NEW ITV DRAMA

MANHUNT

The Night Stalker

starring

MARTIN CLUNES

produced by

BUFFALO PICTURES

Embargo: Not for publication before 00.01 on September 9th 2021

Martin Clunes stars as the former London Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Colin Su- tton in a sequel to the critically acclaimed drama Manhunt.

Manhunt The Night Stalker, a four part drama, is the real life story of the police pursuit of a notorious serial burglar and rapist, whose 17 year reign of terror left thousands of elderly people in south east London living in fear. It is based on the diaries of Colin Sutton.

BAFTA award winning actor Martin Clunes will again take the role of DCI Sutton, the detective portrayed in the first series of Manhunt tenaciously pursuing serial killer Levi Bellfield.

The first series of Manhunt attracted an average audience of nine million viewers, and was the highest rated new drama on any channel during 2019. The drama also won many plaudits for Martin Clunes!"portrayal of the dedicated detective.

Manhunt The Night Stalker is devised by Colin Sutton and Ed Whitmore. The drama is written by Ed Whitmore (Viewpoint, Silent Witness, Rillington Place, Strike Back) who also wrote the first series of Manhunt, which told the real life story of how the murder of Amelie Delagrange on Twick- enham Green in 2004 was eventually linked to the murder of Marsha McDonnell in 2003 and the abduction and murder of Milly Dowler in 2002.

This sequel is based on the true story of the police investigation of a series of rapes, sexual assaults and burglaries which took place in South East London between 1992 and 2009. A dedicated unit, Operation Minstead, was established to hunt down the man who became known as the Night Stalker.

As the suspect continued to evade capture, Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton was asked in 2009 to review the case. Working with Detective Superintendent Simon Morgan and the Min- stead team, the tenacious detective proposed a strategy he believed could catch one of Britain's most prolific rapists, focusing a vast surveillance operation around a key area of south east Lon- don.

Scores of additional officers were deployed to invisibly saturate the target area on a nightly ba- sis. The clock was ticking, as the Night Stalker was becoming ever more brazen and prolific.

Both dramas are produced by Buffalo Pictures. The executive producer is Philippa Braithwaite, the producer is Jo Willett, the co-producer is Evie Bergson-Korn, the director is Marc Evans. Ed Whitmore, who is also an executive producer.

Commented Philippa Braithwaite:

#We are very pleased that ITV have given us the opportunity to dramatise another important case that Colin Sutton was involved in just before his retirement from the force. This inquiry has a very different emphasis to the Bellfield case; the victims were elderly and the crimes were unsolved for many years. The drama explores how Colin came late to the inquiry and helped solve it in a matter of weeks, taking an incredibly dangerous serial rapist off the streets."

Commented Polly Hill:

#I"m delighted that Martin Clunes will play DCI Colin Sutton once again, taking on a case that had gone unsolved for almost two decades. The team behind the first Manhunt - Ed Whitmore, Marc Evans, along with Buffalo and Philippa Braithwaite - will make sure this is another compelling and respectful dramatisation of a truly shocking crime that affected so many families."

MARTIN CLUNES

What is the Manhunt The Night Stalker about?

Manhunt The Night Stalker is the real life story of the investigation into the so-called Night Stalker: a notorious serial burglar and rapist whose 17 year reign of terror left thousands of elderly people in south east London living in fear of going to bed at night.

There are so many layers to the story because of the time in Colin Sutton"s life when he came to the investigation is central to the story, along with the age of the case. To start with Colin has successfully caught Levi Bellfield, and so it is celebrated. But also it makes him a bit of a tall poppy (someone who needs to be cut down to size) in police terms.

Then he gets asked to see if he can assist with this 17 year old case which already has a more senior officer at the head of it, but who is not making any headway. So you have got the case that needs fixing and you have the dynamics of a team which has been slogging its guts out over a horrible case for a great many years, and not getting anywhere.

