New serial killer series The Pembrokeshire Murders starts on Virgin Media tonight

"These stories do feel like they can't be true, they can't be real."

True crime and crime dramas have become increasingly popular over the last two years. It's no surprise then that new serial killer series The Pembrokeshire Murders looks set to be the must watch show of 2021. The Pembrokeshire Murders is based on the murders by Welsh serial killer John Cooper. In the three part miniseries two unsolved double murders from the 1980s cast a shadow over the work of the Dyfed Powys police force. In 2006, newly promoted Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins decided to reopen both cases. Employing pioneering forensic methods, Wilkins and his handpicked team find microscopic DNA and fibres that potentially linked the murders to a string of burglaries committed in the '80s and '90s. Luke Evans stars as Senior Investigating Officer Steve Wilkins while Keith Allen plays Welsh serial killer John Cooper. Cooper was given a whole life order in 2011 for the 1985 double murder of siblings Richard and Helen Thomas and the 1989 double murder of Peter and Gwenda Dixon. Cooper appeared on the TV gameshow Bullseye in May 1989, in the month before the murders of Peter and Gwenda Dixon. Footage from his appearance was later used as evidence against him by comparing his image with a sketch of a suspect in the Dixon's murder. Speaking about his role and the new series, actor Luke Evans said:

"It's not just about the crimes, it's about the people that find this this man and how they find him and the unbelievable twists that their story takes during the investigation, which just are mind boggling. These stories do feel like they can't be true, they can't be real. But this one has so many twists and turns and it almost feels many, many times during the story that the whole thing is going to go cold once again, because the forensic evidence is so minimal and the budgets were running out and people were losing faith."

The Pembrokeshire Murders starts on Virgin Media One at 9pm tonight (January 14).