Well done, I suppose, to whoever came up with the title of this documentary about the 1991 disappearance of 18-year-old Nicola Payne. It’s a concept so exceptionally horrifying – a brutal killing that continues on indefinitely – that it stands out even in the oversaturated and grimly sensationalist true-crime landscape. At least it bears no connection to the facts: there isn’t any suggestion that Nicola was subject to an unusually protracted death. Instead, The Never Ending Murder is about one family’s infinite struggle to endure such a loss.
It’s also a nightmarishly surreal title for what turns out to be not only a sensitive true-crime series, but a very conventional one. The story, narrated primarily by Nicola’s relatives, unfolds strictly chronologically. From her father, brothers and friends we learn that she was the longed-for daughter after four boys, a “tomboyish” girl who could often be found in the pub with her mates in the friendly working class area of Coventry she grew up in. At the time of her disappearance, she and her boyfriend Jason had recently had a baby boy called Owen, to whom she was utterly devoted.
