The Secret: ITV to show four-part drama on Howell murders
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- Published: Wednesday, 13 April 2016 14:59
- Written by News Editor
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The case of Northern Ireland dentist, Colin Howell, and the murders he committed will be told in a four-part drama, The Secret, first episode to be screened on Friday 29th April by ITV. Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt plays Colin Howell, a respectable dentist and pillar of the community, who became a killer in partnership with a Sunday school teacher, Hazel Buchanan, who is played by Genevieve O’Reilly.
The four-part drama has been produced by Hat Trick Productions. Written by Bafta winning writer Stuart Urban, the drama is directed by Nick Murphy and produced by Jonathan Curling. The Executive Producer is Hat Trick Productions Head of Drama, Mark Redhead, who said: “This is the story of an audacious and wicked crime. It tells us something very surprising and revealing about the dark side of human nature.”
The drama is based on the book, Let This Be Our Secret, by Deric Henderson, the former Ireland editor of the Press Association. Howell and 51-year-old Stewart are serving life sentences for the murders of their respective spouses Lesley Howell (31) and Trevor Buchanan (32) in May 1991. The Ballymoney dentist and lay preacher gassed his wife and the RUC husband of his mistress and made it look like they died in a suicide pact in Castlerock after they discovered their partners were having an affair.
Police never suspected the truth, and it was only 19 years later that they reopened their investigation after Howell coolly walked into a police station and confessed to the murders, naming Stewart as his accomplice. In May 2011, Howell, who was ordered to serve at least 21 years behind bars for the murders, was sentenced to another five-and-a half-years' imprisonment for indecently assaulting a number of women while they were under sedation.
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