Netflix has added Luke Evans' moving real-life true crime The Pembrokeshire Murders, which originally aired on ITV.
The three-part story, now on Netflix in the UK, sees Evans star as real-life detective DCS Steve Wilkins of the Dyfed-Powys Police force, who risked his reputation by reopening two unsolved double murder cases. Bizarrely, the killer's downfall was partly due to his appearance on the classic ITV game show Bullseye.
In 2006 Steve reopened two unsolved double murders. One was the killings of Peter and Gwenda Dixon as they walked on a Pembrokeshire coastal path in June 1989. That case bore similarities to a crime committed nearby four years earlier at Scoveston Manor. Steve thought that convicted burglar John Cooper (played by Keith Allen) was responsible for both crimes. However, Steve didn't have enough evidence and knew it was a race against time to gather it as Cooper was about to be released after serving time for a series of robberies.
Strangely, part of the evidence used to eventually convict Cooper of the killings was his appearance on Bullseye. A clip of Cooper appearing on Bullseye only a month before the Dixons were killed was shown to the jury, with the prosecution saying his appearance matched an artist's impression of a man seen withdrawing money using a bank card that belonged to the Dixons. Talking about working alongside Keith Allen, Luke said: "Keith is an incredible actor and there’s a manipulation and a dark sensibility to his performance that sends shivers up your spine. Oh my God, it's extraordinary."
The drama was critically acclaimed when it was screened on ITV in 2021 with a critic score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. Netflix can be a great way of discovering dramas you may have missed when they aired on television.
In October Netflix UK added A Confession, a true crime drama starring Martin Freeman. More recently Netflix UK added Temple, Mark Strong's thriller which saw him star as a doctor who operates an illegal surgery under a Tube station.
The Pembrokeshire Murders is available on Netflix and ITVX in the UK. ITVX additionally has a documentary about the case, The Pembrokeshire Murders: Catching the Gameshow Killer, which tells the real-life story. US viewers can watch The Pembrokeshire Murders via BritBox.
