ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill has confirmed a sequel to the critically acclaimed drama Manhunt, with Martin Clunes as the former London Metropolitan Police detective, DCI Colin Sutton.
“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 dramatisation of a truly shocking crime that affected so many families.” – Polly Hill, Head of Drama, ITV
Manhunt II: The Night Stalker, a four part drama from Buffalo Pictures, is 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 south east London living in fear. It is based on the diaries of Colin Sutton.
Clunes reprises the role of DCI Sutton, the detective portrayed in the first series of Manhunt tenaciously pursuing serial killer Levi Bellfield. The first series of Manhunt saw viewing figures of nine million with Clunes winning many plaudits for his role.
Manhunt II The Night Stalker is written by Ed Whitmore, who also wrote the first series of Manhunt, which told the real life story of how the murder of Amelie Delagrange on Twickenham Green in 2004 was eventually linked to the murder of Marsha McDonnell in 2003 and the abduction and murder of Milly Dowler as she travelled home from school in 2002.
“We are very pleased that ITV have given us the opportunity to dramatise another important case that Colin Sutton was involved in just before his retirement from the Force. This inquiry has a very different emphasis to 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.” – Philippa Braithwaite, Executive Producer
Manhunt II is currently filming for transmission on ITV in 2021.
