What to watch
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
BBC TWO, 9.00PM
Ryan Murphy’s true crime series follows up 2016’s dramatisation of the OJ Simpson trial with the story of serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who murdered at least five people over a three-month period, including the fashion designer Gianni Versace. Murphy and scriptwriter Tom Rob Smith use the word assassination very carefully here: the operatic opening scenes depict Versace (Édgar Ramírez) as a modern-day Medici prince, dispensing cheerful patronage to all in his Miami Beach fiefdom. By contrast, Cunanan (Darren Criss) is portrayed as a man so insecure in his own skin that he is almost physically incapable of telling the truth: “You tell gay people you’re gay and straight people you’re straight,” exclaims an exasperated friend. “I tell people what they need to hear,” comes the too-calm reply.
Both Criss and Ramirez are excellent and there’s strong support from Ricky Martin as Versace’s bewildered live-in boyfriend and a perhaps slightly too-camp Penélope Cruz as Donatella. Smith’s solid script does a good job of juggling various timelines to show how this particular killer came to be. Sarah Hughes
Save Me