“Birger
Larsen, the director behind critically-acclaimed Danish series The Killing, headed the innovative Bafta award-winning
drama Murder: Joint Enterprise which spawned three new
films; airing on BBC Two in March 2016 and released on DVD as
Murder: The Complete Series...”
USING THE SAME UNIQUE FORMAT as the Bafta award-winning drama
Murder: Joint Enterprise, three new films join the Murder stable:
The Third Voice, Lost Weekend and The Big Bang — all
the praiseworthy result of intensive research in the public galleries of The Old
Bailey.
Inspired by real-life cases and drawing upon them for authenticity,
co-creators Robert Jones (Ballykissangel) and Kath Mattock (Buried)
use CCTV and live action as they explore the psyche of the victims, the witnesses
and the suspects.
“This
terrific series of crime dramas involves the viewer in a unique, intimate
and absorbing plunge
into the world of murder investigations”
As
the complex layers of the crimes unfold, providing a unique perspective of the
course of each murder investigation and the statements of those involved, the
rich forensic and psychological detail of Murder: The Complete Series contributes
to the feeling of the real life investigation of the crimes.
In The
Third Voice, wealthy Scottish doctor Rafe Carey (Frank Gilhooley) is found
dead in the river with a knife wound near his heart and suspicion falls upon his
sister's husband Leo Durridge (Peter McDonald), who is still grief-stricken at
the loss of his seven-year-old daughter Sonia (Naomi Leonard-Morgan).
Sonia died while in the care of Rafe when Leo and his wife Katrina (Shauna MacDonald),
who was extremely close to her brother, were away on a holiday in Rome paid for
by Rafe.
A witness, vagrant Desmond (Maurice Roëves), insists he heard
three voices and a shout of "Frankie". Local petty thief Frankie Alder (Conor
McCarron) is then linked to the crime and D S Evans (Morven Christie: Twenty
Twelve), who herself has an issue with justice, sifts through forensic evidence
to find the killer.
The Third Voice, written by Robert Jones,
also features: Valene Kane as Brennan; Stewart Preston as Malcolm; and Kim Allan
as Isabel.
Lost Weekend sees troubled 35-year-old US citizen
Arla Beckman (Brooke Johnston) disappear while staying the weekend with unsavoury
boyfriend Dominic (Sebastian Armesto), the son of wealthy aristocrat Greville
(Peter Bowles: To The Manor Born), with whom Dominic has serious issues.
Arla runs the London Life Raft charity, which her parents have funded
to help vulnerable youngsters turn their lives around. Young Bryony Phelps (Hayley
Squires) has benefited from the charity and now works with Arla, to whom she is
devoted, almost to obsession.
Arla and Dominic have sex- and drug-fuelled
weekends and after her disappearance Dominic insists she left to go to a meeting
and that she has a history of going off. However, CCTV footage shows her entering
the door to his flat but not coming out again.
Bryony believes Dominic
is lying and her questions on social media cause Dominic's father to issue her
with a legal letter stopping her posting "false and defamatory" suggestions about
his son.
DCI Goss (Anne-Marie Duff: Shameless) has to work out
if Dominic knows more about Arla's disappearance than he admits to; and if either
Hamad (Tom Reed), a young man helped by the charity who constantly calls her on
her mobile, or Dominic's drug dealer Kendrick (Tommy McDonnell) have something
to hide.
Written by Robert Jones, Lost Weekend also features:
Lewis Baxter as Laurence; and Sam Hynes as Young Dominic. Director of Photography
is Benjamin Kracun; Director is Paul Wright (For Those In Peril).
In The Big Bang three professional criminals are arrested for the
murder of divorced off-duty policeman Stuart Prescott (Matthew Clancy), who was
killed while taking his seven-year-old daughter Jess (Dior Miller-McPhail) to
a Leisure Centre to swim.
Clyde Harris (David Wilmot), Whitmore Harris
(Michael Smiley) and Curtis Kodro (Johann Myers) were robbing a Bailiff's Office
of seized valuables while heavily disguised and wearing balaclavas.
Stuart had parked his car across the far end of the car park at his daughter's
insistence and as he left Jess at the centre to move the car closer he confronted
the three men, one of whom shot him. But which one?
Each refused to
say who actually fired the shot and were all imprisoned. Ten years later a still
grieving Jess (played as a teenager by Jessica Barden: The Lobster) wants
to know who killed her father.
Believing her father left to be with
Lizette, a young prostitute whom he arrested for shoplifting, Jessica dreamed
of her parents being reconciled — but those hopes were dashed in one
moment of madness.
As the brothers relate their story from their own
points of view, Jess — who blames herself for her father's death —
is desperate to find out which one of them pulled the trigger of the gun that
killed her father. The Big Bang, written by Robert Jones, also
features: Professor Brian Cox as Television Presenter; and Edith Bowman as Radio
Presenter. Directors are: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard(Neil Gaiman's
Likely Stories).
Each character relates their version of events
to the camera and the story unfolds from every angle, giving each character's
version of events. Who is really guilty? This terrific series of crime dramas
involves the viewer in a unique, intimate and absorbing plunge into the world
of murder investigations.
Series created by Robert Jones and Kath Mattock;
Composer is Paul Leonard-Morgan; Director of Photography is Michael McDonough;
Executive Producers are: Robert Jones, Kath Mattock and Rob Pursey; Producer is
Kath Mattock; and Director is Birger Larsen.
*Murder:
The Complete Series arrives on DVD courtesy of RLJ Entertainment's Acorn Label,
released in the UK on 21 March 2016. Certificate: 15 | Running Time: 234 Minutes
Approx on 2 Discs | Catalogue Number: AV3228 | RRP: £19.99.
Bonus Features
Disc —Murder: Joint Enterprise. Following the killing of Erin
(Lara Rossi), her sister Coleen (Karla Crome: Misfits) and young soldier,
Stefan (Joe Dempsie: Skins), are charged with murder. Did an evening out
go badly wrong or is there another explanation for the girl's death? DI Sheehy
(Robert Pugh: Justice) is in charge of the case.
Joint Enterprise
also features: Stephen Dillane (The Tunnel) as Arlo Raglin; Lauren Socha
(Misfits) as Deena; Claire Rushbrook as Ellen; Darren Campbell as Heskett
Jupp; and Kate Donnelly as Pathologist.
Cinematography is by Lol Crawley;
Writer is Robert Jones; Executive Producers are: Rob Pursey and Matthew Read;
Producer is Kath Mattock; Director is Birger Larsen.
"Murder: The
Complete Series… This terrific series of crime dramas involves the viewer
in a unique, intimate and absorbing plunge into the world of murder investigations"
~ Maggie Woods
"Electrifyingly tense ****" ~ The Telegraph
"Adventurous new take on the conventional crime drama" ~ The
Observer
“Birger
Larsen, the director behind