Original subtitles

THE FOLLOWING IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY.

SOME CHARACTERS AND SCENES HAVE BEEN CREATED AND NAMES CHANGED FOR THE PURPOSES OF DRAMATIZATION.

You don´t need to be here, you know.

Yes, I do.

You all right?

I´m fine. I think it´s probably flu or something.

All right, Geoff.

All right, everybody. Gather ´round.

The boss has got something to say.

Right. Make sure you take their full names,

their addresses -- both work and home,

telephone numbers.

We also need to check on photo I.D.

If they haven´t got photo I.D., you take their photo,

you write their name across the back,

and you arrange a time and a day

to visit to confirm who they are.

Also, make sure...

...all samples are labeled with their name

and the number that they´ve been assigned.

-Right? - Right.

Alec?

Once they´ve been labeled, they´ll be sent

to the Forensic Science Service at Aldermaston.

Now, we can´t afford to make any mistakes.

If you feel you may have contaminated a sample

in any way, do it again.

If we get this wrong, this man will slip through the net,

and we will not get another chance.

Is that clear?

Yes, sir.

- Sure? - Yes, sir.

Got it? Right, let´s go.

Well, I must say, it looks very impressive.

Yes, well, now we just need someone to turn up.

- Sir. -Yes?

I think you´d better come and have a look at this.

Do you want to come with me?

A few volunteers.

The world´s first DNA manhunt is under way.

Thousands of men from the villages

of Narborough, Littlethorpe, and Enderby

have, this week, been attending voluntary blood tests

in an attempt to catch the killer

of two Leicestershire schoolgirls.

Excuse me.

All men aged between the ages of 18 and 34

have received a letter asking them to attend the screening.

Quicker. We´ve got people stacked up here.

Yes, sir. Come along.

- Thank you. -Over there in a minute.

Thank you very much.

Right.

Be very, very careful.

Is that the first batch of samples?

Away they go.

Right.

-Thank you. -All right, sir?

Gentlemen.

How are you?

Let me introduce you.

This is Peter Gill, our principal research scientist.

How do you do?

This is Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker.

Detective Inspector Alan Madden.

-Hello. -Welcome to the pleasure dome.

Thank you very much. How´s it all going?

I have to admit we weren´t expecting

this amount of samples so early on.

Let me show you what we´re doing.

This is where the blood arrives

and is initially analyzed for its blood group and PGM.

From there, we extract the DNA from the remaining blood samples

and add the restriction enzymes.

If we do get the full 5,000 blood samples

that we´re predicting, then the final number

that will go through to the full genetic screening...

to the final...

Are you all right, sir?

Would be, uh...

Peter?

-Around 1,000. - Yes.

Maybe less.

And when can we expect to get any results?

We´re not sure.

If we do have to analyze 1,000 different samples,

it´s gonna take at least five months

before we can process them all.

Five months?!

That´s to do them all.

We can clear men as soon as we have the blood type and the PGM.

That´s still a long time to wait.

-It´s pioneering work. -I know.

I did say it would take some time.

Surely the most important thing is that we get it right.

Oh, we´ve already got 100 -- No. Nearly 1,000 samples.

The response has been huge.

We can´t keep --

Whoa!

Alec! Alec!

Can we get some help here?

It strikes me as somewhat ironic

that, when you went to the doctor´s last week,

you refused to have your blood taken.

I thought I had flu.

You don´t need to have your blood taken.

You do if it contains the Epstein-Barr virus.

Glandular fever is not what I need right now.

No. Right now you need to rest.

-The blood samples. -Are all taken care of.

I can´t stay here. I´ve got too much to do.

Alec. Please.

At this rate, you´re gonna to kill yourself.

Or, more likely, I´m gonna do it for you.

I´m sorry.

No, you´re not.

Sue...

please. I can´t stay here.

No. You can´t.

Unfortunately, they´re sending you home.

Good.

You once told me the thing you loved most about your job

after you´d discovered something or invented something

was passing it on and letting it go out into the big, wide world.

Let it go.

You were living in Narborough in 1984.

No, it doesn´t matter how long you were living there,

but you´ll need to visit your local police station

in Newcastle.

We´ll tell them to expect you.

We have three testing centers up and running

which cover the full 5-mile radius.

Anyone refuse to give their blood?

Uh...well, a couple.

One chap had a thing about needles.

Recognized phobia.

So we asked him to give his sample another way,

which he seemed happier about.

A semen sample, sir.

Oh. Yeah.

And quite a few didn´t attend their allotted times,

so we´re sending out a second batch of letters

to encourage them to volunteer.

And if that doesn´t work?

We start knocking on doors and asking awkward questions.

Um, this has just come through, sir.

What is it?

Woman in Enderby, sir.

Says a neighbor got a second letter the other day.

He´s now packing his bags.

