''Four Lives'', originally and internationally titled ''The Barking Murders'', is a British television

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

, first aired from 3 to 5 January 2022 on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

. It follows the true story of the families of four young gay men (Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor) who in 2014 and 2015 were

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

Stephen Port Stephen Port (born 22 February 1975) is a British convicted serial rapist and serial killer. He is responsible for the murder of four men and for committing multiple rapes. Port received a life sentence with a whole life order on 25 November 201 ...

. Facing failings by the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

, they fought for justice for their loved ones.

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...

plays

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Port with

Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints o ...

as Sarah Sak, the mother of Anthony Walgate, Port's first victim.

Production

First announced in early 2020, production on the show was halted due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The series was delayed twice after its announcement. On 13 December 2021 the official trailer was released with stills from the show being released on social media. During promotion for the series, Sheridan Smith said: "Every night I was going home in bits, crying – you can't help but take it home ..I really beat myself up with it because I want to do a good job for them."

Cast

as Sarah Sak * Tim Preston as Anthony Walgate * Jakub Svec as Gabriel Kovari * Leo Flanagan as Daniel Whitworth * Samuel Barnett as Ryan Edwards * Paddy Rowan as Jack Taylor *

Robert Emms Robert Emms (born Robert James MacPherson; 20 May 1986) is an English film, stage and television actor, known for portraying Pythagoras in the BBC One fantasy-adventure series ''Atlantis'', and Leonid Toptunov in HBO's Miniseries ''Chernobyl'' ...

as Ricky *

Michael Jibson Michael Jibson (born 16 December 1980) is an English actor, director, writer and voice over artist. Jibson started his career in the theatre. He has been nominated for an Olivier Award twice, once when he was only 22 in 2003, for his work on ...

as DC Slaymaker * Kris Hitchen as Tom *

Memet Ali Alabora Memet Ali Alabora (born 25 November 1977) is a Turkish film and theatre actor. He is the son of actors Mustafa Alabora and Betül Arım. Biography The eldest child of a family of artists, Alabora's first performing experiences were in the play ...

as Sami Sak * Daniel Ryan as Adam Whitworth * Rufus Jones as John Pape *

Ian Puleston-Davies Ian Puleston-Davies (born 6 September 1958) is a Welsh actor and writer. He is best known for his role as builder Owen Armstrong in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2010 to 2015. In November 2014, ITV announced that Puleston-Davi ...

as Karl Turner MP * Giselle Cullinane as Barbara Denham * Ben Cartwright as Det. Sgt. O'Donnell *

Leanne Best Leanne Best (born 15 June 1979) is an English actress. She is the niece of former Beatle, Pete Best. She trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and presently lives in South West (London sub region), southwest London. She is kno ...

as Kate * Isabella Laughland as China * Alexa Davies as Kiera * Shaun Thomas as Paul * Jack Pierce as Acting DI Rolf Schamberger *

Ella Kenion Ella Kenion (born 18 June 1969) is an England, English comedy actress, known for shows such as ''The Catherine Tate Show'', Five (TV), Five's sketch shows ''We Know Where You Live'' and ''Swinging'', and in BBC Four's ''Fear of Fanny''. Howeve ...

as Mandy Pearson *

Jaime Winstone Jaime Margaret Winstone (born 6 May 1985) is an English actress, best known for her roles in ''Kidulthood'', ''Dead Set'', '' After Hours'' and her portrayal of Barbara Windsor in ''Babs''. Early life and education Winstone was born in Camden ...

as Donna Taylor *

Stephanie Hyam Stephanie Hyam is a British actress and artist, notable for stage work including ''The James Plays'' (2014, Edinburgh International Festival and Royal National Theatre) and film and TV appearances including ''Their Finest'' (2017), ''Doctor Who'' ...

as Jenny Taylor *

Holly Aird Imogen Holly Aird (born 18 May 1969) is an English television actress known for playing forensic pathologist Frankie Wharton in the BBC1 drama series '' Waking the Dead'', having previously starred in productions such as ''Soldier Soldier'' a ...

as Jeanette Taylor * Tom Christian as DC Ian Atkinson *

Jason Done Jason Done (born 5 April 1973) is an English actor who appeared as Mordred in the 1998 TV miniseries ''Merlin'', opposite Sam Neill. He is best known for his role as Stephen Snow in ITV drama '' Where The Heart Is'' from 1999 to 2001 and Tom C ...

as a Barking Police Sergeant * Mollie Winnard as Demi

Episodes

Release

''Four Lives'' first aired from 3 to 5 January 2022 on

. It aired on

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

in Australia over three weeks from 14 April 2022. ''Four Lives'' is distributed internationally by

BritBox BritBox is an online digital video subscription service, founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, operating in nine countries across North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa.

as ''The Barking Murders''.

Reception

Writing in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Ed Cumming said, "In less sensitive hands, a case like this could lend itself to prurience or melodrama, but Neil Mackay's script and David Blair's direction deftly avoid these traps". In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Lucy Mangan Lucy Katherine Mangan''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian''. A major part of her writing is related t ...

said, "The drama does a good job of making the victims... live again... Beyond that, and despite the usual great work of Sheridan Smith and others, the drama never catches fire".

Hugo Rifkind Hugo James Rifkind (born 30 March 1977) is a British journalist. A columnist for ''The Times'' since 2005, he began presenting a Saturday morning programme on Times Radio in July 2020. He has been a regular guest on ''The News Quiz'', on BBC Rad ...

in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' wrote, "Superficially, the most interesting thing about ''Four Lives'' was the casting of the great Stephen Merchant as Port. There's something intrinsically chilling about a comedian as a killer, but Merchant was more blank than sinister. This didn't particularly matter because although Port inevitably sat at the heart of ''Four Lives'', this was more a story about police incompetence...".

References

External links

* {{BBC programmes, m00134hr 2022 British television series debuts 2022 British television series endings 2020s British LGBT-related drama television series 2020s British television miniseries BBC television dramas BBC television miniseries English-language television shows Gay-related television shows Television series about serial killers Television series by ITV Studios Television series set in 2014 Television series set in 2015 Television series set in 2016 Television shows set in London Television shows shot in Manchester