Four Lives

Four Lives, originally[1] and internationally[2] titled The Barking Murders, is a British television miniseries, first aired from 3 to 5 January 2022 on BBC One. 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 by Stephen Port. Facing failings by the Metropolitan Police, they fought for justice for their loved ones.[3][4][5] Stephen Merchant plays serial killer Port[6] with Sheridan Smith as Sarah Sak, the mother of Anthony Walgate, Port's first victim.[7]

Four Lives
GenreDrama
Created byNeil McKay
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes3
Production
Producers
  • Jeff Pope
  • Neil McKay
  • Serena Cullen
  • Carolyn Parry-Jones
  • Ken Horn
Release
Original networkBBC One
BBC Two Wales
Original release3 January (2022-01-03) –
5 January 2022 (2022-01-05)

Production

First announced in early 2020, production on the show was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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."[8]

Cast

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers (millions)
7 day		UK viewers (millions)
28 day
1"Episode 1"David BlairNeil McKay3 January 2022 (2022-01-03)4.956.44
Two young men are found dead in Barking, London. The first, Anthony Walgate, is found outside the flat of Stephen Port. The police suggest the death may have been a drug overdose, but his friends in London and his family back in Hull, are unconvinced. Walgate's mother thinks there is more to the case than the police are letting on and believes her son may have been murdered. Walgate's friends also reveal that Walgate was going to meet a man he met via a male escort website, but was not heard from since, and are frustrated that the police seem more interested in Walgate's sex life than the nature of his death. Port is arrested for perverting the course of justice, having lied to the police by claiming he didn't know Walgate before switching his story to claim the two had sex after Walgate had taken the drugs himself, but is released on bail. The second victim, Gabriel Kovari from Slovakia, is found by a dog-walker in the graveyard of the nearby church. Kovari had moved into Port's flat but before shortly his death had confided to Port's neighbour that he found Port's behaviour intimidating.
2"Episode 2"David BlairNeil McKay4 January 2022 (2022-01-04)4.285.94
The body of a third victim, Daniel Whitworth, is found, in the same graveyard by the same dog-walker. Again, the police suggest a deliberate drugs overdose, pointing to a suicide note left by Whitworth's body which implies he knew Kovari and was responsible for Kovari's death, but Whitworth's partner and his family are all unconvinced, claiming that Whitworth didn't do drugs and that the tone and handwriting of the note are uncharacteristic. Kovari's friend and former landlord also conducts research of his own and is astonished to find what appear to be suspicious but obvious connections between the three deaths. He, the families of Whitworth and Walgate, and Port's neighbour, all express their concerns to the police but are told there is no evidence to indicate the deaths are linked. Meanwhile, Stephen Port is tried for perverting the course of justice, and sentenced to eight months in prison, but is released sooner with an electronic tag. The inquests of Kovari and Whitworth are held, but both reach an open verdict. The coroner states there is insubstantial evidence to suggest murder but also raises concerns over how Barking police have carried out the investigation into Whitworth's death.
3"Episode 3"David BlairNeil McKay5 January 2022 (2022-01-05)4.375.93
The body of a fourth victim, Jack Taylor, is found in a public park adjacent to the same graveyard. His sisters challenge the police over their collection and interpretation of evidence, which again suggests Taylor died from an accidental overdose, claiming that Jack also wasn't a drug user. They start conducting their own research and through learning about the previous victims, notice three of the deaths follow the same pattern and come to the conclusion that their brother was killed by someone. CCTV footage of Taylor meeting Port indicates the sisters' version of events to be correct. Port is arrested following a positive identification on the CCTV footage by a member of the police. The police concede to the families and friends of the victims that corroborated evidence now shows they were indeed murdered and that the Met will refer itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission over the handling of the investigation. Port is tried at the Old Bailey and is found guilty on four counts of murder. He receives a whole life order.

Release

Four Lives first aired from 3 to 5 January 2022 on BBC One.[4]

It aired on SBS Television in Australia over three weeks from 14 April 2022.[9]

Four Lives is distributed internationally by BritBox as The Barking Murders.[2]

Reception

Ed Cumming of The Independent 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 [sic] script and David Blair's direction deftly avoid these traps".[10] In The Guardian, Lucy Mangan 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".[11] Hugo Rifkind of The Times 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".[12]

References
  1. Hirons, Paul (13 January 2021). "Four Lives with Sheridan Smith: What's it about and when will it be on as it's delayed AGAIN". Entertainment Daily. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  2. "The Barking Murders". BritBox. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  3. Blackett, L'Oreal (3 January 2022). "Four Lives Is Based On The Horrific True Story Of The Grindr Killer's Victims". Bustle. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  4. "Four Lives - Episode 1 of 3 - When two young men are found dead in London, the police blame their deaths on overdoses. Their loved ones are unconvinced and try to find out the truth". BBC. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  5. Craig, David (29 December 2021). "Four Lives: True story behind harrowing Sheridan Smith drama". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  6. Opie, David (3 January 2020). "12 LGBTQ+ TV shows you need to watch in 2020". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  7. "BBC - Stephen Merchant and Sheridan Smith to star in Four Lives on BBC One - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  8. Yeates, Cydney (1 January 2022). "Sheridan Smith in tears 'every night' while filming harrowing Stephen Port BBC drama Four Lives". Metro. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  9. Morris, Anthony (11 April 2022). "There's a killer on the loose and the police are on trial in 'Four Lives'". SBS. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  10. Cumming, Ed (4 January 2022). "Four Lives review: Stephen Merchant plays the Grindr Killer with understated menace in BBC's deft drama". The Independent. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  11. Mangan, Lucy (3 January 2022). "Four Lives review – truly damning TV about those who are meant to protect and serve". the Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  12. Rifkind, Hugo (7 January 2022). "The Tourist review — amnesia? Organised crime? It's as if everything was bunged in". The Times. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
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