Has he had his blood taken?

No. We´ve sent him a reminder, spoken to him, but, you know.

-All right. - And now he´s moving out?

- Yeah. -Let´s have a chat with him.

- What´s going on? -Mr. Denmore?

Yeah?

Going somewhere nice?

We were wondering why you hadn´t responded

to either of our letters.

I thought it were voluntary.

Absolutely. 100%.

Me wife is away.

Abroad.

At her mother´s.

I don´t see how that´s relevant.

You got a call, didn´t you?

From a Mrs. Harris?

She lives next door to me.

-And? -I´ve been, uh...

...busy.

Mrs. Harris doesn´t want me to leave her.

She doesn´t want me to get back together with me wife.

She and I, um...

If you could provide us with a blood sample, sir,

you can be on your way.

Do you want to do that blood test now?

-Yeah. -Yeah.

I´m not collaborating with the police.

It´s how it looks, Alec.

I thought you supported me on this.

This isn´t about me.

It´s all the shit I´m getting at the university.

All our worthy colleagues

huffing and puffing about you sharing a platform

with Detective David Baker,

getting help from Maggie bloody Thatcher.

This place is a tip!

For God´s sake, Sue, why are you saying all this?

What if they don´t catch the killer?

What are they gonna say about your test?

All your work goes down the drain.

Well, that´s the risk I´m taking.

It´s a risk I have to take.

What about the risk we´re taking?

People know who you are, Alec...

what you´ve done. It´s in all the papers.

That includes the man who raped and murdered those two girls.

People know where we live.

They´re standing on our doorstep wanting you to take their blood.

Oh, come on. He´s not gonna come here, is he?

You´re the man who can prove he killed those two girls.

And now he´s being backed into a corner.

Hey.

Come on. It´s all right.

So, you´ve taken over 2,000 blood samples,

and you still haven´t found him.

No, but we´ve eliminated almost 1,900 men from the inquiry.

I´m sorry. I can´t see how that helps to find the killer.

Well, the net is closing in.

Have you got your letter?

Got your I.D.? Great.

Thank you.

If you´d like to come with me.

Age?

27.

Date of birth?

The 23rd of March, 1960.

Blood transfusion in the last six months? No.

Bingo.

When do I get the results?

12th of bloody never, I´ve heard.

Backlog at the lab. They can´t cope.

Meet me at the desk.

Passport.

-Thank you very much. -Have a cup of tea if you want.

No, it´s all right. Thank you.

-Anything? -No.

We´re not gonna get him.

Not like this.

You´re the lucky one.

I´ve got to drive down all the way to Portsmouth after work

to pick up one blood sample.

Hello, Alec.

Hello, David.

Sue told me you were back.

I´m looking to find a way of speeding up the testing process.

She sounded a bit worried on the phone.

I thought you had to take a rest, take it easy.

Thousands of blood samples have been taken already.

We still haven´t got him.

Yes, they said it would take months, but...

Do you ever think you got it wrong?

All the time.

For example, when I first looked at Gavin Hopkirk´s bar code,

I thought I must have missed something.

Something completely stupid.

I even thought that maybe blood and semen have different DNA.

Madness.

Yes, but it wasn´t.

You were right.

The thing is, if this fails,

people´s perception of forensic DNA will be shattered.

Oh, hello, Sue.

Hello, David.

Have you come to congratulate him?

Hasn´t he told you?

Alec is being awarded a professorship.

Well, congratulations, Alec.

Well, thank you, David.

Thank you, Leicester University, for this honor.

The university have allowed me to sit at my workbench

and just explore the unknown.

As I speak, genetic fingerprinting

is being used to catch the killer of two local girls --

Dawn Ashworth and Lynda Mann.

To quote the motto of this university,

"ut vitam habeant" --

"so that they might have life."

Science is about exploration, but it´s also about application.

My hope is that genetic fingerprinting

will not only help us understand who we are,

but will also help catch the man

who committed these terrible crimes

so that we all may have life.

-Thank you. -

David?

Oh. Uh...

I really admire what you´re doing, David...

what you´re trying to do.

All the blood testing.

The newspaper said it could change how the police

catch criminals in the future.

If something good could come out of all this...

...that would be of some help.

I really mean that.

We can´t let this happen to anyone else.

No.

What time you back, love?

Uh, not late.

Is Danny walking you home?

I flippin´ hope so.

See you, Mum!

Liz, stop being so stupid.

You didn´t see a thing in there.

Why is it being stupid?

Why -- Danny, fuck off!

-I fucking saw you! -You didn´t see a thing, Liz!

Yes, I did! Fuck off!

Don´t you fucking call me.

Hiya.

Are you going Enderby way by any chance?

Jump in.

You sure?

-You´re not a rapist, are you? -

Cheers.

Uh, that was the turning just there.

