Channel 4 Drama announces My Name is Lizzie (w/t)
Category: News ReleaseNiamh Algar leads the cast in a gripping 4-part piece examining the controversial honeytrap at the heart of one of Britain’s most high-profile cases
Channel 4 has commissioned My Name is Lizzie (w/t), a new 4X60’ drama written by Emilia di Girolamo (The Tunnel) and produced by Story Films, which examines the high-pressure investigation into the devastating murder of Rachel Nickell in 1992. Examining the complicated and toxic sexual politics of the early ‘90s and the police’s obsession with the wrong man, My Name is Lizzie enters a dysfunctional world, where a female undercover officer, codename ‘Lizzie James’, is asked to become sexual bait for a suspected killer.
Five months on from the crime and The Met Police are still no closer to capturing the man they’re convinced is responsible. First identified through a BBC Crimewatch appeal, the evidence is stacked against Colin Stagg. The media feed a national obsession, covering every detail of the case and demanding justice. The police are determined to catch the man who, in their eyes, is guilty before he kills again. In desperation, the relatively young Detective Inspector leading the case, engages the nation’s most famous criminal profiler to devise a bold undercover operation which will see an attractive, young female officer start a relationship with Colin Stagg.
Growing up under Thatcher’s reign, with second-wave feminism ‘Lizzie James’ (Niamh Algar – The Virtues, Raised by Wolves and Calm with Horses) – is determined to rise through the ranks. But the early ‘90s has brought with it an inevitable backlash in the shape of ‘Lad Culture’, obliterating any feminist gains and putting women firmly back in their place.
Hugely ambitious, ‘Lizzie’ has found a way to stand out by becoming one of very few female undercover officers deployed in covert operations… And then she’s offered a central role in the biggest murder enquiry the country has ever seen…
With access to previously unheard audio, video and written materials, My Name is Lizzie includes scenes of verbatim dialogue as part of a fictionalised retelling of events, taking viewers behind the scenes of one of the UK’s most flawed and controversial police investigations.
Caroline Hollick, Head of Channel 4 Drama says, “The unique female perspective of Emilia’s extraordinary scripts will shine a light on one of the most shocking stories in modern policing, in a drama which combines Story Films’ trademark journalistic rigor with sensitivity and nuance. And it’s a privilege to be working with Niamh Algar, who is fast becoming an iconic star of the channel.”
My Name is Lizzie (w/t) is directed by BAFTA award winning Niall MacCormick (The Victim, Complicit) Executive Producers are David Nath and Peter Beard (The Interrogation of Tony Martin) and Emilia di Girolamo with Ado Yoshizaki Cassuto (Pale Horse) producing. The series (w/t) is produced by Story Films (The Cure, Unspeakable), backed by All3media, for Channel 4 and has been commissioned by Channel 4’s Head of Drama, Caroline Hollick. Filming will commence later this year with further casting to be announced. My Name is Lizzie is in association with All3media International who will also distribute.
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Alex Dyche
Publicity Manager – Scripted