Under Suspicion: Kate McCann dramatises the investigation when her and Gerry’s daughter, Madeleine went missing from their apartment while on holiday in Portugal.
19 years on, and I remember it very clearly, because I was having builders in my house, doing a load of work, meaning I had to move out and stay with my Mum for a while, and she had all the “Look for Maddie” posters up, as did some of her neighbours, with such posters making it look like you should confront ANY adult walking along, who had a small child with them.
Many children sadly go missing each year, but I don’t recall any case in my lifetime which got as much media coverage as this. Was it because Kate and Gerry McCann are well off, or because they knew more than they ever let on? I have my own thoughts on that, but I’ll save that for after the broadcast, since this is a preview.
At the point where the dramatisation begins, it’s now August 8th 2007, and Madeleine has been missing for 98 days, since she first disappeared on May 3rd 2007, just 9 days before her 4th birthday, allegedly taken from the McCanns’ apartment in Portugal while they were out having a meal.
This programme just sticks to the questioning of Kate, with the police stating they’ll speak to Gerry later, but as time goes on, they’re direct with their questions, and piling on the pressure, stating the unthinkable, to ask whether Kate may wonder if “she might be dead”.
After all, why not use the on-site creche? And what’s with the blood in the car that matches Madeleine’s? These are all questions to be posed during the programme, but I’ll post after the programme what my thoughts are about what I think actually happened to Madeleine, after the broadcast.
Adding more after the broadcast, there’s a great performance from Laura Bayston as Kate McCann, going through the hell of the interrogation, detailing everything she can, including how she and Gerry “affirmed good behaviour” by awarding the children stars for various things, such as if they stayed in their beds overnight, as opposed to getting in with the parents in the middle of the night.
Personally, though, I just don’t believe their story. Yes, this drama is just for Kate’s quizzing, and maybe we’ll get a separate one for Gerry’s as well, but while part of me thinks that the truth must come out one day, but then Ben Needham disappeared from his family in Greece, in July 1991, just 3 months away from his 2nd birthday, and he’s never been found since. Plus, as of this week, the police have closed the investigation on finding him after nearly 35 years.
After all, for Madeleine, her blood found in the McCanns’ car, and even the police think that she died by accident.
To me, while I think her death was also accidental, and with mention of Calpol and alcohol by the cops, early on, I think the parents wanted a night out, gave the kids something to make them sleep long enough (I later learned my parents used to give me gin when I was a kid, if they wanted me to sleep), but they overdosed Maddie, she died, and then there was an unexplained car journey from Portugal to Spain (hence the blood in the car). There’ll be a lot of barren land out there, filled with undesireable creatures who can… well, make evidence disappear…
Very grim, yes. But I’m open to any discussion on that.
The police named their prime suspect as Christian Brückner, many times over the years, but nothing concrete has yet come from it all. Is that because he’s a scapegoat?
Thanks to our friends at Channel 5 for the screener prior to broadcast.
Under Suspicion: Kate McCann isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but if it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
You can catch up with it, now on My5.
Director: Paula Wittig
Producer: Janine Frank
Writer: Philip Ralph
Music: Oliver Ward
Cast:
Kate McCann: Laura Bayston
Madeleine McCann: Ruby Ranson
Gerry McCann: James Robinson
Inspector Ricardo Paiva: Miguel Freire
Inspector João Carlos: Hugo Nicolau
Armanda Duarte Salbany Russel: Joana Borja
Carlos Pinto De Abreu: Carlos Agualusa
News Reporters: Claudia Sermbezis, Dominic Reynolds
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.