BBC Scotland’s documentary series “Murder Case” will return for a second series continuing its unparalleled access to Police Scotland’s Major Investigations Team (MITs).
Murder Case debuted on the new BBC Scotland channel in June with a strong TV performance and has since become a BBC iPlayer success story, securing over 700,000 download requests for the first two episodes. A new, third, episode will air next month, looking at the violent murder of Paisley man Stephen Wallace in 2018.
Made by Firecrest Films, Murder Case goes behind the scenes with the MITs on the most complex murder and large-scale criminal investigations in Scotland and shines a light on the vital work of the MITs and their dogmatic pursuit of justice.
The first two episodes, which aired in early June, looked at the disappearance, and subsequent murder investigation, of 47-year-old Julie Reilly who went missing from her Govan flat in March 2018. To date, these episodes have had over 700,000 downloads on BBC iPlayer.
A third episode, entitled Motive Unknown, will air on Tuesday 9 July on the BBC Scotland channel at 10pm. Murder Case follows the investigation into the violent murder of 46-year-old Stephen Wallace, whose body was found in a Paisley tower block flat in March 2018.
As this episode of Murder Case highlights, Stephen’s injuries were so significant that he could not be visually identified. The MITs, working with SPA Forensic Services, had to forensically comb the crime scene for clues which would lead them to Stephen’s killer – his neighbour, Adrian ‘John’ Atkinson.
All three Murder Case episodes will air on BBC One Scotland from Wednesday 17 July at 9pm.
BBC Scotland Commissioning Executive, David Harron, says: “Murder Case is a powerful documentary series that we knew would resonate with audiences given the unique access the production team secured and the insight it was able to give to the work of this incredible team. The audience response has been rewarding and we are delighted to be able to recommission it for a second series.”
Iain Scollay, Creative Director, Firecrest Films, says: “It has taken years of negotiation and relationship-building with every element of the Scottish justice system to make this series and to show the extraordinary lengths that Police and prosecutors will go in cases like this to deliver justice. And it wouldn’t be possible without the support and understanding of all the families involved.”
Murder Case is a Firecrest Films production for BBC Scotland. The Executive Producers are David Harron for BBC Scotland and Iain Scolley and Lorraine McKechnie for Firecrest Films. The series is produced, filmed and directed by Matt Pinder.