Latest news with #Fred&RoseWest:ABritishHorrorStory
Metro
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
'Dark' ITV true crime drama quietly added to Netflix soars up chart
Netflix viewers are bingeing a crime drama detailing the horrific crimes of serial killers Fred and Rose West. 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.' Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. 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. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. View More » MORE: Rose West has new grandchild after son welcomes baby with former model MORE: British Soap Awards 2025 afterparty evacuated due to security alert MORE: Netflix viewers rush to watch 'astonishing' drama starring Sheridan Smith as beloved British icon
Metro
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
'Seriously gripping' true crime drama storms up Netflix 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.' 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. She became Fred West's 'appropriate adult' – hence the show's title – and sat in on police interviews with him. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. There, 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. 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. 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.' 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. 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.' View More » Appropriate Adult is available to stream on Netflix. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Netflix viewers have just hours to binge 'steamy' 00s British TV drama MORE: Netflix star calls 'dark' show 'very different to what I was used to' MORE: Netflix viewers think WWE star is 'lucky to be alive' as move goes horribly wrong
Daily Mirror
17-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Rose West's chilling warning to killer husband before murdering pregnant lover
From torturing young women to slaughtering their own children, the depravity of notorious serial killers Fred and Rose West was unthinkable. But it remained a secret for years When serial killers Fred and Rose West were finally caught in the 1990s, the nation was sickened when the depravity of their actions came to light. The married couple had raped, tortured and murdered vulnerable young girls and women in order to fulfil their vile sexual fantasies over a period of 20 years. The bodies of nine victims were found at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, which was soon dubbed "The House of Horrors", with three further sets of remains found elsewhere. A new Netflix documentary, Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story, features new police video and audio footage detailing the Gloucestershire Constabulary's murder investigation and hears from the families impacted by the couple's reign of terror. The three-part show begins with Fred West, who killed himself in his prison cell while awaiting trial at HMP Birmingham in 1995, aged 53, being questioned over the disappearance of his eldest daughter Heather. The role of his accomplice and wife - who at 71, remains behind bars in HM Prison New Hall, West Yorks - is then explored. Heather, 16, was the last murder victim of the evil pair. We take a look at the full tragic list of girls and young women who lost their lives... Ann McFall Ann, 18, became Fred West's nanny when he was married to his first wife Catherine Costello, after moving to the Gloucester area from Glasgow in 1966. The naive teenager became West's lover when Catherine was away and was pregnant with his child when she disappeared in May 1967. The remains of Ann and her unborn baby were found in a field in Kempley, Gloucs, close to Fred's home village of Much Marcle in Herefordshire. Catherine Costello Known as Rena, Fred's 26-year-old first wife was his second victim. They had married at Ledbury in 1962, when she was pregnant with another man's child and she gave birth to her daughter Charmaine in 1963. West's biographer Geoffrey Wansall said Catherine had a "strong personality" and the couple had daughter Anne Marie a year after the birth of Charmaine. Rena went onto leave her husband in 1969 over his violence and sexual abuse but she failed to escape his clutches - her family lost contact with her in 1971 and her remains were later found at a field in Kempley, close to the body of Ann McFall. Charmaine West Serial killer couple Fred and Rose West first met when she was 15. They married three years later, and Fred's eight-year-old daughter became Rose's first victim. Young Charmaine is said to have hated her stepmother with a passion and Rose murdered her while her husband was serving time in prison for stealing car tyres and a vehicle tax disc. When he was