Real-life killer cold case with added chills
THE PEMBROKESHIRE MURDERS ITV, 9pm
STAR of stage and screen Luke Evans returns to Wales to take the lead in this chilling true crime mini-series from the makers of Line of Duty.
Fol lowing the real police investigation into the pursuit of a serial killer, this drama will grip viewers for three consecutive nights.
Evans, best known for roles in Beauty and the Beast, The Alienist and Dracula Untold, plays Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins, who decides to reopen the cold case of a brutal murder that was never solved.
Known locally as the Coastal Path murders, he is shocked to discover links to two other notorious unsolved crimes.
The prime suspect, a local man named John William Cooper, was imprisoned for a number of burglaries and robberies back in 1998. And if Steve is right, and Cooper is not just a murderer but a serial killer, the team must work quickly to find the crucial evidence they need to charge him before he is granted parole.
Cooper is played by Keith Allen, who gives us a brilliantly chilling performance.
Meanwhile, Evans is captivating as the troubled cop with family strife and a case he’s intent on cracking. He instigates Operation Ottawa, with a team of of f icers employing pioneering forensic methods and searching for the key piece of DNA evidence they need.
But time is running out. If Cooper is released on parole, Wilkins is certain he will kill again.
Spanners in the works include senior officers who aren’t keen to green- light the operation and a journalist who wants to make a badly-timed documentary.