There is an unlikely title riding high in the Netflix charts in the UK this week.
The second spot is taken by the prestigious Colman Domingo thriller series The Madness, but above that at Number One is the 2021 crime miniseries The Pembrokeshire Murders.
The three-episode show first aired on ITV in January 2021, and tells the story of the Welsh serial killer John Cooper, played by Keith Allen. Luke Evans (The Hobbit, Beauty And The Beast) plays Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins, who reopens the case of two unsolved murders from the 1980s with the help of modern forensic techniques.
Wilkins uses DNA analysis, witness reports and artists impressions to pinpoint the lead suspect, and police eventually find themselves identifying their man by reviewing a 1989 episode of the ITV darts-based gameshow Bullseye.
The show was well received at the time of its original release, with The Guardian noting: “Less competent entries into the genre can wade through murky waters, particularly in terms of whether it is decent, or not, to delve into the stories of those whose relatives are still alive. But to my mind, The Pembrokeshire Murders is a perfect example of how to do it well.”
As well as The Pembrokeshire Murders and The Madness, the Netflix TV charts also include another vintage ITV crime series in the form of The Walk-In. That 2022 show stars Stephen Graham as an activist who infiltrates a British neo-nazi group to foil their plot to assassinate a Labour MP.
Also in the chart are more traditional Netflix productions such as Senna, a drama based on the tragic life of Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, and A Man On The Inside, the new sitcom starring Ted Danson.
Several Netflix shows feature on NME’s list of the Top 20 Shows of 2024, including Heartstopper, One Day and Baby Reindeer.
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