Lucan (spoilers)

[TheNinkyNonkyIsATardis]

I binge watched this yesterday, found it a really good watch, though the ending was a bit wishy-washy.

What did others think?

I found it pretty unlikely that they could go to all those lengths, follow all those highly niche clues, and find someone who a) wasn't Lucan but b) had such a strong match on facial recognition and c) spouted so many "appropriate" things like going to Eton (unless the edit just filtered out him saying dozens of things that didn't fit).

And in the end, I thought it was odd that they took one old man's word for it that it was a different person, whilst not taking the same verification steps!

Very sad overall. Especially the ex boyfriend of Sandra who asked her to swap date night, she wasn't even supposed to be there.

I think he did escape to Africa, possibly now dead - or possibly the guy in Australia.

Sandra's boyfriend said it was him straight away. Agree it could be wishful thinking. The facial recognition was over 80 per cent with three different companies. What makes me doubt it it that his ears are set differently, and they also mentioned wider bridge of the nose. But also that he had plastic surgery(?) some sort of work done after a yachting accident. The nick in the nostril is one helluva coincidence...

Gah, I really don't know! My gut feeling though is that it IS him but he is a bit confused and deluded, and also that of course in his lucid moments he must've decided he will say anything not to be found to be Lucan.

His kids wouldn't though, presumably. Lucan's. They just want this to go away.

Sandra's boyfriend is unlikely to have met him more than once, very briefly, fifty years ago. It was ridiculous that he claimed he knew immediately the man was Lucan.

They are also invested in his death.
His son has inherited the title (whether he uses it or not, his children had him declared dead so that he could do so.) It would make many difficulties for them if LL was shown to be still alive.

Sandra's boyfriend is unlikely to have met him more than once, very briefly, fifty years ago. It was ridiculous that he claimed he knew immediately the man was Lucan.

Totally agree. Also the nanny who was there before Sandra - right at the beginning it was discussed that the famiy went through a lot of nannies.

I think the couple of bits of compelling evidence like the AI facial recognition uni bloke are lost among the "oh it's deffo him" from the ex boyfriend, and the fact that he said he was at school at Eton and knew Princess Margaret.

Yes, exactly.

Also thought it was a fascinating documentary. As to whether the old man is Lord Lucan - he just seemed far too small to me. Lord Lucan was 6 foot 4 and whilst you do shrink a bit in old age, would you shrink that much?
But the facial recognition giving a positive match - from a respected academic and 2 other companies also said the same - does make you wonder.
And the fact that this old man is very definitely on the run from something, constantly moving, changing his name multiple times is so weird. All very intriguing!
I guess we have to assume that not everything was revealed in that documentary and given the journalist and BBC producer both seemed convinced it wasn’t Lord Lucan, then I guess we conclude that the facial recognition technology just must have been wrong?

Does anyone else think that Glen Campbell looks and sounds the same as Ricky Gervais?

I thought it was a really uncomfortable watch and I felt very unhappy about the confrontations with the old man who seems very unlikely to be Lord Lucan.

I didn’t find the facial recognition compelling, firstly he didn’t really look like him and the first set of experts used said no. I couldn’t see how you could compare the nose nick accurately with just a photo taken on an iPhone. The figures of 81%, 88% etc from the other experts were not put into any context and why didn’t they repeat it with the old man and the drag queen photo? The Australian police clearly weren’t taking it seriously and I think the height, even allowing for old age, makes it fairly obvious. Not sure it was a programme that should have been made, felt it played on Neil’s trauma and obsession and has probably resulted in an old man who is not Lord Lucan being hounded and aggressively accused of murder.

I've just binge-watched all three episodes and found it interesting in the main.

The Canadian producer straight away recognised the old man as Crawford - that was quite convincing, assuming he had no prior knowledge of what the investigation was about and wasn't forewarned. So much for the AI facial recognition software!

