TV Pick of the Week: Steeltown Murders - Review by Yvette Huddleston

Steeltown MurdersBBC iPlayer, review by Yvette Huddleston

Set in two different time-frames – 1973 and the late 1990s – this four-part crime drama created by Ed Whitmore is based on the real-life murder of three teenage girls near Port Talbot in South Wales.

The case of the so-called Saturday Night Strangler was initially investigated by local police and the script addresses the mistakes that were made at the time, most notably in not connecting the rape and murder of Geraldine Hughes and Pauline Floyd with the nearby earlier case of Sandra Newton which bore striking similarities. The case remained unsolved until 25 years later when new forensic techniques involving DNA profiling led to further evidence being unearthed and the reopening of the case.

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Philip Glenister plays DCI Paul Bethell who as a rookie detective was part of the investigating team back in the early 70s. We learn in flashback (with Scott Arthur as the young Bethell) that he was convinced at the time that there was a connection between the three murders and that the victims had all been killed by the same man. He put forward this theory but senior officers dismissed it. It’s clear that the case has remained with him and when it is reopened makes a pitch to the chief constable, a woman, to lead the investigation. He approaches his old friend and colleague Phil Rees (Steffan Rhodri and Sion Alun Davies as his younger counterpart) who was also worked on the original investigation. They are joined by a third officer Geraint Bale (Gareth John Bale), too young to have a history with the case. It is a small team, with a huge job on their hands – they are working against the clock and in the face of severe cuts in police funding.

DC Geraint Bale (Gareth John Bale), DCI Paul Bethell (Philip Glenister) and Phil Bach Rees (Steffan Rhodri) in Steeltown Murders on BBC iPlayer. Picture: BBC/Severn Film/Tom JacksonDC Geraint Bale (Gareth John Bale), DCI Paul Bethell (Philip Glenister) and Phil Bach Rees (Steffan Rhodri) in Steeltown Murders on BBC iPlayer. Picture: BBC/Severn Film/Tom Jackson
DC Geraint Bale (Gareth John Bale), DCI Paul Bethell (Philip Glenister) and Phil Bach Rees (Steffan Rhodri) in Steeltown Murders on BBC iPlayer. Picture: BBC/Severn Film/Tom Jackson

While the support they get from forensic scientist Colin Dark (Richard Harrington) is crucial and ground-breaking, the task in hand is enormous – how to match DNA traces found on the victims’ clothes with a killer who may or may not still be alive. Then when testing hundreds of men yields no return, Dark comes up with the ingenious approach of familial DNA matching and a close relative of one of the suspects pops up on the police database. The narrative neatly switches between the past and present with Whitmore’s script exposing how misogyny, complacency, bad practice and false leads all played their part in prolonging the suffering of the victims’ family and friends as they sought some kind of justice and closure.