Rillington Place on BBC1

[FlowerFairiee]

Is anyone watching?

According to the Wikipedia page it was standard practice at the time to prosecute for only a single most serious offence and that's why neither Evans nor Christie were tried for the murder of Beryl.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Evans

Oh I see sorry I misunderstood. Yes the assault definitely clinched it, it wasn't mentioned in this drama unless I missed it.

Ludovic Kennedy's book is very interesting on how police corruption stacked the odds insurmountably high against TE.

He is also explicit about how the atmosphere was such at the time that, even though he uncovered evidence of the police misdeeds , he couldn't publish or refer to them until decades later because he feared undermining his own credibility and the help he was trying to offer TE. Such things simply weren't credited

I caught up with the last episode last night. I agree, superbly well acted, but a little rushed. What really chilled me was the way Christie acted after the murders - looking almost bored as a pp said, and a kind of world-weary 'oh well, now I suppose I've got to do something with the bodies, it's a nuisance but it has to be done'. And for some reason, him leaving the dog in the park got to me as well, even though it was completely insignificant in the scheme of the other terrible things he'd done.

On Ethel not leaving him, there's a book by Michelle Magorian whose title escapes me at the moment, also set in the bleak post-war period in a working-class community, which has a woman in it who's presumed to be divorced - she's shunned by everyone, and her son is victimised in school and no-one's allowed to make friends with him. I think the acceptability of divorce (or separation, or abandonment) in the 40s and early 50s, and the viability of your life as a no-longer-married woman, depended a lot on where and how you lived, so I can see why it wasn't an attractive option for Ethel. Additionally, she would have internalised the beliefs of the time about it being a woman's fault if her man strayed etc. (If you ever really watch the musical Carousel it's quite shocking in its portrayal of casual domestic violence, but it was completely unremarkable for its time.) Poor Ethel, though. What a life - and death.

I first knew about the case from by Ewan McColl.

Just Henry mornington?

'And for some reason, him leaving the dog in the park got to me as well, even though it was completely insignificant in the scheme of the other terrible things he'd done.'

Same here! I almost cried at several points during that episode and that was one of them. I'm not particularly an animal lover but there was just something about him leaving the dog without a backward glance that was yet another reminder of what a stone cold psychopath he was.

I actually physically shuddered at several points during the series - when he offered with a smile to 'take a look' at Muriel's catarrh, when he took the baby from poor Tim, his final moments with the chaplain. I haven't had a performance get under my skin like that since Dominic West played Fred West in 'Appropriate Adult' on ITV and I did not sleep a single wink after seeing the second episode. I'm almost tempted to watch the whole thing again from start to finish because it was so brilliantly done.

That was very confused towards the end - I'm thinking of watching the whole of 'Rillington Place', not 'Appropriate Adult'. I could never face watching AA again!

Yes, I think it might have been Just Henry - it rings a bell.

I agree re Appropriate Adult. It was repeated recently and I watched the first minute or so, then remembered why I'd decided never to watch it again.

My other icy moment in Rillington Place was the look he gave Ethel when she lied about the coat being hers - it was pure 'now I know I've got you where I want you'.

'My other icy moment in Rillington Place was the look he gave Ethel when she lied about the coat being hers - it was pure 'now I know I've got you where I want you'.'

Yes, and the look on Ethel's face after she lied and was left alone in the house. And then the lights dimmed and the screen went black. My blood went cold

I think someone has already said this but it got to me when he literally just pounced on his wife whilst she was sleeping to Kill her. It was like the lightbulb had just come on over his head & he just got on with it. I hated it when Tim passed the baby on to Christie you just knew what was going to happen. I know in the scheme of things the crimes committed were horrendous all round but for that to of happened it just shows how sick he was.

I have watched appropriate adult not long ago when it was aired again.
I found that truly sickening! His approach to it all, like it was all some big game & the crimes weren't as bad as everyone was making out. And his AA' I've forgot her name I can not believe that she actually formed some kind of twisted friendship/relationship with him.

I think all the series and films of the most known serial killers are disturbing obviously because we all sit and watch them knowing that the facts are true, what your seeing happened & the victims were real! It's an awful ordeal.

'And his AA' I've forgot her name I can not believe that she actually formed some kind of twisted friendship/relationship with him'

I think it showed how extremely manipulative and charming he was. She really believed that they had a bond and yet he clearly felt absolutely nothing for her - she was just useful to him and he probably enjoyed the feeling of power over her. The poor woman was utterly devastated by the whole thing and had a stroke during the trial. Sickening stuff

She looked like one of the victims as well didn't she? The one she helped him write the book about. You could see the manipulation on the screen, the way she would always go to leave but then he would come out with some "fact" about rose so she had to then stay.

I do feel sorry for her as I think she was put into a difficult situation. At the end of the day she went into the AA job thinking she'd be working with young children not a man who committed sickening crimes.

The wirse part for me was when he tipped the chair and the body (cant remember who it was) fell to the floor. It's like he was throwing her away like a piece of rubbish.

yes agree with the chair scene,no feeling/emotion at all

She really believed that they had a bond and yet he clearly felt absolutely nothing for her - she was just useful to him and he probably enjoyed the feeling of power over her.

There was a thread on here recently, where several posters had worked with sociopaths/psychopaths, in a mental health or prison setting. With some of them, they were very nearly sucked in by these people and had to constantly remind themselves of what they were dealing with.

People like this are very clever. It's too easy to say 'Oh couldn't she tell what he was like/Why did she stay/Why did she form a bond with such a monster' - sociopaths and psychopaths have manipulation down to an art form. It's very easy to be wise after the event. All of us have encountered people like this at some point, the only difference is that most of us wouldn't have had a clue.