We’re at the half-way stage of this good-looking true crime dramatisation, and surely the penny is going to drop soon to everyone – not just Stan (I miss times when people were called Stan) and Ann – that Bamber is the killer.
At the end of episode two, we saw Ann find some a faulty door latch and an open window at the back of White House Farm, which suggested that someone had got in and out of the property during the murders. This someone, Ann reckoned, was Jeremy Bamber.
More evidence was found in tonight’s instalment. Ann, who was paranoid about her cousin’s sudden need to sell everything off, decided to go round to the house to lock away some valuables. Under the stairs, her husband found a silencer, which she later gave to Stan.
This was important because it fitted the rifle used to carry out the murders. It also had blood on it; the blood of Sheila Caffell. But the question remained: why would Sheila shoot herself with the silencer on, take it off and then shoot herself again. Stan asked a pathologist assistant to test a theory – she was of the same(ish) height to Sheila so he asked her to hold the rifle and shoot herself with it with the silencer on. That extra length meant that she could not reach the trigger.
Stan was racing against the clock to present this new evidence before the inquest and before the bodies were due to be released to the family (and cremated by Bamber). He failed.
I’ve just finished watching The Deuce, which is just about as vibrant and bold and creative and rich and immersive as you can possibly get when it comes to drama. While White House Farm is nicely played, looks the part and no doubt strives to do the source material and the people involved justice, I just found this episode deathly dull.
I had worried that it would find it difficult holding our attention for six episodes, and half-way way through this one, I did think that it had ground to a halt – Taff was still being Taff, Stan was still being Stan and Jeremy… well, Jeremy was changing. He was being inappropriate, he suddenly had a new (male) friend who he was physically very close with, and displaying worrying signs of arrogance and narcissism. He girlfriend began to look as though she wanted to say something, but couldn’t.
But even Jeremy I feel is being presented as a bit of a caricature, someone, who at the end of the last episode, stood coldly over his mum’s dog as he had it put down (NOT THE DOG!).
Things began to heat up when Stan made his silencer discovery, but perhaps this was one of those ‘calm before the storm’, mid-series episodes.
READ MORE: OUR EPISODE ONE REVIEW
READ MORE: OUR EPISODE TWO REVIEW
Found a silencer
The Killing Times 