Channel 4’s Deceit: Interview with Writer and Executive Producer Emilia di Girolamo

Are you a fan of the true-crime genre?

I’m fascinated by the psychology of offending behaviour and interested in examining past cases in the hope we can learn lessons from them. I worked in prison for eight years and wrote a PhD on the use of drama based rehabilitative techniques to combat offending behaviours, so my interest in real crime cases is predominantly academic. I do think there are some real cases, like this one, that really merit looking at in more detail through the medium of drama.

How does Deceit differ to other true-crime dramas?

It has a unique female point of entry through ‘Lizzie James’, and because we start several months after the crime and focus on the undercover operation rather than on the murder itself or the investigation, that makes it very different. Also with the Public Enquiry into Undercover Policing examining the ethics and treatment of those involved within cases it was the perfect time to examine a story that I think few know about, and the treatment of the officer and impact for all involved. I’ve also taken a feminist perspective, putting a woman front and centre and looking at the impact of the case on her, how she was used and managed through the modern prism of MeToo. We’re in a time of cultural reappraisal of how we treat women, so it’s a perfect case to look back on with that in mind.

What pressures did ‘Lizzie’ face as a woman in the police at that time?

Women had to conform to this male hierarchical environment and try to fit in. I think in the ’90s, there was a pressure on women generally to conform to lad culture, so you needed to be able to wear a football shirt and drink six pints with the lads but also be comfortable with being constantly sexualised.

How did you become involved?

A Channel 4 drama commissioner felt I was the right fit for the project and introduced me to Dave Nath and Pete Beard at Story Films. I was really impressed with Dave and Pete, their intelligence and the level of research they’d conducted. It was a meeting of minds and I think they were relieved about not having to explain the story to me, because I’d read every single book on the case at the time they were published. I was at university in London when the investigation happened so I also had that awareness of it at the time.

Going back to the case as a writer, what revelations were there?

What I knew at the time came primarily from the press and the books written by the men involved in the case. I didn’t know “Lizzie’s” unique perspective, she is protected by a lifetime anonymity order so it was imperative to all of us that we protected that. We had incredible access to audio and video that hadn’t been seen or heard before. I listened to tapes and read transcripts of every single conversation between “Lizzie” and Colin Stagg. We also had access to the letters, and the recordings and transcripts of both Colin’s police interviews, one of which lasted for two days. I also spoke at length to nearly all the key players – Colin, Keith Pedder, Alan Jackaman, Micky Banks, other undercover officers… I was able to see this whole new side to it in terms of how Lizzie was used and treated. She was vilified and hung out to dry by the press and the judge in his summing-up. Looking at that with modern sensibilities, I had a very different view. I was also interested in the way Colin was presented in the media at the time, the lumping-in of paganism with satanism in the wave of 90’s Satanic Panic and the sheer level of confirmation bias towards him.

Did you attempt to contact Lizzie and Paul Britton?

Story Films were in contact with Paul Britton and he was made aware of the project. It’s easy to look back and make judgements, but he was a criminal psychologist who gave up his time freely to help the police. He wanted to help. The real “Lizzie” is aware of what we were doing as well, but there’s a whole life anonymity court order on her, so it became really important to protect that, which we did by fictionalising aspects of her personal life.

How did you find working with verbatim transcripts and trying to bring them to life?

It was a long process. We looked at all the transcripts and how we could distil everything into a four hour drama that told the narrative in an accurate way, while being mindful of the fact we needed to fictionalise elements to protect identities.

How were Colin Stagg and Keith Pedder?

They were both incredibly open with me, I don’t think there was anything they weren’t willing to talk about and they answered every question I asked them. I found them both very intelligent and felt they both had real integrity. I didn’t get any sense either of them had an axe to grind. I think Colin obviously felt a portion of his life had been stolen from him, but he’s a very mild-mannered and gentle man, not an angry person. Keith was very philosophical about the whole thing, he was trying to do the right thing, I don’t think anyone can question his motives at all.

Why did the Met invest so much in the criminal profile?

Keith Pedder was incredibly passionate about helping Rachel’s family and finding her killer. He approached it with the right intentions, but he was young and it was the first murder investigation he’d headed up. They had nothing other than a few witnesses and the media pressure was intense. Keith and Paul flew out to Quantico to discuss the case with FBI officers who concurred with the profile. When they went on Crimewatch, several people phoned in and named Colin, who looked incredibly like Robert Napper [the man eventually convicted of Rachel Nickell’s murder] and matched the profile. Keith was blindly guided in that respect, but everything he did was approved at the very top of the Met.

What were the key differences between how the police approached the Rachel Nickell and Samantha Bissett murders, for which Robert Napper was convicted?

I’m not sure the initial approach was that different. It was only when the police failed to find forensics in Rachel’s case that they began to rely heavily on witnesses, circumstantial evidence and criminal profiling, which is when Colin Stagg came into the frame and became their main focus. In Samantha and her daughter Jazmine’s murders there were fingerprints which, when they were rechecked, came back to Napper and the case was solved quite quickly.

What does the case tell us about Britain then and now?

It provides an opportunity to learn lessons from the past, to look back on the way Lizzie was handled and dehumanised and vilified and blamed, so no female undercover officer is treated that way again. She didn’t have the support she should have had and was asked to do things I hope we wouldn’t ask a female officer to do now.

What do the cast bring to their roles?

Niamh [Algar] has the most incredible ability to embody a character and get to the heart of those dark emotions. She’s strong and vulnerable at the same time, and could play that ’90s woman really believably, but with a strength and agency that feels contemporary. Eddie [Marsan] is one of the most brilliant actors this country has produced, and my first choice for Paul Britton from day one. He brings integrity to every part he plays, and captured Paul in a nuanced, clever way when I suppose other dramatisations could have painted him as a villain. Sion [Daniel Young] is going to be a huge star. We saw a lot of tapes for Colin but when we saw Sion’s tape, Dave Nath and I stopped the tape to text each other, saying Sion was the one, we didn’t know that we were both watching him at the same time. His performance is so clever, bringing Colin to life with so much empathy while also making him very scary at times in the way many people at the time wrongly alluded him to be. Keith is a man of integrity and Harry [Treadaway] got that, bringing tremendous warmth to him. His performance is subtle, never showy or attention grabbing.

What have the biggest challenges and personal highlights of the project?

Having to exclude some material I found utterly compelling. I couldn’t have told the whole story even in ten parts as there’s just so much. The most rewarding thing was getting to work with Story Films with their factual rigour, intelligence and integrity.

Does Deceit feel like a culmination of something for you?

Absolutely. Despite having worked in the industry for 14 years, this is the first drama that’s mine and not coming from an IP. It’s the sort of project I’ve wanted to write since leaving working in the prison sector and becoming a writer – my heart lies in looking at past crimes from a feminist perspective and rewriting the history we thought we knew.

Deceit Premieres 13 August at 9.00pm on Channel 4.