''Four Lives'', originally and internationally titled ''The Barking Murders'', is a British three-part television drama, first aired from 3 to 5 January 2022 on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. It follows the true story of the families of four young gay men (Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor) who in 2014 and 2015 were

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...

by Stephen Port. Facing failings by the Metropolitan Police, they fought for justice for their loved ones.

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, writer, director, and actor. He was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003), and co-writer ...

plays

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

Port with Sheridan Smith as Sarah Sak, the mother of Anthony Walgate, Port's first victim.

Production

First announced in early 2020, production on the show was halted due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The series was delayed twice after its announcement. On 13 December 2021 the official trailer was released with stills from the show being released on social media. During promotion for the series, Sheridan Smith said: "Every night I was going home in bits, crying – you can't help but take it home ..I really beat myself up with it because I want to do a good job for them."

Cast

as Stephen Port * Sheridan Smith as Sarah Sak * Tim Preston as Anthony Walgate * Jakub Svec as Gabriel Kovari * Leo Flanagan as Daniel Whitworth * Samuel Barnett as Ryan Edwards * Paddy Rowan as Jack Taylor * Robert Emms as Ricky * Michael Jibson as DC Slaymaker * Kris Hitchen as Tom * Memet Ali Alabora as Sami Sak * Daniel Ryan as Adam Whitworth * Rufus Jones as John Pape * Ian Puleston-Davies as Karl Turner MP * Giselle Cullinane as Barbara Denham * Ben Cartwright as Det. Sgt. O'Donnell * Leanne Best as Kate * Isabella Laughland as China * Alexa Davies as Kiera * Shaun Thomas as Paul * Jack Pierce as Acting DI Rolf Schamberger * Ella Kenion as Mandy Pearson *

Jaime Winstone Jaime Margaret Winstone (born 6 May 1985) is an English actress, best known for her roles in ''Kidulthood'' (2006), ''Goldplated'' (2006), ''Dead Set (TV series), Dead Set'' (2008), ''Donkey Punch (2008 film), Donkey Punch'' (2008), ''Boogie ...

as Donna Taylor * Stephanie Hyam as Jenny Taylor *

Holly Aird Imogen Holly Aird (born 18 May 1969) is an English television actress. She was born in Aldershot, Hampshire. Career Aird was spotted by a casting director at age nine whilst at Bush Davies Ballet School and starred in the 1980 dramatisation o ...

as Jeanette Taylor * Tom Christian as DC Ian Atkinson *

Jason Done Jason Done (born 5 April 1973), in Walkden, Lancashire, is an English actor who appeared as Mordred in the 1998 TV miniseries ''Merlin'', opposite Sam Neill. He is best known for his role as Stephen Snow in ITV drama '' Where The Heart Is'' ...

as a Barking Police Sergeant * Mollie Winnard as Demi

Episodes

Release

''Four Lives'' first aired from 3 to 5 January 2022 on

. It aired on

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS ...

in Australia over three weeks from 14 April 2022. ''Four Lives'' is distributed internationally by

BritBox BritBox is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Video on demand#Subscription models, video on demand Streaming television, streaming service founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, ITV which operates in eight countries across Australi ...

as ''The Barking Murders''.

Reception

Ed Cumming of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' rated the series with four stars out of five, writing "In less sensitive hands, a case like this could lend itself to prurience or melodrama, but Neil Mackay's script and David Blair's direction deftly avoid these traps". In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',

Lucy Mangan Lucy Mangan (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian'' and an opinion writer for '' i'' news. Early life and education Mangan was born in 1974 and grew up in Catford, ...

gave a three-star rating, saying "The drama does a good job of making the victims... live again" but also noted "Beyond that and despite the usual great work of Sheridan Smith and others, the drama never catches fire".

Hugo Rifkind Hugo James Rifkind (born 30 March 1977) is a British journalist. He has been a columnist for ''The Times'' since 2005. He also presents a mid-morning show on Times Radio, Mondays to Thursdays (from Sept 2024.) From July 2020 (the station's laun ...

of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' wrote, "Superficially, the most interesting thing about ''Four Lives'' was the casting of the great Stephen Merchant as Port. There's something intrinsically chilling about a comedian as a killer, but Merchant was more blank than sinister. This didn't particularly matter because although Port inevitably sat at the heart of ''Four Lives'', this was more a story about police incompetence".

References

External links

* {{BBC programmes, m00134hr 2022 British television series debuts 2022 British television series endings 2020s British LGBTQ-related drama television series 2020s British television miniseries BBC television dramas BBC television miniseries British English-language television shows Gay-related television shows Television series about serial killers Television series by ITV Studios Television series set in 2014 Television series set in 2015 Television series set in 2016 Television shows set in London Television shows shot in Manchester