In 1985, the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace ship involved in protests against nuclear testing in the Pacific, sank when it was docked in Auckland, New Zealand. Police and even some crew members initially suspected that something had gone wrong with the boat, but it soon became clear that this was no accident. Over three parts, the gripping Murder in the Pacific tells the story of what happened that night, and what came next. “We’d never had a case like that,” says detective Chris Martin, who was 25 when he received the call to work on the investigation.
Despite much of the story taking place almost 40 years ago, this tangled tale of nuclear weapons, geopolitical coverups and attempts to take action against impending environmental collapse is about as current as it is possible to get. With the Doomsday Clock moving closer to midnight, the idea of watching politicians argue that nuclear weapons act as a peacekeeping deterrent may be galling. But alongside the tragedy, both individual and on an international scale, this is a fascinating, pacy history with all the markings of a thriller.
