TVDRAMA
Studio Lambert has optioned the exclusive TV rights to adapt Hallie Rubenhold’s new historical true-crime book Story of A Murder: The Wives, The Mistress and Doctor Crippen as a drama.
The book delves into the case regarding Belle Elmore, a music hall performer whose mutilated remains were uncovered in a North London cellar in 1910. A transatlantic manhunt for her husband, Dr. Crippen, and his young lover and secretary, Ethel le Neve, posing as Crippen’s son with cropped hair, ensued.
Dr. Crippen has always been at the center of the story, but Rubenhold’s book brings the women to life and places them at the center. Through it all, the book seeks to address the question: Was Ethel truly as innocent of the murder as she wanted the world to believe?
Award-winning screenwriter Amanda Coe (Black Narcissus, Apple Tree Yard, Room at the Top) is adapting the book as a drama series for Studio Lambert.
“We’re thrilled to have brought together the incredible talents of Amanda and Hallie for this exciting series,” said Madeleine Sinclair, creative director for scripted at Studio Lambert. “I can’t wait for Amanda to bring to the screen Hallie’s rich portrayal of the women at the heart of this true crime [and] to deliver an utterly gripping and fascinating drama.”
“Hallie’s book is an irresistible ride through a story with all the ingredients that make a compelling drama–not least its invitation to consider what makes us see women as either victims or monsters,” Coe commented. “As soon as I read it, I wanted to see its many fascinating worlds and nuanced characters on screen.”
Rubenhold added, “It’s thrilling to be working with Studio Lambert and Amanda Coe on what I know will be a rip-roaring epic of an adaptation. It’s time for historic true-crime narratives to move on [and] away from glamorizing killers to telling the wider ‘story of a murder,’ one which encompasses the many compelling dramas of those impacted by such an act.”
