TV & Film
Manchester man named as main suspect in Netflix’s eerie new true crime series
Sophie’s murderer was never captured, but the suspicion has always been pinpointed on one man…
A Manchester man accused of murdering a young woman in 1996 has once again protested his innocence after Netflix brought the crime back into the spotlight with their latest true-crime series.
Across three episodes, Sophie: A Murder in West Cork delves into the unsolved murder of French national, Sophie Toscan Du Plantier, a thirty-nine year old film maker and mother of one.
Two days before Christmas in 1996, Sophie’s body was found outside of her holiday home in West Cork, Ireland, a place she would regularly escape to from her busy life back in France.
Sophie’s body bore clear signs of assault, with over fifty injuries primarily to the head – however, because a murder hadn’t occurred in the area for decades, the police had little to no experience with this type of investigation, so the body was left outside until the pathologist arrived the next day.
Netflix UK & Ireland
Given the time that elapsed before his arrival, it was almost impossible to pinpoint a time of death, and other forensic evidence may have been lost due to this delay.
The police looked into a handful of suspects for Sophie’s murder, including her husband, Daniel Toscan du Plantier, and former lover, Bruno Carbonnet. But eventually, police tried to pin the crime on one man – Ian Bailey, a journalist from Manchester who had moved to Ireland to work as a reporter. Eerily, he had actually covered Sophie’s murder.
The police brought Bailey in for questioning when they noticed suspicious scratch marks on his hands – Bailey later insisted that they had happened when he climbed a tree to cut it down for Christmas. However, the evidence continued to stack up against Bailey, such as the level of detail about the murder and Sophie’s injuries used in his articles.
Friends also revealed that Bailey had made a confession about going ‘too far’ to them, while another witness had come forward to say they had seen Bailey in the vicinity of du Plantier’s holiday home on the night of her murder.
Netflix UK & Ireland
Bailey was also known for previous incidents of domestic violence towards his partner – a psychiatrist’s report prepared for the murder trial concluded he had a ‘personality constructed on narcissism, psycho-rigidity, violence, impulsiveness, egocentricity, with an intolerance to frustration and a great need for recognition.’
On February 10th, 1997, Bailey was arrested, as was his partner, but both were released without charges. And then, in January 1998, Bailey – alone this time – was again arrested before being released without charges.
The issue was the evidence – or the lack of it. Bailey explained away his ‘confessions’ as dark humour or his reiterating what was being said about him. There had also been no indication of forced entry at Sophie’s home, indicating that she had willingly opened her door. And, most prominently, no forensic evidence was found to tie him to the murder.
And, to this very day, Bailey maintains his innocence – just last month, he confirmed that a fresh investigation into Sophie’s murder had been authorised by Gardaí (the Irish police) after the emergence of what he described as ‘new information.’
Netflix UK & Ireland
He wrote on Twitter: “For those who have not heard a comprehensive cold case of the murder file an investigation has been authorised by Commissioner Harris as a result of me writing to him and the emergence of new information… I pray the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth emerges.”
And, on the topic of Netflix’s investigation into the matter, Bailey had merely said that he suspected the documentary series about the murder will be ‘a piece of propaganda’ and ‘a piece of demonisation.’
Bailey does appear briefly in the documentary, but only gave Netflix ‘limited access.’
Sophie: A Murder In West Cork is available to stream on Netflix now.
TV & Film
Blue Lights: Series two of gripping Northern Ireland police drama launches tonight
Can’t wait for this!
The second season of the BBC‘s hit police drama Blue Lights launches tonight.
The broadcaster previously confirmed which cast members will return as well as the fresh faces who have joined the series for new episodes.
Set in Belfast, the drama followed a batch of new constables as they navigated a post-conflict Northern Ireland.
Before the first series even came to an end, a second series had already been commissioned. The new series will follow on one year later.
Reprising her star role as Grace Ellis is Sian Brooke, also joined by Martin Mccann as Stevie Neil, Katherine Devlin as Annie Conlon, Nathan Braniff as Tommy Foster and Joanne Crawford as Helen McNally.
Also returning are Andi Osho as Sandra Cliff, Hannah McClean as Jen Robinson, Paddy Jenkins as Happy Kelly, Desmond Eastwood as Murray Canning, Andrea Irvine as Nicola Robinson, Aoibhéann McCann as Geraldine Gilroy and Abigail McGibbon as Tina McIntyre.
New cast members joining the show are Frank Blake (Sanditon) as new Constable Shane Bradley, along with Seamus O’Hara (An Irish Goodbye) as Lee Thompson, and Seána Kerslake (Bad Sisters) as his sister Mags.
As well as Craig McGinlay (Cobra) as Craig, and Dan Gordon (Bloodlands) playing Mags and Lee’s Uncle Rab.
At the end of the last season, viewers watched on as the team lost Gerry, who tragically died after being shot by Sully, and the McIntyre Crime Gang collapsed.
In new episodes the new recruits, Grace, Annie and Tommy, are now fully fledged officers who have to face new turmoil as rival gangs try to fill the void after the downfall of the McIntyre’s.
