'Dark' ITV true crime drama quietly added to Netflix soars up chart
The harrowing Netflix documentary Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story has brought renewed interest to the frightening serial killer case that gripped headlines in the 90s.
Viewers are now turning to a dramatisation of the grim case, Appropriate Adult, which was recently added to Netflix and is now ranking in the streaming platform's top 10.
The two-part mini series focuses on how Fred and Rose West were brought to justice, first airing on ITV in 2011.
As the opening credits state: 'This is a true story. What follows is based on extensive research, interviews and published accounts. Some scenes have been created for the purposes of dramatisation.'
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The drama follows Gloucester social worker Janet Leach (Emily Watson) and her pivotal role in discovering the bodies of women the couple had killed and buried on their property.
Dominic West plays Fred West in the drama, while Mr Bates vs The Post Office star Monica Dolan plays his wife Rose. Across the two episodes, we follow Fred's arrest, his subsequent suicide and the lifetime conviction of Rose.
West went on to win the Best Actor Bafta for his turn in the chilling drama, while Emily Watson took home the Best Actress gong.
Leach became Fred West's 'appropriate adult' – hence the show's title – and sat in on police interviews with him.
During these interviews, he revealed in terrifying detail the horrors his victims had faced. Police officers tapped Leach in order to avoid any future insinuation Fred West had not understood the charges he was under investigation for.
The Crown star said at the time that inhabiting the serial killer was so difficult it gave him nightmares. 'I have this recurring dream where I'm perched on a wall and Fred West is trying to grab me and pull me down,' he told the BBC.
He also defended the drama against accusations it would prove triggering to the victims' families. 'I think it's effective without being sensational in any way,' he continued.
'Thousands of people still go missing in this country every year and are never found.
'Fred West preyed on runaways without being caught for 25 years. We should not forget this case, because there could be others like him.
Netflix subscribers have been returning to the drama since the true crime documentary dropped on the streaming service – and it now ranks fifth on the platform's ranking of top TV.
Sharing their reviews on IMDB, @truecrimeallthetime said the drama is 'seriously gripping', writing: 'Excellent dramatisation of this deeply disturbing case. Respectfully done with classy performances and simple but effective direction.'
@Aimeemcdonald-55532 wrote it is 'definitely a must-see', adding: 'I was very moved by this dramatisation. Brilliant acting which left me with chills. I had to keep reminding myself that these events actually happened, because it's so stomach churning.' More Trending
However, not everyone was taken with the dramatisation as @rupie had issues with the apparent sympathetic portrayal of Fred West. They wrote: 'It was repellent – as well as incomprehensible – to watch Leach's developing interest and fascination with Fred West.
'Anyone watching this movie should first do some Googling to find out the details of what Fred and Rosemary West perpetrated. If anyone deserves to be called human monsters, it is this pair. In the light of this knowledge, the script's clear intention – to me anyway – to actually make West into a figure of sympathy is disgusting.'
Appropriate Adult is available to stream on Netflix.
This article was originally published on May 27, 2025.
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He had allegedly abused her since she was a child, and regularly visited the Cromwell Street house, according to Rose's notes from prison. The Wests' murder victims were usually attacked and killed, then often dismembered in the family bathroom. Most of their children maintained they had no idea what was going on. How horror unfolded JANUARY 1968: Mary vanishes aged 15 while waiting for a bus to meet her boyfriend. FEBRUARY 1968: Scotland Yard detectives called in to investigate Mary's disappearance return to London with no sign of her. FEBRUARY 1994: Police search garden at Fred and Rose West's home, 25 Cromwell St, Gloucester, over their teenage daughter Heather's disappearance. Nine bodies are found and Fred West is charged with murder. Police are then informed of a potential link to Mary's disappearance and the café. APRIL 1994: Rose West is charged with murder. JANUARY 1995: Fred West kills himself in jail while awaiting trial for 12 murders. NOVEMBER 1995: Rose convicted of ten murders, including Fred's step-daughter from previous marriage Charmaine, pictured, who vanished aged eight. JANUARY 2012: Police reject a petition by Mary's friends to search café. MAY 2021: TV documentary makers find new evidence of Mary's remains at café. Police begin a dig at the scene. One child, who Sounes does not identify, however, claimed years later they were locked in a cupboard under the stairs and could hear shouting and screaming. When they came out, fresh concrete had been poured in the cellar, they claimed. Barry said the children didn't run away because they considered their dad "like God" who would "find you". His older sister Heather vanished aged 16 in 1987 after saying she wanted to leave the house - before later being found dismembered under the patio. It was a long-running family "joke" that Heather was buried in the garden which became a sick reality when police diggers later moved in. 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