See No Evil: The Moors Murders is a two-part British television serial, directed by Christopher Menaul, produced by Granada Television and broadcast on ITV on 14 and 15 May 2006. The serial tells the story of the Moors murders, which were committed, between July 1963 and October 1965, by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. The narrative is from the viewpoint of Hindley's sister, Maureen Smith, and her husband David.
The serial is the first dramatisation of the notorious murders and was produced to mark the 40th anniversary of Hindley and Brady's trial. It was made with the support of the victims' families, and was based on two years of research.
Cast
Joanne Froggatt as Maureen Smith
Sean Harris as Ian Brady
Maxine Peake as Myra Hindley
Matthew McNulty as David Smith
George Costigan as DCI Joe Mounsey
Charlotte Emmerson as WDC Pat Clayton
John Henshaw as DCS Arthur Benfield
Susan Twist as Nellie Hindley
Steve Evets as Jack Smith
James Quinn as Supt. Bob Talbot
Gordon Brown as DS Jock Carr
Stephen MacKenna as DCS Prescott
Connor McIntyre as DCS Dougie Nimmo
Episodes
Episode 1
Broadcast: 14 May 2006. Viewers — 6.52 million. Around the autumn of 1964, married teenagers David and Maureen Smith, who live in the Gorton district of Manchester, have just become parents to their first child - a baby girl called Angela.
Tragedy strikes when Angela dies of cot-death at the age of six months, and Maureen turns to her older sister, Myra, for comfort, while David finds friendship in Myra's boyfriend, Ian Brady. David and Maureen know nothing of the secrets harboured by Brady and Hindley.
By Christmas 1964, Hindley and Brady have moved with Hindley's grandmother Ellen Maybury, to a new council house: 16 Wardle Brook Avenue, on the Hattersley estate near Hyde, Cheshire. David and Maureen follow them to Hattersley soon after, their new home being a flat in a tower block called Underwood Court.
In the meantime, local police are seen discussing the possible fate of several missing local children and teenagers. 16-year-old Pauline Reade disappeared without a trace from Gorton in July 1963, with the police suspecting that she had run off with a boyfriend without informing her family. Pauline Reade was in fact a neighbour of Myra Hindley in Gorton, but since her disappearance most of the local residents have been rehoused to other districts of Manchester and neighbouring towns, in order to allow for the demolition of the Victorian slums.
12-year-old John Kilbride had disappeared from nearby Ashton-under-Lyne in November 1963, and in June 1964 another 12-year-old - Keith Bennett - went missing from Longsight, a district in the south of the city. Despite months of searching, not a clue to the fate of either child is found. At least one police officer believes that the two disappearance are linked, but his theory is rubbished by a colleague. Keith Bennett's step-father is questioned several times, but his disappearance remains a mystery. John Kilbride's father faces accusations from members of the public that he murdered his own son, but the police do not believe that this is the case, and have no evidence to lead them to a suspect or a solution to their case.
On Boxing Day 1964, 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey disappears after visiting a fairground near her home in Ancoats. It is not long before local police are speculating that her disappearance is linked to the earlier cases, while in the meantime her step-father is treated as a suspect and taken in for questioning more than once, but once again the disappearance remains a mystery.
Soon after moving to Hattersley, David and Maureen discover that they are having another baby. They are also faced with the threat of eviction from their new council flat for rent arrears, and David turns to Ian Brady for a solution. They plan a bank robbery, but on 6 October 1965 Brady and Hindley lure a strange teenager back to their house, with Brady pledging to rob him. David Smith witnesses Brady killing the stranger with an axe in the lounge of their house; the victim is a 17-year-old, Edward Evans, an apprentice electrician from Ardwick.