Now I am a big fan of crime television programmes, as many of my tv reviews would tell. But the ones that become even more interesting is when they are invested in a bed of truth, reflecting something in history. ‘White House Farm’ is one of these programmes, imbedded into the past. August 1985: a house in Essex took a horrendous, heart-breaking turn. The police discovered what looked like a murder-suicide of Sheila and her young twin sons along with her parents. ‘White House Farm’ follows this tragic event and the police investigation that followed.
The investigation follows one police officer in particular, DS Stan Jones (Mark Addy), a phenomenal character dedicated to his job. Jones is determined that the crime scene that looked like a murder-suicide is in fact not one. Even though the house was locked in from the inside, that Sheila was placed with a gun under her chin, this DS is convinced that what the scene looks like isn’t the one that tells the truth. With his DCI opposing the complete opposite, that this tragic case is closed, Jones tries everything to rebel against what his superior tells him to. It really is surprising the turn of events that happens after this incident is brought to light, how evidence is burnt and disregarded as the case is deemed closed.
At the age of 23, I didn’t know this story before the programme. Although my parents did and once I had told them I was watching it, I then got the full story of what had happened back in 1985. When speaking to people who remembered this horrific event happening, the response I got was that this programme was a good representation of what happened tying closely to the facts of the case. In particular, the way the characters were portrayed. Even at the end of the programme, after the six episodes, photos flashed up from 1985 and the closeness to the show is really well executed.
I found myself waiting for the next episodes of ‘White House Farm’ to be released as I really wanted to discover what happened. Even when I knew the end events of what actually occurred, I still wanted to watch every episode to find out how each element was going to be uncovered. It truly is an interesting case, devastating and heart-wrenching as it is. The event was horrific which meant I did cry in some episodes when the families were told of the incident. Overall, I thought it was a well-executed crime programme that seemed to be tied closely to the real events from 1985. You definitely become invested into DS Stan Jones’ case and determined for him to catch the horrible person who would do such a thing as murdering a whole family which included young children.
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