ITV has started filming on a new true crime drama, The Hunt for Raoul Moat, starring Lee Ingleby.
The drama will focus on the innocent victims of Moat’s crimes: Christopher Brown, Samantha Stobbart and PC David Rathband; as well as the police officers who put themselves in the firing line to apprehend him; and the local journalist who sought to tell Moat’s real story,
Produced by ITV Studios’ World Productions, in association with MultiStory Media, it has been written by Anne screenwriter Kevin Sampson.
Lee Ingleby (Criminal UK, The A Word, Inspector George Gently) plays Neil Adamson, a senior Northumbria Police Officer, who led the race to apprehend him. Sonya Cassidy (The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Last Kingdom, Lodge 49) as local journalist Diane Barnwell, Vineeta Rishi (Vera, Collateral, Three Girls) as Nisha Roberts, Sally Messham (Artemis Fowl, Doc Martin, Our Ladies) as Samantha Stobbart, Matt Stokoe (Cursed, Jamestown, Bodyguard) as Raoul Moat and Josef Davis (Young Wallander, Chernobyl, Silent Witness) as Christopher Brown.:
“The hunt for Raoul Moat gripped me from the start, as it was the first such case to be covered ‘live’ by the new 24-hour news channels in the UK,” explained screenwriter, Kevin Sampson.
“Even then, it interested me that Moat was being portrayed by some as a ‘legend’ in spite of the brutality of his crimes. In 2022, violence against women remains rife and is all too often accompanied by a victim-blaming agenda. I hope this drama will go some way to condemning this narrative.”
The Hunt for Raoul Moat begins with Moat’s ex-partner Samantha piecing her life back together following Moat’s imprisonment for an assault. He is then released from HMP Durham after serving a four-month sentence.
“Kevin has written a compelling and unflinching account of these shocking events which highlights the human tragedy behind the lurid headlines,” added Simon Heath and Jake Lushington on behalf of World Productions.
“The drama is a timely reminder of how social media and fake news can create a dangerous myth, in this case that Raoul Moat was any kind of hero.”
