Former Coronation Street actress Sarah Lancashire will head up the cast of a controversial BBC drama based on the murders of five women in Ipswich, it emerged today.
IPSWICH: Former Coronation Street actress Sarah Lancashire will head up the cast of a controversial BBC drama based on the murders of five women in Ipswich, it emerged today.
Five Daughters tells the story behind the killings of five sex workers who were found over a ten-day period in the winter of 2006.
The three-part serial, which will be broadcast on BBC One next year, gives an insight into the police investigation which led to the conviction of Steve Wright.
Dubbed the Suffolk Strangler, Wright, of London Road, Ipswich, was found guilty of killing all five women following his trial in February 2008.
He was convicted of murdering Gemma Adams , Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Annette Nicholls and Paula Clennell in December 2006.
Wright, a former forklift truck driver, was jailed for life.
Now it has been revealed that Ms Lancashire, who played Raquel Watts in Coronation Street, will take one of the lead parts in the drama.
She will act alongside Ian Hart, who starred in Father and Son and Dirt, as well as playing Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
A spokeswoman for the BBC confirmed Sarah Lancashire will play Rosemary Nicholls, mother of Annette, and Ian Hart will play Suffolk police's Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull who led the constabulary's investigations.
The BBC, which has previously defended producing the drama so soon after the killings, said it had been made with “the full co-operation of Suffolk Police and other agencies involved in the case”.
Other members of cast include Bleak House star Natalie Press and Asnton Lesser of Casualty.
Writer Stephen Butchard said: “These five young women, precious to their families, had heart, ambition and potential until an event or events, one wrong turn, one chance meeting led them into the world of heroin and crack.
“Their dependency on these drugs facilitated their easy exploitation and led them to the street.
“Our hope is that this drama provides a glimpse of the real girls their families knew.”
Should the BBC make the drama? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
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