The new BBC real-life crime drama, Steeltown Murders, will air this May. The four-part mini-series is based on the hunt to catch the killer of three young women in the Port Talbot area in the 1970s and how the mystery was finally solved.
Starring Philip Glenister from Life on Mars as DCI Paul Bethell and Gavin & Stacey's Steffan Rhodri as Phil ‘Bach’ Rees, the story will follow two timelines, the early 1970s and early 2000s, and the younger versions of the detectives are played by Scott Arthur (Good Omens, Borg McEnroe) and Siôn Alun Davies (The Sandman, Hidden). Steeltown Murders will air on Monday, May 15 and after the initial episode airs, the full series will be available on iPlayer.
The drama centres on the hunt to catch the killer of three young women in the Port Talbot area and the remarkable story of how - in the first case of its kind - the mystery was solved almost 30 years later using pioneering DNA evidence. As well as Glenister and Rhodri, the cast includes Keith Allen, Priyanga Burford, Sharon Morgan, Nia Roberts, Amy Morgan, Matthew Gravelle and more.
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In September 1973, teenage factory workers Geraldine Hughes and Pauline Floyd left the Top Rank nightclub in Swansea together to try hitching a lift home. But they'd never reach their destination. Instead their bodes were discovered the next day dumped in Neath Port Talbot woodland having been raped and strangled. It was a hideous crime which left two families in mourning and an entire community in fear of where its perpetrator might strike next.
The resulting search for the culprit, Wales' very first documented serial killer, ended up becoming one of the longest-running murder hunts in this country's history. Indeed it would take 30 years before officers finally unmask the a man who'd come to be known as The Saturday Night Strangler - and whom, it was discovered, was responsible for a third death.
The new four-part factual drama was written by Ed Whitmore (Manhunt, Safe House) and made by Severn Screen (The Pembrokeshire Murders, Hidden/Craith) for the BBC in association with All3Media International have been released.
Steeltown Murders begins at 9pm on Monday, May 15 on BBC One, with all episodes then available on BBC iPlayer.
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