Five Daughters (BBC-1 2010, Sarah Lancashire, Jaime Winstone)

Three part drama serial Five Daughters is a hard hitting account of the murders of five young women in the Ipswich area of the UK in 2006. Using the personal testimonies of those most closely involved. This is no crime drama of the Prime Suspect kind though, this is an emotional look at the lives of the victims, their last days before the dreadful events that befell them. The girls were all addicted to drugs and had unfortunately fallen into prostitution to fund their habits, their deaths sparked the biggest manhunt in the UK since the days of the Yorkshire Ripper.

Five Daughters is sometimes a hard watch but an important piece of drama nonetheless. Writer Stephen Butchard, who worked very closely with the girls families whilst scripting the production says “I very much wanted this to be about the girls. At the end I wanted people to feel a loss for the girls.” And at the end of the day that is it what makes the whole thing so poingant.

Stripped across three nights Five Daughters wasn’t actually filmed in Ipswich as clearly the murders are still a little too raw for the people of the city.

production details
UK / BBC One / 3×60 minute episodes / Broadcast Sunday 25 – Tuesday 27 April 2010

Writer: Stephen Butchard / Executive Producer: Susan Hogg

cast
JAIME WINSTONE as Anneli Alderton
JULIET AUBREY as Maire Alderton
SARAH LANCASHIRE as Rosemary Nicholls
IAN HART as Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull
EVA BIRTWHISTLE as Annette Nicholls
NATALIE PRESS as Paula Clennell
AISLING LOFTUS as Gemma Adams
KATE DICKIE as Isobella Clennell
AL WEAVER as Tom Alderton
SEAN HARRIS as Brian Tobin
DAVID BRADLEY as Patrick Palmer
LISA MILLET as WPC Janet Humphreys
RUTH NEGGA as Rochelle
KIERSTEN WAREING as Nina
ANTON LESSER as Dr Nat Carey
JOSEPH MAWLE as Tom Stephens