released, Fred buried Charmaine's body beneath the kitchen window at the couple's home. Lynda Gough Lynda, 19, was a seamstress who became friendly with lodgers who were living with the serial killers. Described by biographer Wansall as "naive", she vanished in April 1973 and was reported missing by her parents, who she lived with. Lynda's remains were found in a converted bathroom at 25 Cromwell Street, which was formerly a car inspection pit. Carol Ann Cooper Known as Caz, the vulnerable 15-year-old was staying at The Pine Children's Home when she vanished after a night out on November 10, 1973. Carol had been given permission to spend the weekend with her grandmother when she disappeared after boarding a bus back to the home and extensive enquiries by West Mercia Police failed to find her. In March 1994, the teenager's body was found buried in the cellar of the Wests' home and detectives concluded she had been picked up while hitchhiking. Lucy Partington Lucy, 21, was an Exeter University student who had returned home for Christmas to Gretton, Gloucs, in December 1973 when she fell victim to the Wests. She disappeared two days after she came home after leaving a friend's house, with the serial killers thought to have picked her up while she was waiting for a bus. The young woman's mother reported her missing, sparking a massive police search. But her whereabouts remained undiscovered for 21 years, when her remains were found beneath the floor of the cellar at 25 Cromwell Street. Lucy was related to the acclaimed author Martin Amis, who wrote about his cousin in his 2000 memoir, Experience. "Lucy was serious, resolute, artistic, musical and religious," he wrote. "Even when we were children, the message I always took away from Lucy was that she wasn't going to be deflected, she wasn't going to be deterred." Martin went onto describe in horrifying detail the fate of his beloved relation. "She had been abducted by one of the most prolific murderers in British history, Frederick West," he said. "We knew what had happened to her after death. She was decapitated and dismembered, and her remains were crammed into a shaft between leaking sewage pipes, along with a knife, a rope, a section of masking tape, and two hairgrips." Therese Siegenthaler Therese, 21, was also a student who is thought to have been another hitchhiking victim of the Wests. Born in Switzerland, she was studying to be a secretary at a college in London when she disappeared in Easter 1974 after she set off to hitchhike to Ireland to visit a friend. The young woman never reached her destination and the Metropolitan Police's investigation failed to trace her until her remains were found under the floor of the cellar at 25 Cromwell Street in the 1990s. Shirley Hubbard Shirley, 15, was described by biographer Wansell as "pretty, spirited and vulnerable". At the time of her disappearance she had left Debenhams in Worcester, where she was undertaking work experience. Believed to be travelling home on November 14, 1974, Shirley disappeared and despite being reported missing to the police, her fate remained unknown until her remains were discovered under the floor of the cellar of the "House of Horrors". Juanita Mott Juanita, 18, was believed to have been travelling from her home in Newent, Gloucs, to Gloucester when she vanished. Her family contacted the Missing Persons Bureau and appealed in the local press but to no avail - it later transpired she had been murdered and buried in the cellar of 25 Cromwell Street. Shirley Anne Robinson Shirley, 18, was lodging at the Wests and sleeping with Fred when she fell pregnant. Biographer Wansall said she "saw herself as Rose's replacement" and claimed that it had "been suggested that Rose told Fred [that] Shirley had to go". Instead, the teenager, born in Leicestershire, vanished in May 1978 when she was eight months pregnant and the body of her and her unborn child were later found buried in the garden of the Wests' home. Alison Chambers Known as Al or Ali, Alison was living in a Gloucester children's home and known to be a frequent visitor to 25 Cromwell Street when she fell victim to the Wests. The 16-year-old was working for a firm of solicitors under a Youth Training Scheme when she disappeared in August 1979. Her remains were later found in the garden at 25 Cromwell Street. Heather West Born on October 17 1970, Heather was the Wests first child together and they murdered her when she was 16. Believe to be their last victim, she was the first to be found at 25 Cromwell Street. Biographer Wansall believes Heather was killed because she had threatened to go to the police about her father's abuse. Despite their claims to the contrary, Fred and Rose didn't report her disappearance and had buried her body under the garden patio.