More drama is promised in season two, as the synopsis continues: “Constable Shane Bradley is drafted in to help, but his motivations are unclear. Tommy is dangerously seduced by the world of intelligence policing, while Grace struggles to deal with her son’s absence, and growing feelings for fellow officer Stevie.
“As a young loyalist threatens to take over the city, the officers face a major gangland feud – culminating in a violent and devastating confrontation.”
Commenting on the series and teasing the upcoming episodes, writers and directors Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, said: “Blue Lights is a very personal project for us, set in the city where we live, so for us making this show is a special kind of privilege.
“In series two we join our officers exactly a year after the events of series one, and now they’re facing a whole new set of professional and personal challenges. We’re very excited indeed about bringing you this next chapter of the Blue Lights story. Take a beat!”
Season one landed on screens in March 2023 and received a slew of five-star reviews as well as more than 7 million viewers (28-day figure).
It was in the top ten new drama series of 2023 across all broadcasters and streamers, and the biggest drama series in Northern Ireland in 2023. More than half of the 28-day audience (56%) came from BBC iPlayer.
And fans had high praise for the first series, with one person saying: “Just finished watching Season 1 of Blue Lights (BBC iPlayer) and it’s superb. Gripping and properly moving. Hard to believe, I know, but it’s even better than Happy Valley.”
Blue Lights series two launches on BBC One tonight, Monday April 15th, at 9pm, with the full series available on iPlayer.
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TV & Film
Viewers left baffled at ITV’s The 1% Club’s final question as contestants ‘give up’
Did you know the answer?
The latest episode of ITV’s The 1% Club issued a final question which left viewers baffled as the last two contestants ‘gave up’.
The hit entertainment quiz show which is presented by comedian Lee Mack is known for its notoriously difficult last question – which it claims only 1% of the nation can answer correctly.
After smashing through a series of questions, the last two standing contestants, Maisie and Alex, made it through to the final 1% question, where they had the chance of walking away with the £100,000 prize money or risked losing it all.
But when the question was delivered, the pair were left completely baffled as 30 seconds on the clock ticked away.
Fans watching at home said they didn’t even bother trying to answer the difficult question and were left completely stumped.
Both Maisie and Alex made the decision not to take a gamble and answer the question for a chance to walk away with the £100,000 prize money as they chose to play it safe and take their £5,000 each instead.
The question was: “Given that: 0+100 =100, 1+99 = 100, 2+98 =100, What is the sum of all the whole numbers between zero and 100?”
Maisie and Alex both guessed 5,000 – which was the wrong answer.
Contestants only have 30 seconds to lock in their answer but even allowing themselves a little longer, viewers still struggled to work it out.
The correct answer was actually 5050.
Lee explained why as he revealed the answer, saying: “There are 50 pairs that total 100 (0 and 100, one and 99, two and 98, etc.). That makes 5000, but there is also the number 50 in the middle, that is not in a pair but also needs to be counted, giving a total of 5050.”
Fans of the show who were watching at home took to X to express how difficult they found the question. One viewer said: “I still have the last question on pause, trying to work out the question… never-mind the answer.”
Another wrote: “Hard questions this week. Last week, I got all the way. First time ever this week I was out at the beginning.”
While a third added: “I didn’t even try with that one. Maths is hard enough on a calculator for me, never mind doing it in my head in 30 seconds.”
TV & Film
BBC detective drama Shetland to return for two new series
There’s plenty more in store for viewers as we head back to the Isles
Popular BBC detective drama Shetland is returning for two new series.
The long-running crime drama will return with Ashley Jensen and Alison O’Donnell reprising their roles as Detectives Ruth Calder and Alison ‘Tosh’ McIntosh.
Filming on the next season, its ninth, will get underway later this month.
The broadcaster said Shetland was the biggest drama of the year across Scotland and all channels and streamers in 2023, after Yorkshire crime drama Happy Valley.
Last season averaged seven million viewers and was the first to see Ashley Jenson take the lead role after taking over from Douglas Henshall as Jimmy Perez – a role he played for a decade.
Ms Jenson said she was ‘thrilled’ to be coming back as Detective Calder.
She said: “The reaction to the last series was incredible and I’m excited at the prospect of unravelling more intrigue.
“The Shetland Isles are breath-taking – without a doubt one of the most memorable and unique filming locations I’ve been to.”
Ms O’Donnell also expressed that she ‘could not be happier’ about returning to film another series. She added: “Ashley and I just scratched the surface of our dynamic in Series 8 and I am delighted that we now have the opportunity to build on that.”
Fans of the programme will be delighted to know Steven Robertson (Sandy), Lewis Howden (Billy) and Anne Kidd (Cora) are also confirmed to return.
Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, said the news showed the corporation was ‘further strengthening’ its commitment to the show, which first aired in 2013.
The latest series will be written by Paul Logue and Denise Paul and produced by Silverprint Pictures, with filming scheduled to take place throughout this year and next.
We can’t wait for this!
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