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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Kathryn Williams

ITV announces new drama about the Pembrokeshire double murders

In the 1980s two double murders in Pembrokeshire shook the nation.

Now the brutal killings of Helen and Richard Thomas and Gwenda and Peter Dixon will be turned into a true crime drama by ITV called The Pembrokeshire Murders.

Luke Evans will play Senior Investigating Officer Steve Wilkins whose book, Catching The Bullseye Killer, is the basis of the series.

Llanelli-born Twin Town and Eddie the Eagle actor, Keith Allen, will star as serial killer John Cooper, who was discovered to be the murderer after a stint in prison for a series of burglaries in the county during the 1980s and significant developments in DNA examination.

One of the oddities of the case that contributed to evidence of Cooper's guilt, was his appearance on the ITV teatime gameshow, Bullseye, on which he detailed his knowledge of the west Wales coast and countryside - the Dixons were shot and killed near Little Haven in June 1989.

His other known victims were brother and sister Helen and Richard Thomas who were shot at their Milford Haven manor house in 1985, which was then set alight and destroyed.

Unsolved, the cold case was reopened in 2006 when Wilkins was promoted to Detective Superintendent and was able, with his handpicked team, to employ pioneering forensic methods.

Luke Evans joins The Pembrokeshire Murders as Senior Investigating Officer Steve Wilkins (Getty Images)

The Pembrokeshire Murders will be made by World Productions - the makers of Line of Duty and Bodyguard - and will also star Owen Teale as Gerard Elias, Alexandria Riley as Jackie Richards, Caroline Berry as Pat Cooper, Oliver Ryan as Andrew Cooper and David Fynn as ITV News journalist Jonathan Hill - who co-wrote The Bullseye Killer with Wilkins.

Are you watching White House Farm? Here's a glimpse of the current ITV crime drama

Trailer for White House Farm

Aberbargoed actor Luke Evans  said: "It is a privilege to be playing the role of Steve Wilkins in The Pembrokeshire Murders and working again with Simon Heath, his team at World Productions and ITV.

"It’s a huge responsibility for me as the drama depicts a true crime which to this day still affects the families of those whose lives were tragically taken."

Filming for the show will start this month.

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