BBC announces new drama about Wayne Couzens and 'horrific' Sarah Everard murder from Little Boy Blue writer
The series will be written by Jeff Pope
The BBC has announced a new drama: a two-part series about the “horrific” murder of Sarah Everard by ex-police officer Wayne Couzens.
On March 3, 2021, the 33-year-old was kidnapped as she was walking home in south London. Seven days later, her remains were found, and Couzens – an officer with the Metropolitan Police – was arrested and charged.
Couzens initially only pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping Everard, before pleading guilty to her murder. In September 2021, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order. This is the most serious penalty for any crime committed in the UK.
“The discovery that the perpetrator was a serving police officer and the subsequent fallout was a watershed moment for the nation which brought into sharp focus entrenched issues of misogyny and institutional failings within the police,” the BBC said.
BBC drama will follow the events surrounding Sarah Everard’s murder
According to a BBC press release, the untitled factual drama will “examine the circumstances that allowed a sexual offender to become, and remain, a Metropolitan Police officer”.
“It will explore how, over many years and across his career in different police forces, significant evidence of sexual offending was repeatedly dismissed and poor vetting and a lack of training and motivation meant vital evidence against him was never collected,” it adds.
“It will consider the impact these failings have had on public confidence in policing, particularly in light of the epidemic of violence against women and girls.”
Who’s writing the series?
The series will be written by Jeff Pope, who wrote Stephen Graham’s Little Boy Blue and The Walk-In. He also wrote and produced See No Evil: The Moors Murders, Jimmy Savile drama The Reckoning, and A Confession.
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“Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer, but opportunities to deny him that privilege were missed,” Pope said in a statement.
“That he was still a serving officer on the night of March 3rd 2021, after committing numerous sexual offences over a long period of time, was a tragedy waiting to happen, and the key question asked by this drama.”
Lindsay Salt, the BBC’s director of drama, vowed that the series will “respectfully” tackle Everard’s murder. “This series will explore the impact of this horrific crime, the misogyny and failings from within the Met Police and what lessons can be learnt,” she said.
Salt also pledged that Pope will treat the subject with “the utmost care, helping to ensure that the issues that led to Sarah Everard’s murder remain in the public consciousness for years to come, whilst continuing to hold the police to account”.
When is it out?
The series doesn’t have a release date right now, nor is it clear when it will go into production.
According to the press release, “further information will be announced in due course”. The production team are also in contact with Everard’s family.
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