Raoul Thomas Moat wasn’t the first and won’t be the last self-pitying, self-righteous, narcissistic example of violent toxic masculinity, but he was certainly one of the most destructive. ITV’s three-part The Hunt for Raoul Moat is a superbly directed (by Gareth Bryn) dramatisation of Moat’s last murderous days on earth in the summer of 2010, during which he managed to evade the police for a week and kill, maim and destroy the lives of those around him. He took his own life in a final pathetic act of nihilism, caught by the television cameras in grainy nighttime vision, his sawn-off shotgun pointed at his head. It was the ultimate insult heaped on his victims that he escaped justice. The manhunt around Northumbria as Moat escalated his threats to kill random members of the public gripped the nation. The drama is a tense and faithful re-enactment of what happened, and why.
From the off, we’re rooting for the two lead police officers and the local crime reporter who are hunting Moat down, portrayed with a grim determination by Lee Ingleby, Vineeta Rishi and Sonya Cassidy, respectively. Matt Stokoe is chillingly believable as Moat – you feel intimidated every time his angry face appears on screen. Stokoe has a certain passing resemblance to the killer, with at least some of Moat’s hulking bodybuilder physique. Moat was an imposing and powerful man, but, despite some obvious psychological flaws, wasn’t a particularly complex individual, and Stoke captures the way Moat’s emotional void is filled with vanity and pride. In place of love is a passion to control others, and where you’d hope to find reason there is only brute force and an overeating arrogance. As we see, Moat is a man who feels no compunction about publishing his supposed grievances online or calling 999 to declare war on his enemies. As he returns from a jail term for hurting a child, we see him blame the police and social services for him losing his job, his house, his children and his missus. Everything is always someone else’s fault.
