''Murdered by My Boyfriend'' is a fact-based

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

first aired on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

in 2014. It stars

Georgina Campbell Georgina Alice Campbell (born 12 June 1992) is an English actress and model. She won the 2015 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Murdered by My Boyfriend'' (2014). Her other television credits include ''Flowers'' (2016), ''Broadchurch'' (20 ...

as Ashley Jones, a young victim of

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partne ...

at the hands of her controlling boyfriend, Reece, portrayed by

Royce Pierreson Royce Pierreson (born 1 April 1989) is a British actor and narrator. Royce is best known for his roles as DC Jamie Desford in the fourth series of ''Line of Duty'' and as Reece in ''Murdered by My Boyfriend.'' He has since appeared as Dr Jam ...

. It was based on an actual case of murder, with the victim's family asking the producers to give the characters different names. According to the producers, the purpose of the film is to educate juvenile viewers about relationship abuse.

Plot

Ashley meets Reece at a house party and accidentally becomes pregnant with his child. Reece's abusive personality shows more and more. Ashley's friends ask her to leave him, but she struggles to do so. Ultimately Ashley chooses to exit the relationship, then travels to

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

where she sleeps with another man. In response, Reece kills her with an ironing board while their daughter watches from her bedroom. He is initially sentenced to fifteen years in prison, but his sentence is increased to twenty years on appeal due to the nature of the assault that resulted in her death.

Characters

* Ashley Jones - Jess Commons of ''

Grazia ''Grazia'' (; Italian for ''Grace'') is a weekly women's magazine that originated in Italy with international editions printed in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Colombia, France, Germany. Greece, Indones ...

'' states that Ashley is not a "pitiful victim" through and through but becomes inundated with abuse as the film progresses. Due to an increase in domestic violence involving people aged 16–24, the producers made Ashley a teenager. The mother of the real-life murder victim stated that "My daughter was strong-willed and independent, but her murderer manipulated, controlled, and persuaded her into continuing the relationship." * Reece - Sophie Goddard of ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' UK remarked that the character has a "likeable, personable side" and an "abusive, controlling, violent" one, which shows the "complexity of this situation for victims." Campbell states that initially Reece is "charming and older and funny and sweet".

Reception

In a piece for British broadsheet ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', writer Regina Moriarty said: "I hope that people watching will note the way that Reece starts, little by little, to take control of Ashley's life, and if they can see that that's happening to them or someone they know, they'll do something about it – talk about it, get some more information... something". Sarah Hughes of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' wrote that the "veracity" of the story and the young ages of the characters "marks tapart" from similar works. The programme won a

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Award for best Single Drama in 2014, and Campbell won a

BAFTA Award for Best Actress Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film. * From 1952 to ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, ahead of bookmakers' favourite

Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints of ...

. This drama was released on DVD on 21 September 2015.

References

External links

* *
Murdered by My Boyfriend
' -

BBC Academy The BBC Academy is an educational arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation which trains current and prospective broadcasting employees in the skills of the Broadcasting industry, in addition to training the corporation's own staff and prospect ...

* {{cite web, author=Smith, Kelly, url=https://www.shoutoutuk.org/2014/07/22/domestic-violence-eye-opener-murdered-boyfriend/, title=Domestic Violence Eye-opener: Murdered by My Boyfriend, date=2014-07-22, work=

Shout Out UK Shout Out UK (SOUK) is a non-partisan social enterprise, based in the United Kingdom. Its mission is to strengthen democracy by providing training and programmes on media literacy and political literacy. Shout Out UK was formed in August 201 ...

"Murdered by My Boyfriend, BBC One, review: 'convincing'"
2014 in British television 2014 plays 2014 television films 2014 films BBC television dramas Domestic violence in television Murder in television