-be provided her with a change of identity and she is now reportedly living a new life in anonymity somewhere, it's said, with a husband and child.
Personally speaking I was somewhat uneasy with both the title of this programme and its slant on the story as detracting from the heinous crimes committed and her crucial part in withholding valuable evidence which would undoubtedly have led to a quicker resolution and in so doing reduced the families' torment. At least the programme shows discretion over the actual murders, with no attempt at their recreation, a silent camera going up the stairs to the bathroom where Huntley likely killed Holly and Jessica, leaving it to the viewer's imagination as to what happened next. Neither of the two children or their families are shown as being portrayed at any stage, which again could be construed as being disrespectful to their memories by highlightibg instead a wholly undeserving person's part in concealing one of the most notorious crimes in recent British history.
As ever with productions like this the drama requires the creation and insertion of fictitious characters and scenes to "bolster" the narrative as we witness the different approaches of two competing journalists on the case, one a local reporter shown as the rather obvious caring, sympathetic father of a young daughter the same age as Holly and Jessica whose sympathetic, matter-of-fact approach is contrasted with that of a national tabloid female reporter out to sensationalise the story.
The lead performances by the actors playing Carr and Huntley are well-drawn with both bearing strong physical resemblances to their real-life counterparts while the direction itself was skilful and relatively subtle in faithfully following the timeline of events as they occurred.
Whether it was the correct aspect from which to tell this horrifying story, I remain to be convinced as I can't help but wonder how firstly the parents and other relatives of the dead children and also the real Carr in her new life would react to what they saw here. I personally suspect the former with dissatisfaction and the latter perhaps with unmerited vindication ...
