Channel 4 commissions The Woman Who Fell To Earth (w/t) from Story Films

13 March 2024

How well do you really know the person you spend your life with? We all tell the odd white lie, but what if you discovered that nothing in your relationship was true.  It would take Victoria Cilliers a long time to face that reality.

Victoria had only recently given birth to her second child when she boarded a plane to get back to her favourite hobby, skydiving. She jumped from the plane at 3000ft and released her parachute, but it didn’t open. She cut it away and tried the reserve but that wouldn’t open either. Instead, she hurtled into the ground. Miraculously, she survived. 

This innovative, true crime, drama-documentary series from award winning production company Story Films (The Interrogation of Tony Martin/The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe) weaves together documentary testimony with verbatim drama and moments that break the fourth wall, to take viewers inside an investigation to uncover the insidious crimes of Emile Cilliers, a Physical Training Instructor in the British Army accused of trying to kill his wife, Victoria, in an elaborately calculated way.

The apparent “accident” that befell Victoria would set in motion an investigation by a pair of dogged detectives, DC Maddy Hennah and DI Paul Franklin. They spent two years pulling at the threads of his life, revealing affairs, debts, sex clubs, escorts, and murderous intent.

But… there was no smoking gun. Emile had covered his tracks - the case was entirely circumstantial. The detectives compiled an extensive collection of audio, visual and written evidence to build a compelling picture of a sociopathic narcissist who groomed and exploited everyone in his life.

Then as the court case began, the insidious nature of Emile’s controlling behaviour was revealed, as Victoria turned against the police to side with her husband.

BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Guy King (Our Falklands War: A Frontline Story / Superkids: Breaking Away From Care) uses the extensive archive to create verbatim drama scenes with performances from actors including MyAnna Buring (The Responder/The Witcher), which are juxtaposed with new and exclusive interviews from Victoria and the investigating officers. This creates an approach that subverts the conventions and tropes of true crime “drama recon”, intentionally blurring the line between fact and fiction so the audience experience the extent of Emile's manipulation, before exposing the truth.

The result is an inventive and gripping series that tells every twist of the police investigation and the lies Emile told. Most importantly, it brings into sharp relief the horrendous and damaging power of coercive control and the extent of its reach. The loudest voice is given to the women in the story – those who experienced Emile’s controlling behaviour first hand, and the female police detective who spearheaded the case that eventually brought him down.

Alisa Pomeroy, Head of Documentaries said: “This is a spell-binding story that captured and shocked the nation. This series will attempt to address some important and thought-provoking questions that arose from this remarkable case. The mix of true-crime and drama-documentary and exclusive access to the investigating officers, will shed light on the complexities of abusive and coercive relationships and will no doubt educate and enthral our viewers.”

Adam Hopkins, Executive Producer, Story Films added: “Having survived such an audacious attempt on her life, Victoria had to confront the painful reality that her entire relationship had been based on lies. Director Guy King expertly handles the telling of this multi-layered story, getting beyond the shocking headlines of the case to explore the complexity of coercive control”

The series is commissioned by Alisa Pomeroy and Will Rowson for Channel 4. Guy King is Series Director; Elle Mower is Producer; Peter Beard and Adam Hopkins are Executive Producers for Story Films. The series will be distributed internationally by Fremantle.

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About Fremantle   

Fremantle is a leading global creator, producer and distributor of some of the world’s most successful content across Entertainment, Drama & Film, and Documentaries.  

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