As with so many high-profile unsolved murders, the answer to the question “Who killed Jill Dando?” is “We will never know”. That’s why these programmes are usually so pointless, frankly, going over all the old theories, hunches and dead ends that the police and media have investigated over the ensuing decades. Production team after production team produce new programmes, but, inevitably, uncover no new evidence, witnesses or other material that would settle some of the speculation, let alone force an arrest or trial. This is – mostly – the path followed in this latest Netflix documentary on the murder of Dando a quarter of a century ago. Indeed, the essential and valuable insight offered by the three-part account of the murder is this: because the original suspect, Barry George, has been cleared, the police aren’t actively pursuing the case at all. So, unless someone confesses, and does so convincingly, there can be no closure.
The Netflix documentary does try to break new ground, though, and it features an interview with George, the man accused, convicted and later cleared of the murder of the TV star. But he sheds no new light on what happened. The case thus remains open, and creates a vacuum for speculation and future periodic, fairly futile, retellings of the story, ad infinitum.
