Fred West: The Glasgow Girls

I was expecting footnotes about the broader case of the Fred and Rose West but what emerged was a valid and resourced series of documentaries that explores the deeper reasons for the behaviour of the couple over time, and how and why it worsened. Anyone interested in this sorry tale will be intrigued and worried by some of the 'origin story' details. Rather than just a mildly interesting companion to the other materials created about Fred and Rose, this seems like seminal viewing regarding the whole shooting match. The interviews with previously obscure contacts of the West's victims were especially powerful, down to earth and incredibly concerning. Yet again, we are drawn to these multiple murderers but now with some real historical context. Well made, factually credible, highly original and believe it or not, still genuinely shocking.

Watching this compelling, horrid series and from previously unknow and untold stories from Scotland, I am plagued by the nagging question, did - Jane Carter Woodrow, give all or some of the money she made from their stories? I cannot see past these dire stories of wretched childhoods, juxtaposed with the narrative driven by Jane Carter Woodrow. It's clear from the start that these women were prayed upon by a failing system and of course Mr West.

I'm partway through but my viewing is contaminated with this question. I think Jane Carter Woodrow did a great job to bring it to the attention of the world, in such a way without having a single clue about what it was actually like to grow up in a place such as this. I do and did, which is perhaps why I find it so triggering to see a very well-to-do English, white woman driving the narrative to a lower-working-class community that fell prey to more than one element.