Also they have just had a review before he turned up, so the sense of being supervised or criticised or watched over as they work doesn"t make Colin terribly popular with them. Coupled with what he perceives as a good dose of tall poppy syndrome, he has got to deal with that as well as trying to get through the case.

What brought about the stalemate of the case I think is that they found the offender's DNA so early, so everything was invested in trying to match the DNA, with a mass DNA swabbing pro- gramme, and that is sort of what confounded them, although it is such golden evidence when it is the right DNA. But when you have got a DNA and you are just trying to find a match to it, it is very hard especially with a criminal who is so meticulous in his planning.

Why were you interested in taking the role of DCI Colin Sutton again?

I was fascinated by the role the last time I played DCI Colin Sutton, and got very invested in the notion of the police to the extent that I now feel a bit defensive if they come under attack in the media, or feel disappointed when a police officer does something disappointing which is flagged up by the media.

The first Manhunt had gone so well, and everything about it we were happy with: not portraying the actual detail of the crimes, but the solutions. I think this case is in a way more dramatic than

the Levi Bellfield case in the first series. What Ed (Whitmore- the writer) did with the story is extraordinarily dramatic.

How did you prepare to play the role of this senior Metropolitan Police Detective?

I met Colin on a number of occasions which was hugely helpful for playing him. Hearing Colin"s stories about his former colleagues and his respect for people, just putting that into place when you see a real group of detectives was massively useful.

When Marc Evans, the director, and I spent the day with Hampshire Police serious crime squad and finding out how rank operated and fitting Colin into that rank, and then adding his personality to the operation, and how he worked within the rank system, was sort of a key to playing the role. Then adding his strengths and doggedness and decency.

You have not wanted to play police officers in the past why was this different? Why were you persuaded to play DCI Colin Sutton.

Because of Colin Sutton in a way, and because it was real. I never really subscribed to the stock TV detective who was either an alcoholic, part time undertaker or oil painter as well as a cop. But this was really interesting because of the nature of Colin and his approach to resolving that crime.

How did you portray Colin Sutton?

The character is my idea of a version of Colin. There were no prosthetics like when Gary Oldman played Winston Churchill. I didn"t go for a photographic reproduction. It is just my version of Colin, which Colin told me his partner said I nailed, and said I was a better spoken, thinner Colin.

Did the glasses and the clothes help you to get into character?

In a way they helped me. The tummy you look down on, and what it is wrapped, in is very helpful.

Does the drama show any of the horrific detail of the crimes committed by the Night Stalker?

No nothing at all. How it reverberates is shown, but there are no scenes depicting the crimes. As with the first Manhunt, it is not about the crimes it is about the solutions.

I think we are honest, we don"t glamourise anything, we don"t sensationalise anything. Some things are altered for the sake of dramatisation, but it is a drama and not a documentary.

We don"t see any of the crimes take place in the drama. They are real and abhorrent crimes, and to see them re-enacted would be wrong for this particular drama. Manhunt"s focus is on dogged, painstaking, real police work.

Throughout the production process, it was crucially important to me that we respected the victims and their families. Equally, we wanted to portray the determination and dedication of former DCI Colin Sutton and his police colleagues, whose investigation brought the Night Stalker to jus- tice.

Is this story shown through the eyes of Colin Sutton and his team or does it relate to some aspects of the earlier investigation?

It relates to some of the earlier aspects of the investigation but none of that is included in the ac- tion. It is referred to because the offender is still active, even as Colin comes on board. On his very first day on the investigation there is a crime ( suspected to have been committed by the Night Stalker).

They just keep happening, there is two in one night, which is why I think he thought something had to be done. The age of the victims meant his crimes were not making newspaper headlines.

How did the story of Manhunt affect you?