CNET
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
What to Stream on TV This Weekend: 'The Brutalist,' 'Welcome To Wrexham' and More
This week is full of new releases on streaming, from big premieres to big finishes. On Peacock, you can tune in to the season finale of Saturday Night Live (I'm not sure if you've heard, but they celebrated a big anniversary this year), while you can catch tons of big premieres on some of the other streamers. New shows arriving this week include new seasons of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and Welcome To Wrexham (which are both dropping on Hulu), and the series premiere of Duster on Max, the exciting new crime series from J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan. You can also catch the streaming premiere of The Brutalist on Max, so now you can finally watch the three and a half hour long award winner at your own pace. For something completely different, set a daily alarm for the Eurovision Song Contest that will be streaming all week on Peacock. The music competition has introduced the world to performers like ABBA, Julio Iglesias and Celine Dion, so tune in this week and you might just catch the next big global superstar. These titles and many more are arriving on streaming soon. Here's all the info you need to tune in this weekend. Read more: Best Live TV Streaming Services of 2025 Best new TV shows and movies to stream this weekend Netflix Netflix Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story (May 14) True crime, but make it British. In the new three-part series Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story, viewers will learn all about the crimes committed by one of Britain's most notorious couples, Fred and Rose West, who were charged with 12 murders. The pair were accused of torturing and killing their victims, including their own children, from 1976 to 1987. The series features police videos as well as rare interviews with family members of the victims. Out May 14. Max A24 The Brutalist (May 16) The Brutalist surprised many when it dominated awards season this year, winning the Golden Globe for best picture -- drama and earning three Oscars, including one for star Adrien Brody. The historical drama directed by Brady Courbet stars Brody as a Holocaust survivor and architect who emigrates to postwar America, enduring a lifetime of struggle in an attempt to achieve the American Dream. The A24 film arrives to Max on May 16. Max Duster (May 15) Lost star Josh Holloway reunites with J.J. Abrams for Max's new original series, Duster. The eight-episode show is an action packed crime drama set in the 1970s with Holloway starring as a getaway driver recruited by an FBI agent (played by Rachel Hilson) to take down a crime syndicate. The show debuts on May 15, with new episodes airing weekly. Prime Video Prime Video Overcompensating (May 15) Created by and starring Benito Skinner, Overcompensating is a new comedy series produced by A24 and Amazon MGM Studios. Set at college, the show stars Skinner, as well as Adam DiMarco, Mary Beth Barone, and Wally Baram as they juggle relationships and hookups and hazy drunken night with friends. Something of a coming of age tale, the show explores all the ways we end up finding ourselves once we strike out on our own. All eight episodes will drop on May 15. Hulu Hulu The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Season 2 (May 15) The first season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives took the world by storm in 2024 when it turned out that the Mormon #MomTok community was filled with marital scandals and rocky relationships. The show is back this week with an all-new season that features a visit from Taylor Frankie Paul, but her return isn't the only scandalous thing to rock these women's friendships this season. Get ready for serious drama when all 10 episodes of season two drop this week. Hulu/FX Welcome To Wrexham, Season 4 (May 16) Welcome to Wrexham kicks off its fourth season this week, as Wrexham Football Club's celebrity owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney continue their quest to get their once scruffy Welsh soccer club promoted. Though it's easy to get caught up in the duo's star power, the show manages to keep the focus on the players and fans at the heart of it all. Apple TV Plus Apple TV Plus Murderbot (May 16) Based on Martha Wells' bestselling book series, Murderbot is a sci-fi thriller and comedy starring Alexander Skarsgard as a security robot who has to hide the fact that he's sentient. Though he has to fulfill his purpose and work on dangerous assignments, he really just wants to be left alone to watch TV (relatable). The series was written and directed by filmmakers Chris and Paul Weitz, who were also responsible for the great 2023 remake of Dead Ringers. Peacock Eurovision Eurovision Song Contest 2025 (May 13-17) Most Americans didn't grow up watching the Eurovision Song Contest. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is the first time some people ever heard of it. But the international music competition is an annual tradition for many European countries, as well as Australia and Israel, as 37 nations send a musical act to compete in a competition to perform the best song. The multi-day contest is broadcast from Basel, Switzerland this year and will stream live all week on Peacock this year, with the grand finale streaming on May 17.
Time Magazine
14-05-2025
- Time Magazine
The Chilling Story Behind Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story
