143: A Confession and Let Him Have It

The Blotter Presents

Allison Lowe Huff returns for a UK docudrama two-fer, starting with A Confession, ITV's miniseries from last year about the murders of Sian O'Callaghan and Becky Godden, and the confession to them that cracked the cases but ruined a detective's career. Did we need more than six episodes with these people? Did Steve Fulcher's book have more crackpot theories than the TV adaptation allowed for? And is anyone worse than Pete? (Spoiler: no.) [NB: I discovered after recording that Britbox isn't available to those without a British CC or debit card. My apologies!] [Update: You can get it via Amazon Prime!]
Later, we discussed another scripted take on a big case: Derek Bentley's death sentence and the hole it left at the center of his family in Let Him Have It. Despite the occasional weird choice (what's with the hair?), Let Him Have It makes it clear why the UK moved away from capital punishment after this case, and why Christopher Eccleston is an international treasure (and Murray Melvin should be). It's a cavalcade of Midsomer Murders guest stars in The Blotter Presents, Episode 143.
SHOW NOTES

• A Confession on Britbox
• The murder of Sian O'Callaghan
• Let Him Have It on Amazon
• The Derek Bentley case
• The Pierrepoint family of hangmen (and the tweet thread that opened this wormhole for Al)
• Al at MHz Choice
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