Can you let me out of the car, please?

Uh, sir, no, honestly, I´ll walk.

It´s fine.

Could you just please just -- Oh!

What are you doing?!

Get off! Get off!

Get off me! Ow!

Stop the fucking car -- now!

Fuck off! I´m getting out!

Dirty bastard!

Come in.

Hi, sir.

David, take a seat.

Um, as you know, I´m a big supporter

of what you´re trying to do.

Yes, sir.

Everyone thinks it shows enterprise and initiative --

the whole idea of flushing out the killer.

But there are concerns, David.

About the costs of the screening,

about whether this is getting us anywhere.

Questions are being asked.

You´ve not found this man after nearly 5,000 samples.

How many more?

Every sample that´s taken

means that another man is eliminated from the inquiry.

Well, there´s no end, is there?

Unless you take blood from every man in the country.

You can´t shut us down, sir. Not now.

It´s not just about the money.

Well, what is it about, then?

Where´s this coming from?

"There´s courage in trying new ideas."

How far upstairs?

"But there´s even greater courage

in acknowledging their failure."

Whoever signs a letter

that tries to close this investigation

is going to be held personally responsible

for the next young girl brutally raped and murdered

in these villages.

Shall I put that in a memo, sir?

Love?

In here, Mum.

Oh, you´re not going in?

That´s not like you.

Were you out late last night?

-Not late. -Oh, well.

Suppose we were all like that when we were your age.

I...

What´s happened?

Nothing.

Right. I´ve got to go.

Mum?

Thanks.

I´ll see you later.

Cleared?

3,100.

Alec?

Who´s that man?

- What man? - There, by the car.

Oh, he was there this morning.

Well, when I took the girl--

He wasn´t there when I came back.

Why?

Call David Baker.

Take the girls upstairs.

Who are you? What do you want?

Dr. Jeffreys.

Dr. Jeffreys.

My son.

-What? -I think he´s mine.

You´re the scientist, yes?

You can help me know the truth.

Oh.

Oh, I see.

It´s fine.

Please, you must help me.

Really sorry to have called you out.

-It´s all right. Don´t worry. -Everyone´s still so on edge.

How did he find you?

God knows. We´re ex-directory.

Any news?

How´s the screening going?

Uh, well, still nothing.

We know the names of every man in that 5-mile radius.

I make the team go over the list again and again,

send out letters.

Phoning them all, knocking on doors.

One lad was serving in the Navy down in the Falklands

when Dawn Ashworth was killed.

He didn´t think he had to come in,

but I still insisted that they ask him to volunteer.

They knock on another door. A woman answers.

Her son´s a quadriplegic.

"Ask him to volunteer. No exceptions."

Has something happened, David?

We´ve tested nearly every man in our 5-mile radius.

Maybe he just lives outside the circle.

Yes, maybe. Maybe not.

Maybe we´ll never know.

This screening´s costing a fortune.

Without any results, I´m afraid they´re gonna shut us down.

They can´t do that.

Well, apparently, it takes courage

to admit when you´ve failed.

Look, look.

I could never have anticipated that first DNA fingerprint.

But, look, I know it was an accident,

but I also know it was a result of a lot of years of hard work.

Look, you and I both know that we make our own luck.

We apply everything we´ve learned, we hold our nerve,

and hopefully, like the DNA fingerprinting,

we get a lucky break.

I´ll show you out.

- Bye, Sue. - Bye.

-Night, Geoff. -Night, sir.

Incident room. D.S. Taylor.

You what?

I was in the pub...

just having a drink with some workmates.

What pub?

The Clarendon on West Avenue.

And that´s when he said it.

When did you overhear this conversation?

Beginning of August.

-Beginning of August? -Yeah. Sorry.

I was gonna call in sooner, but, um...

A relative of mine who´s a policeman --

I was gonna tell him, but, um...

he was away, and then I was away.

I don´t want to get anybody in trouble.

No, no, you´re not. You´re not.

It´s absolutely fine.

Uh, when did --

No, you go.

-Where do you work? -Hampshires Bakery.

Over in Leicester.

What exactly did Ian say?

That he´d given blood for someone else.

It´s on the corner.

- This it? -We´ll risk it.

- Mr. Whenby? -Yeah?

D.I. Madden, Enderby Police Station.

Can we have a few words with you, please?

-What´s this about? - Down the station.

I don´t live in the area, so...

I never got a letter or anything.

Did you give blood, Ian?

I didn´t think I had to.

I would have done.

You could take it now.

We have it on good authority

that you gave your blood in someone else´s place.

No?

Did you do that, Ian?

Why would I?

You were overheard talking about it...

...bragging about it.

-I never bragged about it. - So you did do it?

I may have done.

As a favor, that´s all.

- A favor? -Yeah.

