The Pembrokeshire Murders is unmissable

January: a time of long dark nights and gloomy days – it can appear as if you’re living in a crime drama whenever you look out of the window.

So it’s perhaps the ideal time for ITV to launch another in its long line of series based on real cases, something it’s become rather good at making over the years.

The station has been the home of such acclaimed programmes as White House Farm, Little Boy Blue, Honour, Appropriate Adult, In Plain Sight and, most recently, Des.

In October it was announced that a series about the hunt for Peter Sutcliffe, aka the Yorkshire Ripper, had been commissioned, but before that comes The Pembrokeshire Murders, which reteams star Luke Evans with Simon Heath; they previously collaborated on The Great Train Robbery drama.

While Evans is the more recognisable of the pair thanks to his roles in the likes of Dracula Untold, The Girl on the Train, The Hobbit and the live action version of Beauty and the Beast, Heath’s pedigree is second to none. He started out as a writer, penning scripts for Byker Grove and, as head of World Productions, has since produced such small screen hits as Line of Duty, Bodyguard, Save Me and Ultraviolet.

The Pembrokeshire Murders deals with the efforts of Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins to find whoever was responsible for two unsolved double murders committed in the 1980s.

Evans plays Wilkins who, at the start of the drama in 2006, has recently been promoted. He decides to reopen both cases, believing that cutting-edge forensic science, unavailable to the original investigative team, could help unmask the killer. Sure enough, microscopic DNA and fibres link the culprit to a spate of burglaries committed at around the same time.

The man responsible, John Cooper, is already behind bars, having been convicted for those crimes. But with his sentence coming to an end, Wilkins believes it’s only a matter of time before he’s back behind bars, possibly for good. Told across three gripping episodes broadcast on consecutive nights, the programme painstakingly reconstructs what happened, including Cooper’s appearance on an episode of Bullseye, which resulted in him being identified by several witnesses.

“It is a privilege to be playing the role of Steve Wilkins in The Pembrokeshire Murders and working again with Simon Heath, his team at World Productions and ITV,” remarks Evans, who is also thrilled to be back in his native Wales. “It’s a huge responsibility for me as the drama depicts a true crime which to this day still affects the families of those whose lives were tragically taken.”

ITV’s drama chief Polly Hill adds: “Nick Stevens’ script is a fascinating and insightful account into how and why the Dyfed Powys Police team reopened this cold case and brought a serial killer to justice after he’d evaded capture for nearly two decades. I have wanted to work with Luke Evans again since we made The Great Train Robbery, which Simon Heath and World Productions also produced. I’m delighted that The Pembrokeshire Murders is that project, as Luke will be incredible as Steve Wilkins and this is going to be an unmissable drama for our ITV audience.”

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