Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, TV And Film, True Crime, Crime
Rhianna Benson
A chilling new addition has been added to Netflix's already-impressive roster of crime drama, which has left many viewers seriously heartbroken.
It's not just the disturbing plot, huge-name cast or stellar script that has hit home with fans, however, but the fact that the series is entirely based on a true story.
As we say, the police drama - which originally aired on ITV back in 2019 before landing on Netflix this week - boasts a line-up rich with British acting veterans.
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The Hobbit star Martin Freeman fronts the series as the real-life Detective Superintendent Fulcher, who was placed at the forefront of an investigation of a 21-year-old woman named Becky Godden-Edwards, who was brutally murdered and dumped in a nearby her home in Wiltshire back in 2003.
With The Crown's Imelda Staunton and Happy Valley's Siobhan Finneran, A Confession centres on the sudden disappearance of the young woman following a night out.
According to crime reports, it wasn't until 2011, however, that Becky's killer would be brought to justice after another woman - 22-year-old Sian O'Callahan - was reported missing by her boyfriend following a night out clubbing with friends, after which she hailed a taxi.
Taking on the role of Fulcher, Freeman is seen confronting a suspect that leads him torn as to whether to 'break protocol' in order to catch the 'psychotic killer'.
In the true life case, police subsequently made an urgent appeal for witnesses of a green Toyota with taxi markings, and days later, cab driver Christopher Halliwell was arrested the same day Sian's body was discovered by police in a shallow grave.
Despite admitting to both crimes, whilst in custody, however, the lead investigator, Fulcher, failed to caution Halliwell and denied him access to a solicitor, meaning his statements were inadmissible in court.
Instead, the detective controversially acted on a window of opportunity, where after Halliwell admitted to Sian's killing. Having should have taken the killer back to the police station, DS Fulcher instead drove him to the field on the assurance that he'd be lead to another body.
In October 2012, Halliwell was sentenced to life for the murder of Sian, but not Becky, leaving her family devastated.
Due to the mishandling, DS Fulcher resigned in 2014 - but Becky's mother Karen (played by Staunton in the series) commended him at the time: "Had he have followed the guidelines, then Becky would never have been found, she would have never have come into the equation."
In 2016, Halliwell was finally charged with Becky's murder after new evidence surfaced and he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order for the murder, meaning he would serve his sentence without the possibility of parole.
Three years later, ITV produced A Confession, telling the true story of the police and family's hope to bring a double-murderer to justice, as well as the inadvertent harm they caused to the case by doing so.
And as we say, since the series landed on Netflix earlier this week, viewers have been left both transfixed and saddened by the series.
Reviewing the series online, one fan penned a heartfelt message.
"If you're a fan of true crime and just a good story that is well acted, you shouldn't miss this 6 episode show. All of the main characters are played by well-known actors to most people, especially if you watch a lot of British TV".
Others viewers have previously claimed to be left hooked by the series.
"Martin Freeman never disappoint[s] me and he proves me it again in 'A Confession'," one recently wrote on X.
Another went on to give the show '10/10', while someone else called it 'gripping'.