See No Evil: The Moors Murders

See No Evil: The Moors Murders
Genre Crime drama, thriller
Written by Neil McKay
Directed by Christopher Menaul
Starring Sean Harris
Maxine Peake
Joanne Froggatt
Matthew McNulty
George Costigan
Theme music composer John Lunn
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 2
Production
Executive producer(s) Andy Harries
Jeff Pope
Producer(s) Lisa Gilchrist
Paul Munn
Running time 140 minutes
Production company(s) Granada Television
Release
Original network ITV
Picture format 16:9
Audio format Stereo
Original release 14 May (2006-05-14) – 15 May 2006 (2006-05-15)

See No Evil: The Moors Murders is a British two-part television serial directed by Christopher Menaul. It was produced by Granada Television and broadcast on ITV from 14 to 15 May 2006. It tells the story of the Moors murders, which were committed during the 1960s by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, from the view of Hindley's sister Maureen Smith and her husband David.

The film is the first known dramatisation of the notorious killing spree. It was produced to mark the 40th anniversary of Hindley and Brady's trial. It was made with the full backing of the victims' families, and was based on two years research, including interviews with detectives, relatives of the murdered children, and Hindley's brother-in-law David Smith.

The only murder which featured in the serial was the final murder: that of 17-year-old Edward Evans at Hindley and Brady's house in Hattersley. However, the investigation into the disappearance of the four other victims was mentioned on several occasions earlier in the film, particularly that of 12-year-old John Kilbride (the second victim).

The production won the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Serial at the 2007 ceremony. The film was released as a Region 1 DVD on 29 April 2008, followed by a Region 2 DVD release on 7 July of the same year.

Plot

The story begins in 1964. Married teenagers David and Maureen Smith have recently become parents to a baby girl called Angela. When the child dies of cot-death at the age of six months, Maureen turns to her older sister, Myra, for comfort, and David finds friendship in Myra's boyfriend, Ian Brady. David and Maureen know nothing of the secrets harboured by Brady and Hindley.

Shortly after the tragedy, Hindley and Brady move with Hindley's grandmother Ellen Maybury, to a new council house: 16 Wardle Brook Avenue, on the Hattersley estate near Hyde, Cheshire.

In the meantime, members of the local police force are seen discussing the possible fate of several missing children. These include Lesley Ann Downey, a 10-year-old girl who vanished in Ancoats on Boxing Day 1964, and John Kilbride, a 12-year-old boy who went missing in Ashton-under-Lyne in November 1963. The consensus among the police is that Lesley was murdered by her step-father, while they are aware of similar allegations (without substance) by members of the public against the father of John Kilbride over the fate of his missing son; although the police have no evidence to charge anyone in connection with the disappearance of either child. At least one police officer believes that the same person is responsible for the fate of both missing children, who disappeared within a few miles of each other, but his theory is rubbished by a colleague.

On the evening of 6 October 1965, David Smith witnesses a horrific murder at Brady and Hindley's house; the victim is a 17-year-old, Edward Evans. After the murder, and fearing for his own life, David helps clean up the mess and stays at the house until the early hours of the morning. When he returns home and tells Maureen about the crime, she finds his story hard to believe. In the morning, however, the couple go to the police, and Brady is arrested. Brady admits to the murder of Evans but insists that Smith was a willing accomplice. Hindley, meanwhile, is not arrested and remains at liberty for the time being.

Police recover a suitcase full of incriminating evidence, from a locker at Manchester Central railway station, and quickly suspect that Evans may not have been their only victim. Smith is soon taken in by police for questioning, as both Brady and Hindley have tried to shift the blame onto him, but the police soon determine that Smith did not take part in any murders.

While questioning Brady and Hindley, the police read out the names of other missing children and teenagers who have recently vanished in and around Manchester. To most of the names, Brady and Hindley respond "Never heard of him/her", with the exception of one: Pauline Reade, who had been Hindley's neighbour in Gorton. The evidence against the couple continues to mount; the most shocking comes in the form of pornographic photographs of a missing 10-year-old girl, Lesley Ann Downey, and a tape recording of the child's pleas for her life (these cries are not actually heard when the tape is played). Meanwhile, the police find the bodies of both Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride, buried in shallow graves on Saddleworth Moor. David Smith is questioned about the murders and Hindley and Brady try to convince the police that he was also involved, but he is soon released after no evidence is found to implicate him. Brady and Hindley are soon charged with the murders of Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride, and while the police suspect them of others murders, but have not recovered any bodies or other evidence to charge the pair.

On 21 April 1966, Brady and Hindley are tried at Chester Assizes, where they are greeted by a crowd of vigilantes. David Smith is the main prosecution witness, and Maureen, pregnant again, agrees to testify. During the trial, Lesley Ann Downey's mother, Ann West, and stepfather, Alan, barge into David and Maureen's flat and attack them, believing that they were involved in their daughter's murder. David and Maureen's unborn child is unharmed, while Mr. and Mrs. West are cautioned by the police.

Brady and Hindley are convicted of the murders of Edward Evans and Lesley Ann Downey two weeks later. Brady is also convicted of the murder of John Kilbride, and Hindley is found guilty for being an accessory to that murder. Brady is sentenced to three concurrent terms of life imprisonment, while Hindley receives two life sentences for murder and a seven-year fixed sentence on the accessory charge.

The birth of their second child does nothing to alleviate public hostility towards David and Maureen, who soon find "Hindley Bitch" painted on their front door.

Five years later in 1970, Maureen lives alone in a flat while David has served a prison sentence for wounding a man who provoked him in a pub. David and Maureen have had two other children. Unable to cope with being a single parent, Maureen has placed her children into care. On his release David is able to get his children released. Having initially turned against Maureen for going to the police about Myra, Nellie tracks her down and the two reconcile. Nellie convinces Maureen to visit Myra in Holloway Prison. Brady (who the trial judge felt had influenced Hindley into committing murder) has been imprisoned elsewhere.

By now, having rediscovered her Roman Catholic faith, Myra, whose bleached blonde hair has now turned brown, tells Maureen a day does not go by where she does not think about the suffering she helped bring on the children and their families, or the hell Maureen has been through because of her. Myra also explains that people are always making excuses for her behaviour, such as the beatings from her father when she was herself a child. But Maureen says he used to beat her too, and she didn't do what Myra did. Myra also says some people say Ian Brady corrupted her, and that she has decided to sever all contact with him.

David is not pleased when he learns that Maureen has been to see Myra, but Maureen argues that Myra has changed. David and Maureen then turn their thoughts to their children and agree to patch up their differences for the children's sake. In the last scene, Maureen leaves the house. For a few moments, she stands on the doorstep, fighting back tears, and then she walks away from the house. Maureen is last seen walking down a street as the screen fades to black.

An epilogue follows, revealing the fates of Maureen, David, Brady and Hindley:

The epilogue also reveals that it was not until 1987 that Brady and Hindley confessed to the murders of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett. The two killers were taken back to Saddleworth Moor separately to help locate the bodies. Reade's body was eventually exhumed and buried in a proper grave, but Bennett's body has yet to be found. The drama ends with a tribute to the victims.

Cast

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