White House Farm: What the Must Watch reviewers think

Tuesday 7 January 2020, 15:09

Every week Scott Bryan and Hayley Campbell review the biggest TV and streaming shows, alongside 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake on the Must Watch podcast.

This week, they shared their thoughts on White House Farm, ITV’s new 'factual drama', which tells the story of an infamous murder case from the 1980s.

The series stars Freddie Fox, Mark Addy, Stephen Graham and Gemma Whelan. It premieres on ITV on Wednesday 8 January 2019 at 21:00 GMT.

Listen to the latest episode of the Must Watch podcast on BBC Sounds.

Subscribe here, and never miss an episode.

(Photo credit: ITV)

Hayley says: “It doesn’t just focus on what happened, it’s trying to dig into why”

"On a night in August 1985, five people were shot and killed in a farmhouse in Essex. All the victims were related. There were two parents, their adoptive daughter and her six-year-old twins. This was a big story because the police initially believed that Sheila, who was the adoptive daughter and suffered from schizophrenia, was the murderer.

"But doubt started to be cast on this and it turned out that it wasn’t her, it was her adoptive brother Jeremy. He was then arrested and is still in jail – and his lawyers are still trying to appeal the case.

"This drama is six parts, and it’s not a straight a police procedural. It talks about the emotional aspect of it and because they have such a great cast it doesn’t feel exploitative or sensationalist. It gives life to background that we don’t know about. They’ve gone deep into research, they’ve worked with surviving family members to write this and it feels really good. I really liked it.

"It feels really well done. It doesn’t just focus on what happened, it’s trying to dig into why."

(Photo credit: ITV)

Scott says: "The overwhelming feeling I get is being sad and gutted"

"It’s certainly got that element of sensitivity around it. But the opening episode, there’s no way around it, it is a bleak hour of TV as the police enter the house.

"It tries to find some path of logic into what happened there, and it doesn’t feel sensationalist.

"I personally don’t know whether I would be keen to watch six hours of this as a case. It’s well acted.

"Everything that Stephen Graham is in is always fantastic. I think for my own sake, in terms of wanting to go and watch a show about this, there isn’t anything that makes me say 'OK, I want to invest my time', when the overwhelming feeling I get is being sad and gutted."