I’m Line of Duty’s Vicky McClure, and this is why my husband and I are investigating atrocious historical crime cases

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It might seem odd coming from someone who appears in these shows, but I’ve been thinking about why crime dramas and true crime documentaries have become so popular, possibly taking viewers away from other types of programs. I admit I’ve contributed to this trend myself, having acted in shows like Trigger Point and Line of Duty.

We’re drawn to true crime for a few reasons. It’s natural to wonder what drives someone to commit terrible acts, especially against people they know. Plus, watching detectives solve these cases can be exciting, and it feels good when criminals – even in stories – are brought to justice.

With my new Sky History series, Britain’s Murder Map, my husband, historian Jonny Owen, and I aimed to take a different approach. We wanted to shine a light on the victims who have been overlooked and forgotten.

Bible John is the nickname the media gave to Scotland’s most infamous serial killer, who was never caught after committing a series of murders in 1969. Less well-known are the names of his three young female victims, all of whom were strangled and found near their homes in Glasgow.

We haven’t really heard these women’s stories. It’s unclear why, and why they never received the justice they were due.

Police reports from the time offer some leads in the case. All three victims – Patricia Docker, 25, a mother and nurse separated from her husband, and two other women – were violently killed after spending an evening at Barrowland Ballroom. The police noted that Patricia Docker seemed to enjoy male companionship.

Jemima MacDonald, age 31, was raising a child on her own. Police records indicate she frequently associated with men and had many sexual partners.

Police records described Helen Puttock, a 29-year-old mother of two who was recently divorced, as someone who enjoyed socializing and could hold her liquor well.

Reading these hateful, sexist comments as part of the police case was disturbing. I felt it was important to understand the women involved as individuals, so I spoke with their families to learn more about their lives. Now, I can’t stop thinking about them and what happened.

This episode explores the story of Dr. Crippen, a notorious figure from Edwardian London. He was executed in 1910 after being found guilty of murdering his wife, who was an actress. Many people recognize the name Dr. Crippen, and Jonny recalls seeing a wax figure of him in Madame Tussauds’ Chamber of Horrors when he was a child.

However, have you ever considered the story of his victim? Cora Crippen, his wife and a performer in music halls, has largely been overlooked and reduced to a minor detail in historical accounts.

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At first, police accepted Dr. Crippen’s explanation that his wife had run away, especially since he was living with another woman. They didn’t take the concerns of Cora’s friends seriously, but it was thanks to those friends that Crippen was eventually caught. Without their persistence, he would have gotten away with his crime.

Filson Young’s 1920 book about the Crippen case, The Trial of Hawley Harvey Crippen, has heavily influenced how people understand the events for the last hundred years. The way the book describes Cora Crippen is unsettling. She’s depicted as unclean, neglectful of her home, and lacking talent as an entertainer. The narrative almost justifies her murder by focusing on her perceived flaws – a troubling instance of victim-blaming that unfortunately continues to be a problem, alongside misogyny and violence against women, even today.

My husband, Jonny, often says the past feels like a completely different world, and he’s right. It really was a different time, and for many reasons, that’s a good thing. However, the cases we look into – unsolved murders, wrongful convictions, and important historical crimes – continue to affect the communities they touched, and their impact is still felt today.

Authors

Vicky McClure

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2026-03-30 19:38