Buried secrets
LANDSCAPERS SKY ATLANTIC, 9pm
OLIVIA Colman and David Thewlis are captivating as eccentric real-life murderers in this filmlike retelling of a shocking crime.
They play Susan and Chris Edwards, a boring-looking middleaged couple who seem as if they’ve never so much as had a parking fine.
But they are on the run in France, having buried her parents in the back garden of their Nottinghamshire house 15 years earlier.
Written by Ed Sinclair, Colman’s husband, it is based on the true story of the couple, who were jailed for life in June 2014 for killing Susan’s parents and making off with £300,000 of their assets –although they maintain they are innocent of murder.
It could lend itself to a classic truecrime format, but a bold concept lifts this into something special. Scenes suddenly slip into black-and-white, characters break the fourth wall to talk to camera and leap into different times and places, while flashback scenes play out like movies within the drama.
There’s comedy and wit, too, especially from the British cops.
Even the most mundane of scenes has a gorgeous, cinematic feel and, of course, the drama is in good hands with Colman and Thewlis, two of our greatest actors.
Susan, frumpy and fragile, takes solace in her love of Hollywood memorabilia and Western movies, which is where most of their money has gone.
Meanwhile, Chris does his best to take care of her, but decides that the more they run, the more guilty they will look. So they decide to head back to England and face the music…