The Hack on ITV reexamines the unsolved murder of Daniel Morgan and its subsequent investigation – as well as running alongside the phone hacking scandal.

ITV viewers might assume they are tuning into the seven-part series to learn more about the notorious phone-hacking scandal. But the murder of Daniel Morgan – which is at the centre of the star-studded drama from episode two onwards – will truly draw people in.

David Tennant, Toby Jones and Robert Carlyle lead an incredible ensemble cast showing what really happened when national newspapers went rogue in the 90s and 00s. It’s well-known that newspapers hacked into the phones of celebrities, royals and members of the public.

But The Hack also unearths a less publicised real-life drama. Jack Thorne, who wrote Netflix’s heartbreaking Adolescence and the powerful Toxic Town, has penned this new series. It weaves the brutal murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan in 1987 into the hard-hitting phone-hacking saga.

Morgan’s death goes to the heart of phone hacking, corrupt police and newspaper wrongdoings. His killing became the most investigated unsolved murder in police history. In the drama, Robert Carlyle plays DCS Dave Cook, the officer in charge of one of five Metropolitan Police investigations. He put his life at risk pursing the killer.

Read on to discover the true story of Daniel Morgan’s murder.

Who was Daniel Morgan?

Daniel Morgan was a private investigator. Born in 1949, he grew up in the Welsh town of Cwmbran, before moving to London and becoming a bailiff. He later – in 1984 – set up his own private investigation company called Southern Investigations in Thornton Heath, Surrey.

Morgan started the firm with another investigator, Jonathan Rees. The pair aimed to expose criminal wrongdoings.

David Bray worked with Daniel at Southern Investigations from 1986. In his book, Daniel Morgan: Southern Investigation, Bray said of Morgan: “Danny could be terribly reckless and often thought himself invincible. He took unjustified risks in working situations, throwing caution to the wind by not entirely taking into account what might actually go wrong.

“Danny could rub people up the wrong way.”

How did Daniel Morgan die?

On March 10, 1987, Daniel Morgan and Jonathan Rees met for a drink at The Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, South London. They left together at around 9pm.

At 9.40pm, a BBC producer drove into the car park. He saw Morgan’s body lying face up. He had an axe embedded in his head. The axe had been taped up, to avoid leaving fingerprints.

The killer had left Morgan’s Rolex watch and his wallet containing £1,100 in cash on his body. However, the perpetrator had torn Morgan’s trouser pockets open. Witnesses had seen him taking notes during his meeting with Rees, and these notes were missing.

Morgan was 37 when he died. He had been married to his wife Iris for 10 years. The couple had two children, Sarah and Daniel.

Who killed Daniel Morgan and why?

Police never found the person or persons who killed Daniel Morgan, despite arrests.

Two months after Morgan’s death, former colleague Bryan Madagan spoke to the police. He believed Morgan was about to expose police corruption when he was killed.

Other people have since told Morgan’s family a similar story. The family believe that corrupt police officers ordered Morgan’s murder.

In April 1987, a month after Daniel Morgan died, police arrested six men. These included Morgan’s former business partner Jonathan Rees, and Rees’ brothers-in-law Glenn and Garry Vian. DS Sid Fillery was also arrested. All were later released without charge.

For the first few days after the murder, DS Sid Fillery led the investigation into Morgan’s death. However, the police soon learned that DS Fillery had sometimes moonlighted on investigations for Southern. They promptly took him off the case.

What happened to Southern Investigations?

After leaving the police, DS Fillery subsequently joined Southern Investigations full-time. Under his leadership, the firm changed its direction.

Southern began working with newspaper groups News Group and Mirror Group. News Group published The Sun and News of the World. Meanwhile, Mirror Group published The Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People.

Southern sold police information to those newspapers. They also helped show how to use cybercrime and phone-hacking to obtain stories.

Morgan’s killer was ‘the most open secret in South London’

The first formal Metropolitan Police investigation launched in June 1988. It ended a year later, with no evidence to support any wrongful police conduct.

A second investigation began in 1997, with a third starting in 2001 and a fourth in 2006. DCS Dave Cook led this fourth investigation.

When he was first appointed to the investigation, DCS Cook said Morgan’s killer was “the most open secret in South London”. Nearly two years later, four men were charged over the killing.

The four men were Morgan’s business partner Jonathan Rees, the Vian brothers and a builder, James Cook. Their trial began at the Old Bailey in 2009, but collapsed in March 2011. All four men were formally acquitted.

Why did the Old Bailey trial into Daniel Morgan’s murder collapse?

The court heard that a supergrass, Robert Eaton, supplied key evidence against the four accused men – Jonathan Rees, the Vian brothers and a builder, James Cook.

His evidence was ruled inadmissible, because he’d obtained it in a “compromised” manner. The court heard that Eaton was initially unable to name anyone connected to the case. But Eaton then supplied the names of Rees, James Cook and the Vian brothers.

In 2019, Rees and the Vian brothers received a total of £414,000 in damages after winning a malicious prosecution case against the Metropolitan Police.

High Court judge Justice Cheema-Grubb said her damages included a sum “to highlight and condemn the egregious and shameful behaviour of a senior and experienced police officer”.

Justice Cheema-Grubb accepted that DCS Cook “honestly believed” the accused were guilty, but added: “There is no place for any form of ‘noble cause’ justification for corrupt practices in those trusted to uphold the law.”

Who else has been linked to the killing of Daniel Morgan?

Since the investigations began into Morgan’s murder, one other man has been arrested.

In February 1989, Jonathan Rees was arrested with an associate, Paul Goodridge. The case was dropped by the CPS three months later, due to a lack of evidence.

What happened to Southern Investigations after the murder trial collapsed?

Four months after the acquittal of Jonathan Rees, News of the World closed after the phone hacking scandal. This led to the 2011-12 Leveson Inquiry into the conduct of newspapers. The inquiry is also at the centre of The Hack.

The Inquiry heard that Southern Investigations frequently provided newspapers with information it had obtained from police sources.

This included the arrest of actor John Alford, who starred in EastEnders and London’s Burning. Alford’s career ended in 1997, when News of the World exposed him for taking cocaine.

How did Crimewatch become involved in the Leveson Inquiry?

Also giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry was DCS Dave Cook’s wife, Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames. Eve Myles plays Jacqui in the cast of The Hack.

Hames said News of the World investigated her and her husband. She told the hearing: “In some way, there was some collusion between people at the News of the World, and people who are suspected of committing the murder of Daniel Morgan.”

Police arrests over Daniel Morgan’s murder

Between 1987 and 2011, police arrested a total of 67 people in connection with Morgan’s murder. Eight of those were police officers.

In 2023, Morgan’s family reached a settlement with Metropolitan Police. Their commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said Morgan’s family had been “repeatedly and inexcusably let down” by the police’s conduct into Daniel’s killing.

Sir Mark added the case was subject to “a cycle of corruption, professional incompetence and defensiveness that has repeated itself over and over again”.

Where can I learn more about Daniel Morgan’s murder?

Morgan’s former colleague, David Bray, has written a book, called Daniel Morgan Southern Investigation.

There is also a podcast based on interviews with Daniel Morgan’s brother Alastair, who is played by Phil Davis in The Hack.

This became the basis for a Channel 4 investigation, The Murder in the Car Park.

Read More: The return of compelling police drama Blue Lights to BBC1

The Hack starts on Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at 9pm on ITV1, and drops as a boxset on ITVX.