BBC finally release first trailer for drama Four Lives
The first trailer for the upcoming BBC drama Four Lives was released on Monday and shows Stephen Merchant playing the role of the notorious Grindr serial killer Stephen Port.
The three-part series will air in January and will show the families of his victims fight for justice in the face of a now widely-condemned police investigation.
Port, 46, lured four unsuspecting victims to his east London flat then plied them with a fatal dose of date rape drug GHB before dumping their bodies nearby as part of a sick fetish for sex with unconscious men in 2014 and 2015.
Scary: The first trailer for the upcoming BBC drama Four Lives was released on Monday and shows Stephen Merchant playing the role of the notorious Grindr serial killer Stephen Port
The show was set to be released in 2020, but had to be delayed because of an inquest into the Metropolitan Police’s investigation into Port’s crimes.
Last week, the 10-week inquest culminated in a jury ruling that there had been police ‘failures’ in the investigation, and had they been avoided, some of his victims may still be alive.
Four Lives focuses on the fight to uncover the truth about what had happened to the families’ lost sons, brothers and loved ones.
The series was written by Neil McKay with Jeff Pope as executive producer. The pair have previously worked together on crime dramas The Moorside and Appropriate Adult.
Drama: The three-part series will air in January and will show the families of his victims fight for justice in the face of a now widely-condemned police investigation
In the first trailer for Four Lives, viewers were given a glimpse of Merchant’s terrifying portrayal of Port.
The serial killer was known for being exceptionally tall, six foot five, and Merchant appears eerily similar at six foot seven.
The series also stars Sheridan Smith as Sarah Sak, the mother of Walgate, Port’s first victim.
Four young men – Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor – were murdered by Stephen Port.
Famous faces: The series also stars Sheridan Smith (pictured) as Sarah Sak, the mother of Walgate, Port’s first victim
When the series was first announced in 2019, then BBC controller Piers Wenger said: ‘The Stephen Port murders have shone a light not just on the life of one deeply disturbed individual but into the plight of the four innocent young gay men who fell foul of him.
‘Jeff and Neil will go behind the headlines to tell the story from a fresh perspective considering the impact of these crimes rather than the crimes themselves and will explore the challenges the police faced in identifying the serial nature of the killings.
‘We are thrilled with the cast which has been assembled to tell this story and look forward to bringing this difficult but very timely story to BBC One.’
Awful: Port, 46, (pictured) lured four unsuspecting victims to his east London flat then plied them with a fatal dose of date rape drug GHB before dumping their bodies nearby as part of a sick fetish for sex with unconscious men in 2014 and 2015
Stephen added: ‘This is a story that can’t be ignored — how four young lives were lost and their families’ brave attempt to uncover what happened.’
Last week the grieving families of serial killer Stephen’s four victims heaped shame onto the Met Police – after a jury found force failings on his first murder let him kill three more young men.
An inquest into all of Port’s four victims said ‘fundamental’ mistakes looking at Anthony Walgate’s death ‘probably’ contributed to Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor being subsequently killed.
Devastating: Two of Port’s four victims were Jack Taylor (left), 25, and Daniel Whitworth (right), 21
Young: Anthony Walgate (left) and Gabriel Kovari (right) were also victims of Port
The devastating ruling was summed up best by Mr Whitworth’s stepmother who sobbed: ‘These three boys could have been still walking around today had they investigated Anthony’s death properly.’
Port, 46, lured the unsuspecting victims to his east London flat then plied them with a fatal dose of date rape drug GHB before dumping their bodies nearby as part of a sick fetish for sex with unconscious men in 2014 and 2015.
The IOPC announced it was considering reopening its probe into 17 officers involved in the case. Nine officers were given re-training but were not formally disciplined after the investigation in 2018.
Difficult: Four Lives focuses on the fight to uncover the truth about what had happened to the families’ lost sons, brothers and loved ones
Families of all four victims said through lawyer Neil Hudgell: ‘The inadequate investigations by the Metropolitan Police into the deaths of Anthony, Gabriel, Daniel and Jack should be on public record as one of the most widespread institutional failures in modern history.
‘The jury has been unanimous in identifying fundamental failings and basic errors in the investigation into Anthony’s death which meant that Port was not stopped, and was allowed to carry on with his terrible acts.
‘We continue to believe that had the police done their jobs properly in the first place, Gabriel, Daniel and Jack would not have been killed and other young men would not have been drugged and raped by him.’
Tough: The series was written by Neil McKay with Jeff Pope as executive producer (Sheridan is pictured in the drama as one of the victim’s mothers)
Mr Whitworth’s former partner Ricky Waumsley said current Met Commissioner Cressida Dick – who was not in charge at the time of the murders – should resign over the findings.
Police watchdog the IOPC also said it may open its investigation into officers following the evidence heard at the inquest.
The three-part series will begin at 9pm on Monday 3 January on BBC One, continuing at the same time on Tuesday 4 January and Wednesday 5 January.
All three episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer from 9pm on Monday 3 January.
Upsetting: The three-part series will begin at 9pm on Monday 3 January on BBC One, continuing at the same time on Tuesday 4 January and Wednesday 5 January