He´d done it for a mate -- stood in for him.

So he asked me to do it for him as a mate.

That´s all.

And you never thought to ask why?

No. He´d done it because his mate had been done for flashing.

Thought police would nick him or something.

So?

He´s me boss.

At the bakery where I work.

So I didn´t have a choice.

Not if I wanted to keep me job.

And how exactly did you go about it?

He sorted out his passport...

cut out a photo with a blade and replaced it with mine.

Do you really think a man would go to such lengths

if he wasn´t guilty?

In this case, guilty of murder.

No way.

He told me he was doing it for a mate.

I believed him.

Why wouldn´t I?

I never thought he´d killed anybody.

Do you have any idea how much police time you´ve wasted?

I´m sorry. I really thought --

What´s his name, Ian?

Right.

According to this,

he was charged with indecent exposure in 1978, ´79.

He even had treatment at the Carlton Hayes Hospital.

Next to the pavilion.

Why didn´t we have him three years ago?

Because he and his wife were living in Leicester.

They moved to Littlethorpe a month after Lynda´s murder.

So, was he questioned during the house-to-house then?

-Yeah, but he had an alibi. - Yeah.

On the night of the 21st of November, ´83,

he said he was babysitting his 10-week-old son.

He wouldn´t leave his 10-week-old baby at home,

-would he? -Where was the wife?

Oh, she was out.

Night class over in Narborough.

Right. We´ll go to the house. You two go to the bakery.

If he´s not there, see what you can find.

Yes, sir.

I hope this isn´t another bloody wild-goose chase.

Better bloody not be.

D.S. Taylor, Leicestershire Police.

D.C. Kholi.

Got a Colin Pitchfork who works here, mate?

Here you are.

Bingo.

Let´s go. Thanks.

Has he done a runner, do you think?

Just wait. Wait.

We´ll just wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

Colin Pitchfork?

Yeah?

Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker.

This is Detective Inspector Alan Madden.

What´s this all about?

We´d like you to answer a few questions

on the death of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth.

He got a letter saying he was in the clear.

Well, do you want to come inside?

If you´d like to get in the car, please, Mr. Pitchfork.

Okay.

Colin.

Colin, where are you going?

Colin! Where are you taking him?

Can you get off me, please?

I don´t understand!

Hello?

Alec, we´ve made an arrest.

A suspect is in custody.

David, that´s great news!

Well, not yet. We´ve been here before.

I want the DNA proof.

The sample is on its way to Aldermaston,

and I´d really like you to be there.

-Can you go? -Right. Yes, of course.

-I´ll see you there. -Yes, right.

Say nothing to anyone.

-Yes, boss. - Alan, come on.

Blood group A, PGM1 secretor.

Sample one -- Colin Pitchfork.

And sample two.

Right.

Why would he get someone else to give their blood

if he didn´t have something to hide?

Why would a 17-year-old lad

admit to a crime he didn´t commit?

We´ve been here before.

Go tell them, Peter.

No, it´s all yours, Alec.

-Any news? -Nothing yet, sir.

As soon as there is, I want to know.

Yes, sir.

This is the killer´s code.

And this...

...is Colin Pitchfork´s.

Colin Pitchfork´s genetic fingerprint

matches exactly the genetic fingerprint

of the man we know raped and murdered Lynda Mann

and Dawn Ashworth.

You sure?

You got him.

You finally got him.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Kath?

David Baker.

I made you a promise.

I just wanted to say we´ve got him.

Here he is!

- Well done, sir. -Well done, well done.

Well done, sir.

For he´s a jolly good fellow

For he´s a jolly good fellow

For he´s a jolly good fellow

And so say all of us

Yay!

I´d just like to say well done. Congratulations to all of you.

Thank you for all your hard work. Cheers.

Hey! To a result!

At last.

Cheers.

Congratulations, David.

Thank you, sir.

Well, thank God it´s all over with.

Never be over with.

Not for me.

I´ll never forgive that man for what he did to my Lynda...

what he´s done to this family.

People keep telling me

that Dawn was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But Dawn wasn´t in the wrong place.

It was a summer´s afternoon,

and she was just going about her business...

...just walking down.

He was the one in the wrong place.

Not Dawn.

So, why the gap of three years?

He´d had an affair with a woman

which seemed to keep him occupied,

and when that stopped, he was back on the lookout.

And he would have done it again.

-You think so? -Yeah.

By the way, you should know

that the judge said had it not been for DNA,

that he would still be at large

and that other women would have been in danger.

So...

-All right. -Listen,

I´ve been meaning to ask you...

...how far were you willing to go?

How many blood samples?

Well, we had another 27,000 in the system.

All right.

Bye.

Well, I´ll see you.

All right.

Well...

...maybe now we can get back to our normal life.

Come on.

Normal life?

Since when have we lived a normal life?