When the lead actors and creatives of Steeltown Murders talk about playing real people in a drama about the deaths of three young women, and the impact those deaths had on a close-knit Welsh community, the word “respect” comes up a lot.
“I think everyone has treated the project with a quiet respect," says producer Hannah Thomas.
"Television sets can be kind of very noisy and at times chaotic places but actually the whole project has been imbued with a sense of calm and quiet respect which I think comes from wanting to do justice to these girls’ memories."
Directed by Marc Evans (Manhunt), the four-part series is based on the real-life, long-unsolved Llandarcy murders, which took place in 1973, and explores how, decades later, the pioneering use of DNA evidence saw the hunt for the killer – known as the "Saturday Night Strangler" – begin again. The series is not sensational, nor does it get bogged down in science. Instead, it explores the difficulties faced by investigators and families, and the determination of a small handful of police to find the killer.
The events unfold in the series across two timelines: in flashbacks to 1973, where the police on the case include Paul Bethall (Scott Arthur, Good Omens) and Phil ‘Bach’ Rees (Siôn Alun Davies, Hidden); and in 2002, where the older versions of the two real-life policeman are played, respectively, by Philip Glenister (Cranford, Belgravia, Ashes to Ashes) and Steffan Rhodri (, House of the Dragon).
Sion Alun Davies as Young DC Phil Bach & Scott Arthur as Young Paul Bethell. Credit: Severn Screen / All3Media International
Glenister describes being part of a real-life story as a responsibility and a privilege. “I think the overall feeling is that it’s a responsibility to serve the story because there are obviously family members. We have to serve the story and them above all and respect them. I think respect is the word.
“When it’s based on something that is real and so traumatic because it involves three teenage girls, and having daughters myself, it hits you. It’s unimaginable what the families have gone through. I haven’t sort of looked at it as a thriller, to me, it’s more a drama-documentary that we are making.”
Philip Glenister as DCI Paul Bethell. Credit: © Severn Screen / All3Media International
The real Phil Rees and Paul Bethall were both consulted on the making of the series, adding an extra dimension to the show for Glenister and Rhodri.
“It was fascinating to meet him,” says Rhodri of meeting Rees.
“It’s priceless really, you can go all around the houses trying to think of character choices, but you just have a conversation with the real guy for half an hour and I got an insight of him. He is a really nice guy. I got the sense of decency, respect, morality and that he wanted to do this for all the right reasons, it just oozes out of him.”
Glenister says of Bethall: “Paul is such a nice guy… I don’t get too bogged down with ‘what are your mannerisms like’ and all that, I am not so much interested in that, rather his thoughts on how he worked on the case. He told me something which I thought was really interesting, he said he didn’t like using the word closure, because in a case like this there is never closure, especially for the family. There is hopefully a sort of peace of mind that you eventually get the whole story. You know what happens, you know who did it, but you never get closure from what these families have suffered. So, he never used the word closure, particularly to them.”
Gareth John Bale as DC Geraint Bale, Philip Glenister as DCI Paul Bethell and Steffan Rhodri as Phil 'Bach' Rees. Credit: Severn Screen / All3Media International
For one cast member, the connection to real life was even closer: Welsh actor Gareth John Bale plays his uncle, DC Geraint Bale, in the 2022 storyline. “Playing my real-life uncle, how many actors get the opportunity to do that? That’s been a thrill for me,“ Bale says. “The story told in Steeltown Murders is an important part of South Wales's history… it’s a job that will stay with me for a long time.”
The series is a drama, not a documentary, which sees actress/writer Priyanga Burford (, Industry) playing Sita Anwar, a character that’s a composite of several girls who knew the murdered women. Out with two of the victims on the night they are killed, she has to live with being a survivor.
“Sita survives because her dad came and found her," Burford says.
"So she has lived with that, being ‘the one who got away’, for her whole life. When the case reopens in 2002, everything had been nicely packed away because she now has a new life with a husband and her daughter, but she now has to unpack all that and deal with a lot of things she did not deal with or couldn’t have dealt with at the time."
Priyanga Burford as Sita Anwar. Credit: Severn Screen / All3Media International
The sensitive nature of creating a drama based on real-life tragedies was very clear to writer and executive producer Ed Whitmore, whose screenwriting CV includes Silent Witness, CSI and Manhunt.
“To a dramatist, the chance to sensitively and respectfully chart the interweaving lives of these characters was a gift," he said.
"And just as the narrative balances two time frames, I was struck and compelled by the almost in-built thematic equilibrium at the heart of the piece. Yes, it’s indelibly a story of loss, regret, monstrous evil and the cruelty of fate - but it’s also a paean to courage, fortitude, scientific progress and the redemptive power of love and family.”
How would Glenister sum up the series?
“That’s a tough one. I would say it’s an incredibly powerful, moving story where out of the darkness, hopefully some light appears.”
This article is based on material supplied by Severn Screen / All3media.
Steeltown Murders will air weekly from 21 November at 9.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand.
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Steeltown Murders
