Line of Duty’s Martin Compston to star as serial killer in ITV drama starting tonight

Line of Duty star Martin Compston will be portraying the role of real-life serial killer Peter Manuel in a series set to air on ITV tonight.

In Plain Sight will see Compston as the evil Peter Manuel, who was convicted of seven murders back in 1958. Douglas Henshall stars as detective William Muncie who eventually brought the killer to justice.

Manuel, who had been dubbed ‘the beast of Birkenshaw,’ was born to Scottish parents in New York City before moving back to Scotland where he committed the string of horrifying attacks.

The three-part mini-series about Manuel’s exploits, arrest and eventual execution was first broadcast on STV, a Scottish channel part of the ITV network, in 2016 and was filmed in locations across Compston’s hometown of Glasgow. 

ITV

And this week, starting tonight, it is set to air once more for British audiences on ITV.

However, the series, written by Nick Stevens, hasn’t been without its controversy.

A relative of three of the women murdered by Manuel recently implored TV bosses not to show the ‘horrendous’ drama on the criminal again.

Stuart Reid’s father Robert was the brother of Marion Watt and Margaret Brown, who, along with Marion’s daughter, Vivienne, were all killed by Manuel. Upon hearing the plans to re-show the programme tonight, the seventy-six year-old spoke out, saying the remaining family ‘can’t believe’ the decision to re-air the show.

Stuart told the Daily Record: “They’re going to show this programme again from 2016 called In Plain Sight about the murderer Peter Manuel who murdered my dad’s two sisters and his cousin.

ITV

“All we want is for someone to stop this horrible decision. I was twelve at the time, I will be seventy-seven at the end of this month – it’s terrible that this is still going on. Me and my brother David are the last of my dad’s family. We don’t want to see it again.

“If my dad was alive today or any of his brothers he would certainly not be pleased to see this again on national TV.”

An ITV spokeswoman said: “Before the drama commenced filming, the production team set out to trace and contact as many surviving relatives of Manuel’s victims as they could, but unfortunately we were unable to find the Reid brothers, hence them learning about the drama from pre-tv publicity.

“At the time we spoke to the brothers to reassure them that we fully respect and understand their views.”

In Plain Sight is set to air tonight on ITV at 9pm. The second and third parts will be broadcasted on Tuesday, June 8th and Wednesday, June 9th.