The Real Stonehouse

The story of John Stonehouse is truly remarkable, the tale of a former government minister who faked his own suicide, but whose plan to build a new life in Australia was foiled when someone suspected he was Lord Lucan (a British aristocrat to disappeared around the same time, probably after murdering his children's nanny). Following a recent ITV drama about him, this documentary fills in the facts. I found the drama unsatisfying because (accurately or not) it presented Stonehouse as a preening idiot; but if we wanted a more rounded portrait of the man, we don't really get it here. Maybe the truth really was that simple; but none of the talking heads interviewed here seem to have known him very well. We are presented with the outline facts, but few real insights into what was really going through his mind. Maybe there's no deep explanation for his extraordinary behaviour; but there's a jocular tone to both drama and documentary that manages to make the story less interesting than you might have expected.