More than 4 MILLION viewers tuned in to watch the true story of self-confessed Coleraine killer Colin Howell when it first aired.
The Secret was screened by ITV across the UK, and in Northern Ireland 356,000 people were glued to the first part of the disturbing series staring James Nesbitt.
The series reveals how dentist Howell and his lover, Hazel Stewart had an affair and then murdered their spouses, nurse Lesley Howell and police constable Trevor Buchanan on May 19, 1991, covering up their crime with a claim the victims has entered into a joint suicide pact.
Now more than 31 years after the murders, Netflix is set to screen the tale of murder and deceit and thousands more are sure to tune in, fascinated by the audacity of the man who became known as the Driller Killer Dentist and his lover.
Double killer Howell was reported to have watched the 2016 series in his pristine cell, C5 in Erne House inside Maghaberry's high security jail and will not be able to see the Netflix broadcast with no access to the service.
It marked 24 years, 11 months and 11 days since he had murdered his wife Lesley, 31, and his love rival, police officer Trevor Buchanan, 33 as they slept in their homes in Coleraine.
A prison source said: "Howell was locked up at 8.54pm last night and all the lifers were in their boxes by 9pm. They normally have to be locked up about 9.30pm or 10pm to spend time in association but because of staff shortages they were in lock-down early.
"It's been like that all week but actually it suited pretty much everyone. Howell had his TV on and was watching The Secret and there were plenty of other prisoners doing the same. It's the talk of the place. The prison was pretty quiet last night, it was pin drop quiet between 9 and 10pm when the programme was on.
"Howell has been advised to keep his head down today because he's still liable to get a the sort of attention he doesn't want. Some people who watched the programme are very angry with him that he killed two innocent people. There can be a great sense of righteousness amongst the most hardened criminals.
"Howell will get through it though. He always does. And when he finds out that millions of people across the UK watched the programme and more will undoubtedly have recorded it for later, he'll be delighted. Colin Howell loves attention. His smug levels will be through the roof.
"He is working on Braille books at the moment and he has even started to get into the shop early to get more work done. He's working like a demon in there."
The Secret attracted 57% of Northern Ireland's TV viewing public. The four-part series, adapted from the book written by veteran journalist Deric Henderson, stars James Nesbitt as Howell and Dubliner Genevieve O’Reilly, who played Hazel Stewart - then Buchanan.
A spokeswoman for ITV said at the time: "The network rating was 22% share and 4.3m viewers."
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