Loose Women star Coleen Nolan defended the Channel 5 show Maxine after the first episode of the Soham murders drama aired on Monday night.
The drama revisits Ian Huntley’s shocking murder of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, both aged just 10, 20 years ago, but through the eyes of his then girlfriend Maxine Carr.
The Channel 5 drama stars newcomer Jemma Carlton as Carr, opposite Scott Reid as killer Huntley, who was later imprisoned for life with a minimum term of 40 years.
The three-part miniseries – Channel 5’s first true crime drama – examines the investigation into Carr and school caretaker Huntley, who she provided a false alibi for.
However, as the first episode got underway several Channel 5 viewers found it hard to stomach, with some accusing the drama of appearing to portray Carr as a ‘victim’.
The Loose Women panel discussed the divisive response to Maxine at the start of their Tuesday instalment of the show.
Amid some concerns the families of the victims may not have been involved in the production, host Jane Moore noted: “I think because the information is in the public domain, it can be used in that way.”
Linda Robson replied saying she thinks it is ‘too much’, adding: “I like watching dramas, but not the ones where they’re real stories.
“I don’t like when it’s really happened to people. Especially children. That was the most traumatic thing. 20 years on, I still remember it like it was yesterday.”
Janet Street-Porter cut in to say that it was women their age that made up ‘millions and millions’ of the viewers of true crime dramas such as Maxine.
“Women, especially women of our generation, are now addicted to true crime drama,” Janet said. “To be fair to the broadcasters, this demand was something they hadn’t thought of 20 years ago and now there are whole channels devoted to real life murders and serial killers.”
She added: “They’re so addictive, aren’t they? Once you start watching them.”
However, Coleen Nolan chipped in to defend the Channel 5 drama against the backlash, noting she felt ‘guilty’ on the panel because she is an avid watcher of true crime.
She said: “It’s an awful morbid fascination about true life crime. In some respects, I know exactly what you’re saying.
“If the family hasn't agreed to it, it’s traumatic. I totally get it and I do think they should have a right to say whether they can or not.”
Coleen continued: “I have to say, for me, I think they’re quite good because it was 20 years ago. Although we remember Holly and Jessica, I think we forget how awful that was really, because we get on with our own lives.
“I was watching it last night and it brought all those memories back of these two awful, animal people.
“I would want people, if it was me, to always remember. I’d never want people to forget. I’d never want them to be complacent. If it was me, I’d constantly want it to be publicised to say, ‘This is what happened’.”
