White House Farm (TV series)

White House Farm is a British crime drama television miniseries based on the real-life events that took place in August 1985. The series was produced by New Pictures for ITV and distributed worldwide by All3Media. It was broadcast by ITV on 8 January 2020.[1][2]

White House Farm
Genre
Written by
  • Kris Mrksa
  • Giula Sandler
Directed byPaul Whittington
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Willow Grylls
  • Kris Mrksa
  • Charlie Pattinson
  • Elaine Pyke
Producer(s)Lee Thomas
Production company(s)New Pictures
DistributorAll3Media
Release
Original networkITV Hub (United Kingdom)
Original release8 January (2020-01-08) –
12 February 2020 (2020-02-12)
External links
Production website

Premise

The series is based on true events from 6 August 1985. Five members of the Bamber-Caffell family are shot to death at White House Farm, Essex. The police, led by detectives DCI Taff Jones (Stephen Graham) and DS Stan Jones (Mark Addy), are called in to investigate.

When questioning the Bamber's son Jeremy Bamber, he claims that his sister, Sheila, who was suffering from schizophrenia, went "berserk", got hold of a suppressed rifle and killed their parents and Shelia's six-year old twin sons. As the murder case unravels, a devastating twist comes to light.

Cast

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date [3]UK viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 1"Paul WhittingtonKris Mrksa8 January 2020 (2020-01-08)7.99
2"Episode 2"Paul WhittingtonKris Mrksa15 January 2020 (2020-01-15)7.89
3"Episode 3"Paul WhittingtonGiula Sandler22 January 2020 (2020-01-22)7.79
4"Episode 4"Paul WhittingtonKris Mrksa29 January 2020 (2020-01-29)8.27
5"Episode 5"Paul WhittingtonGuila Sandler5 February 2020 (2020-02-05)8.20
6"Episode 6"Paul WhittingtonKris Mrksa12 February 2020 (2020-02-12)8.67

Production

The series was first reported on in August 2018, when filming had begun. Stephen Graham, Freddie Fox and Cressida Bonas were announced as being cast. Mark Addy, Gemma Whelan, Mark Stanley, Alexa Davies, Alfie Allen, Amanda Burton and Nicholas Farrell also appeared in the series.[4]

Reception

Stephen Graham's portrayal of Welsh detective "Taff" Jones drew some criticism, with a number of pundits, including Carolyn Hitt of WalesOnline, stating that his Welsh accent was inauthentic.[5] Some online commentators described the accent as the "worst screen accent since Dick Van Dyke".[5]

Foreign sales

In November 2019 HBO Max closed a deal to air the miniseries on their service in the United States.[6] The series was also aired in the Netherlands in June 2020 by the Dutch broadcaster KRO-NCRV, adding the word "murders" to the series' title.[7]

References
  1. "When is ITV drama White House Farm on TV? What's it about?".
  2. "WarnerMedia's HBO Max acquires UK crime drama from All3Media". TBI Vision. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  3. "White House Farm – Listings". Next Episode. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  4. Stephen Graham & Freddie Fox To Star In ITV Drama 'White House Farm' From 'Catherine The Great' Producer New Pictures
  5. Hitt, Carolyn (11 January 2020). "We need authentic Welsh voices – not English actors mangling our accents". walesonline. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  6. HBO Max Takes U.S. Rights To Stephen Graham-Fronted ITV Crime Drama ‘White House Farm’
  7. Bart Koetsenruijter, "Niets is zeker in politiethriller White House Farm", De Volkskrant, 18 June 2020.
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