DUE PROCESS
IMELDA STAUNTON AND MARTIN FREEMAN STAR IN A TRUE CRIME STORY…
Det Superintendent Steve Fulcher’s investigation into the murder of 22-year-old Sian O’callaghan resulted in the conviction of taxi driver Christopher Halliwell, as well as the revelation that he’d also killed 20-year-old Becky Godden-edwards. But it also resulted in Fulcher being found guilty of gross misconduct and resigning as, at the time of the confession, he hadn’t cautioned Halliwell or offered him access to a solicitor. This new ITV drama explores the enquiry and its aftermath, and we caught up with Martin Freeman, who stars as Steve, and Imelda Staunton, who plays Becky’s mother, Karen…
How did it feel playing these real-life people?
Martin You do feel a sense of responsibility, I guess, to attend to the truth of something
– and it’s all the more apparent when the person you’re playing is alive and well, and has a family and may be watching. Imelda They asked, “Would you like to meet Karen?” and I said, “No.” Then I thought, “You absolutely must, you idiot.” So we had a five-hour meeting, and she was terribly nice and welcoming, and forthcoming. I wanted to get a feel, not of what happened, but of the person, realising the energy she has, and that her fuel is driven by, I suppose, grief and rage. She’s a real force.
Did it make you think about the case, and whether what Dsupt Fulcher did was right?
Martin He didn’t have to do it, but to get the information he wanted, he sort of did. Steve Fulcher’s point is that if he’d been brought back to
the station, his brief would have told him to say, “No comment.” He didn’t want him to stay silent; he wanted him to talk. I can’t see that morally he did something terrible – he got a man to a state where he volunteered information that turned out to be true. If he hadn’t done it, a family would be without the knowledge of what happened to their child.
Was it a tough job to shake off at the end of the day?
Martin No, I never have any problem with that – but I was more tired on this job than I’ve been for ages, and I guess part of that was the subject matter. And it was a heavy workload.
Imelda We were doing it for three months. I’m not surprised that poor Martin was tired – on an emotional level, it was really up and down for him…