ITV Orders Manhunt Sequel with Martin Clunes

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ITV has commissioned a sequel to the drama Manhunt, starring Martin Clunes as the former London Metropolitan Police detective DCI Colin Sutton.

Manhunt II: The Night Stalker is a four-part drama that tells the real-life story of the police pursuit of a notorious serial rapist, whose 17-year reign of terror left thousands of elderly people in southeast London living in fear. It is based on the diaries of the real Colin Sutton.

The first series of Manhunt attracted an average audience of 9 million viewers and was the highest-rated new drama on any channel during 2019.

Both dramas are produced by Buffalo Pictures.

Executive producer Philippa Braithwaite said: “We are very pleased that ITV has given us the opportunity to dramatize another important case that Colin Sutton was involved in just before his retirement from the Force. This inquiry has a very different emphasis on the Bellfield case; the victims were elderly and the crimes were unsolved for many years. The drama explores how Colin came late to the inquiry and helped solve it in a matter of weeks, taking an incredibly dangerous serial rapist off the streets.”

ITV’s head of drama, Polly Hill, added: “I’m delighted that Martin Clunes will play DCI Colin Sutton once again, taking on a case that had gone unsolved for almost two decades. The team behind the first Manhunt—Ed Whitmore, Marc Evans, along with Buffalo and Philippa Braithwaite—will make sure this is another compelling and respectful dramatization of a truly shocking crime that affected so many families.”