Channel 4 films 'My Name Is Lizzie' drama about the Rachel Nickell murder investigation at Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey
Published: 09:11, 13 December 2020
Updated: 14:32, 13 December 2020
Sheppey has yet again been chosen to feature in a new TV drama.
Production trucks arrived in Shellness, near Leysdown, last Tuesday ahead of a full day of filming on Wednesday.
Channel 4 confirmed crews had been shooting a true crime series called ‘My Name is Lizzie’ which will be aired later this year.
Niamh Algar, star of Netflix show Calm With Horses, will lead the cast in the four-part piece written by Emilia di Girolamo and produced by Story Films. It is about the high-pressure investigation into the murder of Rachel Nickell in 1992.
Rachel had been walking on Wimbledon Common with her dog Molly and two-year-old son Alexander when she was stabbed and sexually assaulted.
With access to previously unheard audio, video and written materials ‘My Name is Lizzie’ will include scenes of verbatim dialogue as part of a fictionalised retelling of events, taking viewers behind the scenes of one of the UK’s most flawed and controversial police investigations.
Caroline Hollick, head of Channel 4 drama, said: “The unique female perspective of Emilia’s extraordinary scripts will shine a light on one of the most shocking stories in modern policing, in a drama which combines Story Films’ trademark journalistic rigor with sensitivity and nuanceAnd it’s a privilege to be working with Niamh Algar, who is fast becoming an iconic star of the channel.”
Gabrielle Lindemann, film officer at Kent County Council, said “They [Channel 4] had an agreement with a private property to film and we supported this by arranging contacts, parking, services and some filming on the beach outside the property. They were filming in Canterbury on the previous day.”
She added that a two-day shoot like this would bring an estimated £32,000 into the economy.
Other dramas filmed on the Island this year include ITV’s psychological thriller Too Close, and Sky’s horror series The Third Day, starring Jude Law.
Read more: All the latests news from Sheppey
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Claire McWethy