Why Is Everyone Talking About This 2019 TV Series?

By Olivia Emily

3 months ago

Spoiler: it has made its way to Netflix…

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Originally released in September 2019, the spotlight is back on a haunting limited series starring Martin Freeman. With all six episodes available to watch (or binge) on Netflix, A Confession follows DS Steve Fulcher (Freeman) who will do anything to catch the killer of a woman in Leeds – even if it puts his career and reputation at risk. But is DS Fulcher a real person? And is A Confession based on a true story? Here’s what you need to know.

Is A Confession Based On A True Story?

Yes, A Confession is based on a real 2011 police investigation into the murder of 22-year-old Sian O’Callaghan, led by former detective superintendent Steve Fulcher. The ‘former’ is critical here: A Confession traces how Fulcher caught a serial killer – but he was reported to the Police Complaints Commission, found guilty of gross misconduct and eventually resigned from the force because he breached police protocol in the process.

The true story underpinning A Confession took place in Swindon, but the ITV drama moves the action to Leeds. We watch the investigation into Sian’s murder unfold, eventually leading Fulcher to local cab driver Christopher Halliwell – the prime suspect. Still under the belief that Sian was alive (and had been abducted but not yet murdered), the police put Halliwell under 24 hour surveillance in the hopes it would lead them to Sian. Before that could happen, red flags were raised when Halliwell was spotted purchasing a potentially suicidal amount of pills – and police swooped in to arrest him.

With Sian believed to be alive and the investigation at a critical juncture, extraordinary protocols under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act come into force; Halliwell could be interviewed without caution and without the presence of a solicitor because of the urgency of the situation. Halliwell was taken to Barbury Castle, a fort outside Swindon serving as the centre of the search for Sian, and brought to Fulcher. Here, Fulcher convinced Halliwell to relieve himself of guilt, and Halliwell confessed to the murder of Sian, taking the investigation team to the spot where he buried her.

In this bittersweet moment, the team believed the whole ordeal was finally drawing to an end, when Halliwell uttered four haunting words: ‘Do you want another?’. The murderer trusted Halliwell and admitted to the murder of another local girl, Becky Godden-Edwards, who he had killed and buried in a shallow grave eight years before. He again took the team to the site of her grave. Meanwhile, Fulcher was fearful to disturb Halliwell’s trust, eager to close a cold case, and bring peace and closure to Becky’s family – and he never read Halliwell his rights. This was only allowed in Sian’s case because of the urgency of the situation. After a long day, Halliwell was taken to the local police station and given a solicitor. Now under caution, Halliwell gave no further evidence.

In October 2011, then, Halliwell was tried and found guilty of Sian’s murder – but his confession of the murder of Becky was thrown out of court, all because Fulcher didn’t follow protocol and caution him before interviewing him in the presence of a solicitor. In these extraordinary circumstances, then, a man who freely confessed to two murders could only be tried for one of them.

What Happened Next?

With Halliwell found guilty of Sian’s murder, he was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. By 2014, Fulcher had been found guilty of gross misconduct, leading to his resignation from the police force. It’s worth noting, at this point, that Becky’s family were grateful for Fulcher’s work: without him, Becky would never have been found; if he had followed protocol, Halliwell may never have admitted to her murder. In 2016, Wiltshire Police finally pursued the case and Halliwell was charged for and found guilty of Becky Godden-Edwards’ murder, sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

What Happened To Steve Fulcher?

While he may have resigned from Wilshire Police, Fulcher never regretted his actions. ‘It’s a simple moral issue,’ he told The Guardian in 2017. ‘I did these things because they were the right things to do in these circumstances. In fact, they were the only things to do.’

If it weren’t for his intervention, Fulcher added, ‘Christopher Halliwell would be walking the streets now. And whatever the public thinks about it – and I’m as liberal as the next person – there’s a very good chance he’d have killed other women in the meantime.’

After leaving the police force, Fulcher struggled to find work. At one point, he was consulting for a private company delivering aid from Foreign Office programmes in Mogadishu, Somalia. But in 2017, he published a tell-all memoir – Catching a Serial Killer – on which the ITV drama is predominantly based.