The MYVERDICT Staircase
Sky Atlantic/ NOW
★★★★★
When I first heard they were making a TV drama about the 2001 death of Kathleen Peterson, who was found at the foot of the staircase in the North Carolina mansion where she lived with her husband Michael, my first reaction was, “What’s the point?” This was a case, after all, which was covered in great detail by a 2004 French documentary series, also called The Staircase, and by a popular BBC podcast, and then revisited by the original documentary makers in 2013. So, what could a drama version tell us that we don’t already know?
And yet, now I’ve watched the thing, I have to say there’s so much more to it than I expected. To start with, the eight-part series sticks to the basic facts of the story, depicting the night of Kathleen’s death, interweaved with flashbacks showing her relationship with Michael ‘It’s a real masterstroke’ and their various adult offspring. Revelations about Michael’s private life are covered, the police investigate, the lawyers start to build their case, and so on. So far, so routine, though superbly acted by Colin Firth as Michael and Toni Collette as Kathleen.
But it’s in the second episode
when it all gets really interesting, as we meet the makers of the original French documentary series. Yes, in a real masterstroke, they are turned into vital characters in this dramatised story. Because, of course, they are. As soon as they arrive on the scene, and get extraordinary access to Michael and his family and legal team, they are helping to shape the narrative of the case. This is a true-crime drama that is itself about the limits (and huge appeal) of the true-crime genre. It can’t provide definitive answers, but it sure as hell makes us think about every element of this unbelievable story, and about our true-crime obsession.