Five Daughters is a British television drama mini-series written by Stephen Butchard and set in 2006, about the five victims of the Ipswich prostitute serial murders by the Suffolk Strangler in late 2006 and how the crimes affected their families.
The series aired in the UK on BBC One from 25-27 April, 2010. There are three hour-long episodes in the series.
Five Daughters premiered in South Africa on DStv's BBC Entertainment channel on Monday 3 October 2011, at 20h00. New episodes broadcast weekly.
Synopsis
Five Daughters is a sensitive portrait of events surrounding the discovery of five young women tragically murdered in Ipswich in 2006.
Made with the full co-operation of Suffolk Police and other agencies involved in the case, this factually-based drama tells the story of the women's lives through the eyes of family members and friends, as well as following the inside story of the police investigation.
Tania, Gemma, Anneli, Paula and Annette were ordinary young women – friends, daughters, sisters and mothers – full of potential, until one wrong turn, one chance meeting, led them into the world of heroin and crack cocaine.
Their dependency on these drugs facilitated their easy exploitation and led them to work in the sex industry.
Looking at the girls' relationships with their families, the story explores some of the reasons for them drifting into their dangerous lifestyles.
It also forces us to witness the horrors of heroin addiction, and how the women were so desperate that they still went out on the streets even when their friends had gone missing – and were later found dead.
Following events right up to the arrest of the killer, Steven Wright, eight weeks later, Five Daughters is both truthful and incredibly dramatic – revealing just how extraordinary these events were for all those involved.
Five Daughters is directed by Philippa Lowthorpe. The producer is Simon Lewis and executive producer is Susan Hogg.