It affected me just because of the nature of the crimes. With raping and sexually assaulting peo- ple, you think what is wrong with this guy. Obviously a lot is wrong with him. He is such an extraordinary mixture. The line that Colin had in the script when he"s finally caught, Colin says $I"m so pleased to meet you", which I loved. It seemed a very police way of dealing with it: happy to meet him because it meant he was in captivity, and happy to meet him in order to wrap up the case.

At the end of the day they did get him, and God knows how many more victims there might have been if the team hadn"t caught the Night Stalker.

What did you learn about major crime investigations from working on Manhunt?

With the first series I was interested to discover how the ranks in the police work, which I carried over to this second drama.

I observed the work of a major incident team at Hampshire Police who were investigating a murder when I was preparing for the role in the first series.

The one thing I was most keen to observe, because I live in a world without rank, was how rank affected people, and how people interacted in that working environment.

I learnt so much, particularly about how much teamwork plays a part in their work.

Everybody was completely focused. Seeing that focus and how that worked was invaluable. It helped me immeasurably.

I think it was important for us to show the teamwork involved in a major investigation and that it wasn"t just about one person.

It was a massive eye opener. As an ordinary member of the public you are never going to see how a major investigation works.

Were you aware of this police investigation before the drama came about?

I was aware of the crimes. I knew the area because I went to school around there.

Did you do any research into the Night Stalker crimes?

I think there is more than enough detail in the script. I wasn"t looking for every detail. I tend to stick to whatever is on the pages. That is the job of work I am doing on the day.

What other work you have been doing?

I was filming a new documentary series for ITV - Islands of the Pacific -when the first Covid lock- down happened, so we still have that to complete. All the research is in place. We are ready to move fast as and when we can.

We were due to film the tenth series of Doc Martin this year, but we postponed filming until next year because of Covid.

FORMER DETECTIVE CHIEF INSPECTOR COLIN SUTTON

Manhunt won many plaudits - were you pleased by the reaction to it, both the TV drama and your book?

After the first series of Manhunt I had messages from constables to chief constables to say how they appreciated the authenticity of it, and how we had made it much more real for people who are not involved to see what it is really like to do one of these high profile serious investigations.

What did you think of Martin Clunes!"portrayal of you?

He took it on in his own way. It wasn"t a mimicking of me. But he dealt with in the understated deadpan sort of way I think I used to work. So I appreciated that very much. People who know me say he managed to capture some of the essence of me in his mannerisms and the way he spoke. So he obviously did a good observational job in the time we spent together as well. I was thrilled with it. I thought it was a fantastic performance.

What do you hope the reaction to this new series will be?

I hope that the main reactions to it are similar to the first series in some ways - $didn"t they do well in the end and wasn"t that a terrible series of crimes these poor people suffered".

What I hope is the general public take to it and find it as compelling as they did the first one. I hope I get as many nice messages from police officers of all ranks. I hope people see it as as very real, very authentic and tells the story in a way and from a viewpoint that is not often told in drama. That was the plan with the first one. From the scripts of the second series I think we have achieved that again. The people with the remote controls are the final arbiters of that.

You have been involved in a number of television documentaries. How did you feel about being involved in a dramatisation?

By the time it was broadcast I had got used to it. When I saw the first cuts of it it was a little bit odd. I think it was done so well, both in the way they wrote it and the way Martin performed it. It didn"t cause me any difficulties, or fears or worries about it. The whole thing was not just for me, but for the other people from the team as well.

We have all said we find it a little bit humbling in some ways that so many people are interested in watching what we lived for real. It makes you take a step back and think about things. As if we needed it, it is more realisation that we achieved something pretty fantastic.

What did you think of the attention to detail in the production?

I was surprised by the fact that I was given so much credence and so much involvement in how we put it together and how the art department went into absolute painstaking minute detail to make things right. All the way through I was given the opportunity, from the scripts to the art, to some of the ways of the direction to make sure we get this authentic feel.

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ITV plc published this content on 06 September 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 06 September 2021 17:31:08 UTC.