Netflix adds ‘gripping’ ITV true crime series about ‘the worst serial killer Wales has ever seen’

Netflix have just added an ITV true crime series that focuses on a man described as ‘the worst serial killer Wales has ever seen’.

The streamer has been adding banger series after banger series to the platform recently, with recently added The Madness starring Colman Domingo being the new number one show and a heartbreaking doc about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey being number two.

And now, an ITV true crime series with an outstanding cast has just dropped, and it has been described as ‘gripping’. Check out the trailer here:

The show is called The Pembrokeshire Murders, and it focuses on the murders carried out by Welsh serial killer John Cooper.

Cooper killed siblings Richard and Helen Thomas in 1985, as well as Peter and Gwenda Dixon in 1989.

The show, which first aired on ITV in 2021, stars Luke Evans as real-life police detective DCS Steve Wilkins. Keith Allen stars opposite Evans as serial killer John Cooper, with Alexandra Riley rounding out the main cast as DI Ella Richards.

What have people been saying?

The show has been widely praised, with a 7.1 on IMDb and an 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

In Rebecca Nicholson’s four star review, she said: “Viewers seem to devour dramas about true-life killings. Less competent entries into the genre can wade through murky waters, particularly in terms of whether it is decent, or not, to delve into the stories of those whose relatives are still alive.

“But to my mind, The Pembrokeshire Murders is a perfect example of how to do it well. It is sensitive when it needs to be, and never loses sight of who suffered.”

In The Mail on Sunday’s five star review, Deborah Ross said: “It was sombre and careful without ever being boring.

“Evans held it all together with not only his granite-like physicality but also a sense that, underneath, compassion ran deep.”

What is the true story of John Cooper?

Cooper was a serial killer who was eventually caught after his DNA was matched against the police database, finding he had committed a string of burglaries.

He was eventually convicted of 4 murders, 1 rape, 1 sexual assault, 30 burglaries, and 1 attempted robbery in total, and was given a whole life order in prison.

Discussing why he took the role of DCS Steve Wilkins, who caught Cooper, Luke Evans said: “The story just hooked me immediately, also I'm a sucker for a true story.

"This isn't just a true story it's a shocking true story about the worst serial killer Wales has ever seen.

"It also drew my attention to the work the police force do behind the scenes, at the human impact of what people go through when something like this happens in their community

“It is a real story of a team of people who absolutely wanted to find the truth and get the man who committed these crimes.

“The unbelievable twists that this story takes during the investigation which are just mind boggling and literally when I read it... I remember I started googling it.

“Somehow, I think I might have been too young for it to have made an impact on me when it actually did happen and I wasn't living in Wales at the time, but when I read the story, I realised there were no fictional embellishments in this story.

“It's as true to the facts as it possibly can be and it really is a rollercoaster ride as you watch it”

The Pembrokeshire Murders is available to stream on Netflix now