Cold Case Forensics looks at the Murder of Rachel Nickell

Are we in danger of being overloaded with true crime documentaries?

In recent years, perhaps due to the success of Netflix’s all-conquering Making a Murderer, the number of them hitting our screens seems to have exploded.

The streaming giant is pretty prolific; it feels as if a new entry in the genre appears on the platform every week – the likes of Our Father, Tiger King, Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes and I Am A Killer among those keeping viewers on the edge of their seats.

But we’ve been ‘treated’ to such programmes on other channels too – Channel 4’s In the Footsteps of Killers, for instance, is currently midway through its second series, and follows the efforts of Professor David Wilson and ex-detective Dr Graham Hill, with help from Emilia Fox, to crack cold cases.

Fox has, of course, spent years solving fictional crimes as Nikki Alexander in the BBC drama Silent Witness; the final two episodes of its 26th series were due to be shown earlier in the week. Now ITV is launching a new three-part true crime documentary featuring a real-life forensic scientist who leads her own version of the Lyell team.

Dr Angela Gallup never intended to spend her career delving into the murky world of murder – she studied botany at the University of Sheffield and biochemistry at Oxford. But after finding that few people were interested in her doctorate research into sea slugs on the Isle of Wight, she joined the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in 1974.

Four years later, she visited her first crime scene while looking for clues concerning the murder of 18-year-old Helen Rytka, who was later revealed to be a victim of Peter Sutcliffe, aka The Yorkshire Ripper.

Since leaving the FSS in 1986, Gallup has set up her own forensic companies; her expertise has led to her involvement in several high-profile cases, including the mysterious hanging of Italian banker Roberto Calvi in 1991, the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed, the killing of Damilola Taylor and the Pembrokeshire coastal path murders.

“She is the doyenne of her profession,” William Clegg QC, a retired defence lawyer who specialised in serious crime, told the Guardian for a profile piece about her. “If I had a forensic issue in a case, then it was always the same instructions to the team: phone Angela Gallop.”

This new series discusses her work on a trio of other well-publicised murders – those of Rachel Nickell, Lynette White and Stephen Lawrence. All three were described as ‘cold’ before she and her team’s involvement. Convictions have since been secured for them all, and the programme reveals the tireless scientific work that enabled that to happen.

Gallup herself makes it sound simple: “Every contact leaves a trace. It’s just whether or not we’re clever enough to find it.”

Thankfully she and her team are. So whether you’re a fan of true crime documentaries or not, you have to admire the work and skill of those featured in this particular entry in the genre.