ITV has announced the first cast and details of its new factual drama White House Farm.
White House Farm will revolve around one fateful night in August 1985 when five members of the same family were murdered at an Essex farmhouse; Sheila Caffell, her twin six-year-old sons, Daniel and Nicholas, and her parents, Nevill and June Bamber.
The series series will seek to provide fresh insight into this family tragedy and the contested accounts of the events that took place at White House Farm.
A synopsis reads: “Essex Police initially believed that Sheila, who had mental health problems, had murdered her own family before turning the gun on herself. But Detective Sergeant Stan Jones had doubts about the murder-suicide theory, and about Sheila’s brother Jeremy Bamber, who first called the police to the farm.
“Eventually it was Jeremy Bamber who was charged and convicted of the murders of his own parents, sister and nephews. Bamber is currently serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He is one of the few prisoners in the UK subject to a whole-life order. Bamber still maintains his innocence.”
Freddie Fox takes the role of Jeremy Bamber with Mark Addy as DS Stan Jones and Stephen Graham as DCI ‘Taff’ Jones.
Gemma Whelan, Mark Stanley, Alexa Davies, Cressida Bonas, Alfie Allen, Amanda Burton and Nicholas Farrell also take roles in the drama.
ITV says the series is based on extensive research, interviews and published accounts including, ‘The Murders at White House Farm’ by Carol Ann Lee with additional material from ‘In Search of The Rainbow’s End’ by Colin Caffell, husband of Sheila and father to Daniel and Nicholas Caffell.
Willow Grylls, Executive Producer for programme makers New Pictures, said: “This notorious case has been the subject of much debate, and our programme focuses on the impact of the human tragedy.
“I’d like to specially thank Colin Caffell as without his collaboration this would not have been possible. We have also been blessed by the talent of our director Paul Whittington and an incredible cast.”
Writer Kris Mrksa added: “This is an incredibly compelling true crime story, but it’s the human dimension of these events that gripped my imagination, particularly after reading Colin Caffell’s book.
“So much discussion of the case has focussed on contested legal details, but I wanted to tell this story in a way that did justice to the devastating emotional truth of what happened.”
White House Farm will air on ITV in early 2020.
More on: ITV
