Forever Home ending explained: Shocking killer of Neil Barrie and motive finally revealed in heartbreaking Channel 5 drama
The novel, based on the book by Graham Norton, had a truly shocking conclusion
Forever Home could well be our favourite Channel 5 drama ever, and the ending managed to surprise us, make us cry, and satisfy us all at once.
The six-parter exceeded our expectations, and that’s not something that happens often (after all, we watch TV for a living). Based on the novel by Graham Norton, Channel 5 described the series as a “darkly emotional story about marriage, family and the unbreakable bond between a mother and her children”.
While you’d be forgiven for thinking it would veer towards comic or cosy, this drama delivered an unexpected punch. It dealt with some dark issues – the darkest imaginable – whilst also injecting some of that famous British gallows humour.
Forever Home centred around a long-dead body found in the basement of Robert Barrie and Carol Crottie’s home. But who killed Neil Barrie, and why? It all unravelled in the brutal ending on Channel 5…
***Warning: spoilers from the ending of Forever Home on Channel 5 ahead***
What happened in the series finale of Forever Home?
The final episode of Forever Home began exactly where the penultimate had ended – with Moira Crottie under police arrest for the murder of Neil Barrie. But we knew it wasn’t her. By this point, it was looking like absent mother Joan was the murderer, however the 45 minute episode delivered a huge shock when it revealed the real killer.
Refusing to believe her mother Moira was capable of murder, Carol stepped up her own investigation. Connecting the forensic description of the murder weapon to the missing pinecone-shaped newel post cap from Joan’s bannister, Carol felt she was close to finding actual evidence.
But her investigation soon led her towards something far more disturbing than murder… Sorting through Neil’s discarded belongings, she discovered a collection of old home videos that revealed a disgusting truth. That Neil abused his niece Sally as a young child.
That, of course, meant there was a clear motive for Joan to kill Sally… But it was actually another family member who took revenge on Neil Barrie and ended his life.
Who killed Neil Barrie in the Forever Home ending on Channel 5?
Convinced she had solved the mystery, Carol confronted Kaden with her theory that Joan killed Neil. But a spiralling Kaden revealed the truth – he had killed his uncle Neil. The grim truth had only occurred to him now, years later.
Kaden was just 10 when he discovered something horrifying in his uncle’s dark room. The young boy, so fascinated with his uncle Neil’s photography, entered the room in secret to play. However, the poor boy stumbled upon something no one should ever have to see. He found a file with a photo sheet full of pictures of his little sister Sally. In the pictures, she was naked on Neil’s bed, wearing just her mum’s high heels. Neil was sexually abusing his own niece, who was just five years old.
Not quite understanding what he’d found, Kaden showed his mum. Understandably, a disgusted Joan subsequently confronted Neil and a fight ensued. Cornered, the child abuser attacked Joan and started to strangle her. Which is when schoolboy Kaden grabbed the nearest thing to hang – the pinecone-shaped newel post cap – and hit his uncle over the head with it, poking him in the eye with a nail for good measure.
He was “just a little boy protecting his mother”. Although he subsequently believed the story that his uncle and mum had run away together, he realised as an adult that he had in fact killed Neil Barrie, and that Neil had never left the house.
Joan and Robert vowed to protect their son Kaden
In the aftermath of the horrible events, Joan and Robert made the impossible decision to protect their son by concealing what had happened. Shielding Kaden from the terrible reality, Joan fled the house, while Robert concealed the body in the basement fridge. Robert subsequently told his son and daughter that their mum had run off with uncle Neil, and they were never to mention their names again.
While Joan HAD been having an affair with Neil, it was clear he had only been using her to get to her daughter. And although Joan HAD left her children, it wasn’t something she’d wanted to do. In fact, we later discovered she’d been living just two hours away, and had been keeping track of her children from afar.
Twenty years later, as the body was discovered and the truth came to light, the family – Joan, Dan, Carol, and Moira – were all forced to make a final moral decision.
Who took the blame for Neil Barrie’s death?
Another tragedy at the heart of the murder mystery was Robert Barrie’s diminishing memory. Robert, diagnosed with early-onset dementia, had carried a heinous secret his whole life. Twenty years later, Robert’s memory was failing him. However there were moments when Robert still remembered.
In the emotional ending of Forever Home on Channel 5, Robert told his partner Carol that he’d “do anything for his children”. Lucid, he looked at her and said: “Do it for them. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
By that he was telling her to blame Neil’s murder on him. Robert, now in the grips of dementia, knew enough to help his kids. He volunteered to take the fall for his son. The family subsequently took turns to talk to the police. They all blamed Robert for Neil’s death. Of course, Robert was “unfit to plead”, meaning that no one would be punished for Neil’s death.
They had, quite frankly, all been punished enough already.
What else happened in the Forever Home ending on Channel 5?
- Surrogate mother Martha gave birth to a healthy baby girl, which Dan would bring up alone. Martha had made it clear she did not want Kaden being a part of the baby’s life, after his erratic and often scary behaviour in the lead up to the birth. At the end of the series, Dan had his baby daughter in his arms. It was clear that Dan and Kaden had split up. Dan would be leaving to pursue a well deserved promotion in Newcastle.
- With the truth out, we’d like to think that Sally found a new empowerment. Hopefully her days of wasting time with cheating husbands like Patrick were over.
- Joan sold No.7 Stable Row and was finally able to move on with her life, and develop a relationship with her children.
- Carol returned to teaching, and continued to live with her parents Moira and Dave, while visiting Robert every day.