We got glimpses of photos of Sandra's boyfriend from 50 years ago - he was totally unrecognisable as expected, so I don't think him claiming that it was Lucan from a split second sight of him in the house has any credence. Lucan didn't live in the family home so how many times would the boyfriend have seen him in the flesh. We've all seen those photos of Lucan over the years and he looks the same in all of them but it wouldn't mean any of us would identify him 50 years later.

Aspinall's secretary: I found her claims interesting - why would she lie about arranging such trips as it could have led her to being investigated for withholding evidence. Until Lucan was declared dead 25 years ago he was a suspected murderer and the case was presumably still 'live'.

Of the many press stories about sightings that have come out over the past 50 years I remember the one about the children supposedly taken to Africa - it was a big news story because the secretary worked for Aspinall, and wasn't just some random woman making a fanciful claim. I wonder if she was ever questioned by the police.

The brother in South Africa: he also seemed to indicate that Lucan had fled abroad.

I used to think, like the police said, he killed himself within a day or so, but who knows.

Watching it now, I think unfortunately Neil just isn't a competent 'interrogator' and so feeds lines to people. I don't think getting some old man to agree by bullying and saying you did this / that is credible.
It's almost like his identify now, like the interesting thing about him.
Interesting that Sandra's other son doesn't feature.

The carer is lovely

I missed this, what channel is it on please?

IPlayer

2017 article shows they did meet

And what of his older half-brother Stephen? Neil reveals that, finally, the two have met – an occasion he describes as ‘emotional, but strange as you can imagine’.
Stephen, now 53, wishes to stay out of public view, but for Neil this new relationship is one small but precious form of contact with his mother. ‘He is the closest thing I have. It’s the same for both of us. And we both take some comfort from that,’ he says.

I wonder if they are still in touch, and also why it wasn’t mentioned in the the documentary.

I've re-watched the last episode and am inclined to agree that it's not him, but a lookalike. However - the guy whose van broke down (Stephen?) said the old man said he'd done some awful wrong to two women in London called Sandra and Veronica. Then got his bf to try to kill Stephen because he regretted saying too much. Perhaps he's playing games? No idea!

I Had heard Neil being interviewed before on the British Scandal podcast, I feel sorry for him and his family, and I think in some ways it would’ve been better for him if his mum had destroyed the brown envelope. I can’t imagine the hurt of fining out that your biological mother gave up not one but two babies and then went on to work looking after someone else’s children. I think even if he did find Lucan and brought him to justice it wouldn’t repair the damage that has been done to him.

Absolutely knows more. It wouldnt surprise me if he put the money forward and provided contacts to get Lucan out the country.

I feel their relationship may have been more than carer and patient.

Derek did have a boyfriend previously (his boyfriend tried to kill someone)

It was also mentioned in the first episode that someone thought Lord Lucan was Gay.

Yes. Him, Jimmy Goldsmith and Aspers.

Bunch of conspirators.

Whoever the old man is that’s a lot of name changes and a lot of moving about.

I've just finished watching and it was a fascinating documentary. I feel deeply sorry for Neil and particularly his wife and child. He really needs some therapy. The trauma clearly runs very deep. I admired his tenacity but I think that was his downfall in the end because he couldn't contain himself.

I feel the old man was possibly Lucan. At this stage, we will probably never know but I really hope that Neil finds peace in his life now.

Oh and that Taki guy knew exactly what had happened and where Lucan was/is. He was lying through his teeth and it was very obvious. I agree with a PP who said he had Al Fayed vibes. Aspinall was vile.

I've always had a fascination with the Lucan case and suppose I more or less accepted he'd never be found either dead or living. Being declared dead meant that the police here were never going to follow any possible leads or clues.

Neil's obsession with finding the truth has probably driven him a little bit bonkers. He came across mild mannered and calm but I suspect there's another side to him. The programme was quite bizarre and obviously edited but that's how things are done. We saw the highlights which got quite fascinating at times but we still don't know the real truth.

The old boyfriend of Sandra wanted his few moments of attention on film and he got them. I didnt like him at all and doubted his sincerity.