TV & Showbiz
New crime doc explores events leading up to one of Manchester’s most prolific gangland killings
Killer Britain with Dermot Murnaghan explores British murder stories filled with detective intrigue and chilling storylines.
Emily Sergeant -
1st June 2021 
A new crime documentary exploring the chain of events leading up to one of Manchester’s most prolific gangland killings aired last night.
Audiences tuned into the first episode of Crime + Investigation’s Killer Britain with Dermot Murnaghan – which is hosted and curated by one of the UK’s best-known journalists, and explores British murder stories filled with detective intrigue and chilling storylines – as it focussed on the life and death of Paul Massey.
Paul Massey – the man who came to be best-known by the swaggering moniker ‘Mr Big’ – was raised in the rough-and-tumble surroundings of Ordsall in the sixties, moving from rapscallion to crime kingpin during the dawn of Madchester.
His blood-splattered story – which many Mancunians will remember culminated in his murder in 2015 – sounds like it was lifted from the pages of an airport paperback, and has proven a popular subject for crime media over the years.
This new documentary however attempts to examine the story in a light never seen before – and even features an “alternative theory”.
In each episode of the new five-part series – which looks at crimes that shook local communities throughout Britain and gripped the nation until the killer was brought to justice – Dermot is joined by former Detective Chief Inspector of the Metropolitan Police, Clive Driscoll as he recounts a case he has reported on or followed at close quarters over the years.
The five murder stories are told with archive footage and key interviews from those closest to the case – including by family members of the victims and the investigating officers who were first at the scene.
Last night’s Manchester-centred episode features interviews with Mr Massey’s partner, Louise Lydiate, and his daughter, Lydia Massey.
The five-part series will continue on Crime + Investigation each weeknight this week.
The devastating Cumbria shootings of June 2010, the callous murder of vulnerable young adult Phillip Nicholson in Boscombe, Dorset in 2015, and the dramatic twists and turns of the murder of Carol Jarvis in West Lothian in 2009 will also be featured in episodes this week.
You can find more information about the series here, and catch-up via Sky TV On Demand / Sky Go and Virgin TV On Demand.
Featured Image – BBC
