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The Murder Detectives

Move over Making a Murderer -this UK doco takes cameras into the middle of a UK crime as it unfolds.

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I’ve noted before that the key to any good documentary series is access -where a filmmaker is given open freedom to film its subject, warts and all.

UK documentary series The Murder Detectives is proof positive that access to its cast of players has resulted in a remarkable story.

The three part series filmed in Bristol is the anatomy of a crime with cameras following detectives as they unravel the murder of 19 year old Nicholas Robinson, alone in his working class flat. As if inspired by the true-crime success of Making a Murderer and The Jinx, this structures its mystery like a whodunnit. There are twists and turns, dramatic music, voice-overs and camera angles to bring the viewer into the centre of the action.

“Most people lead good lives. Make the right choices between what’s right and wrong. They stay within the lines. Until the day comes when they make wrong call. A decision made in a split second….a family desperate to know why…Is whoever done it our midst? We will get him. It’s just a matter of time.”

The Murder Detectives opens when detectives arrive at a cordoned off crime scene. A 999 call is heard in which a distressed young man says he has been stabbed.

A briefing of detectives reveals Nicholas was a member of Bristol’s Jamaican community. Tragically he is the second of two sons to be murdered from the one family. The cameras spare us the heartbreaking moment a mother must have been told of her son’s death. But you can feel it without seeing it, simply from the flat reactions of the police.

CCTV footage underpins a considerable amount of the doco -and the clue work- including crucial footage of a hooded man leaving the crime scene and the flash of a red bandana, linked to a local gang.

“You may get a lot of doors closed in your face with people saying ‘I ain’t gettin’ involved in this,'” the lead investigator tells his team.

There are door-knockings, post-mortem results and a weapon discovered.

“I don’t know if I’m gonna get through this,” a tearful mother later explains. Other family members and a grieving girlfriend share their memories. It’s impossible not to be impressed by their courage in revealing all for cameras, whilst they are mourning and angry.

But the police lack a motive and begin to understand young Nicholas, and the last days of his life. The team pinpoint a suspect, and the team trawl through metadata to piece together the events surrounding the incident.

The storytelling is engrossing, full of mystery, drama and emotion. At three episodes it is far less demanding than Making a Murderer‘s 10 episodes.

But there are also questions that arise. How did they convince all the players to agree to be filmed? Was the crew waiting at a police station for a murder case to be called in (it’s not like such things can be arranged in advance)? How much is withheld from the audience for the sake of the storytelling structure?

Nevertheless, this is a unique viewing experience as you empathise with both police and victim’s family.

And one you will be grateful to remain as an outside observer.

The Murder Detectives premieres 9:30pm Tuesday on ABC2.

2 Responses

  1. Looks good. I would like to see a long form documentary about detective school. What are they taught and how do they methodically go through an investigation and at what point do they say they have enough evidence to charge someone. It could be interspersed with actual real life investigations

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