F red & Rose West: A British Horror Story focuses on the dark true story of two married serial killers who abused, raped, and murdered several young women and girls, including their own children, in the Gloucester area between 1967 and 1987. Fred and Rose West were arrested in 1994, after police got a search warrant to excavate their property. Fred West, who was charged with 12 counts of murder, killed himself in prison in 1995 before he could stand trial. Rose West is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted on 10 murder charges. The documentary series, out on Netflix, features interviews with Fred West's lawyer, law enforcement involved, and journalists who covered the case, which shocked the nation in the '90s. Over three episodes, recently discovered recordings of Fred's interviews with police make an already grisly story even more lurid. Here are some of the most shocking details. Discovering Fred and Rose West's appalling child abuse Fred and Rose West had 10 children, and the documentary starts with police discovering the remains of their daughter Heather West at their home. Heather had been missing since 1987, and in the years after she disappeared, her parents' stories about her whereabouts constantly changed. In February 1994, her remains were found beneath the patio of the rear garden of the West's home. Fred West was arrested and admitted he had killed Heather in interviews with Gloucester police. 'I never intended to hurt Heather at all. All I wanted to do was persuade her to stay at home,' he says in a recording shared in the series. The forceful way he killed Heather suggests otherwise. West dismembered his daughter with a bread knife and he describes taking a piece of electric flex and tying it around her neck to make sure she was dead. John Fitzgerald, a government advisor for child protection who was involved with the West's case, says in the documentary that the children of Fred and Rose West endured 'appalling abuse' from their parents. Police recordings reveal their daughter Mae saying that Fred sexually abused her and Heather on a daily basis. When police asked for Fred West's reaction to the allegations, he said 'no comment.' The documentary features archival footage of their eldest son Stephen West saying, 'We felt a lot happier to be at school where we felt safe. It was a better place to be than to be at home.' Stephen said Rose would often lose her temper. 'Once she started hitting us, I felt she found it hard to stop.' Stephen said a girlfriend encouraged him to speak up at one point, but that he and the rest of the children were afraid that if they told the truth about what was going on at home, they would be split up by child protection authorities. When police began investigating the Wests over reports of child abuse, several of their children said the running joke in the family was that if they misbehaved, they would end up under the patio like Heather. 'These murders would never have come to light if it wasn't for the children of the Wests saying they had a sister under the patio,' Fitzgerald says in the documentary. 'They were brave enough to speak up.' Experts on the case suggest that there may also be more victims that are unknown. In one recording shared in the series, West says, 'I have not and still not told you the whole truth.' What recently discovered police recordings reveal Fred West, who pursued Rose in 1969 when he was 27 and she was 15, said he called the shots in their marriage. 'I trained Rose to what I wanted. That is why our marriage worked out so well…she just blended into my way of living,' West says in a police recording. At Fred's urging, Rose began engaging in sex work at their home. Liz Agius, a former neighbor, says in the doc that Rose asked her once how she felt about her being a prostitute, and Agius told her that it was none of her business. Agius said Rose told her that Fred bugged the bedroom so that he could listen in from the room next door. 'I had to go out with this bloke I didn't like and climb into his bed and make love all night and come home in the morning,' Rose can be heard saying in a recording. 'I am almost completely brainwashed.' Beginning in 1967, Fred abducted, raped, and killed at least 12 young women, and Rose was convicted of 10 murders that date back to the early 1970s. Caroline Owens, a former nanny for the West family in 1972, describes in the series how Fred invited her to join a 'sex circle' between him and Rose. One day, she remembers blacking out and waking up to find herself blindfolded, with her hands tied behind her back and a gag in her mouth on a mattress on the floor. 'That's when the sexual assault started,' Owens says. She thought Fred West was going to kill her, but managed to escape. Fred West called her story 'absolute rubbish' in an interview with police. Another woman, Shirley Robinson, had an affair with Fred West and found out that she was carrying his child. When she threatened to tell Rose, who was in the hospital recovering after giving birth herself, Fred killed her. He explains it plainly in a police recording: 'I just smacked her straight in the jaw, and she went straight on the floor…And then I went and got a piece of flex and tied it 'round her neck.' The documentary also reveals the story of Alison Chambers, who had run away from home. In the series, her sister Dezra Chambers reads a May 26, 1979, letter her mother received from Alison saying that she was living with the Wests and looking after their children. A few months later, she went missing, and her remains were found at the Wests' residence. How the horrific story of Fred and Rose West is felt today The documentary ends with a judge sentencing Rose to life in prison. Archival news coverage from the time describe the Wests as one of the most notorious serial killers in Britain's history. The series does not center the West's living children, because they are not on speaking terms with each other today. As the eldest Stephen told the Mail Online, 'I don't speak to my siblings and there are no large happy family get-togethers,' he said. 'Too much has gone on. It's probably too painful for us.' Philip Davis, the husband of Stephen's older sister Anne-Marie Davis, concurred, explaining to the Mail Online 'Every few years the case is back in the media, like now with this new documentary, and the public gets interested again but it's the children who live with the pain of what happened on a daily basis.' In the series, it's the relatives of the West's victims who get the last word. Belinda Mott, whose sister Juanita Mott's remains were found in the Wests' cellar, is seen visiting her sister's tombstone. 'This is why I say to my children, every single time I say good night or goodbye, I always say 'I love you' because you never know when [it's] the last time,' she says. Dezra Chambers says that talking about her sister Alison was cathartic. She had gotten so used to compartmentalizing the crime, she says, 'so I've never really worked through it." "This, what I'm doing now, I think it's for Alison, mostly for Alison, but also for me so that I can have a bit of closure," she says. "Because I don't have that at the moment.'
