A drama series about the manhunt for killer Raoul Moat is to air on ITV1.
In the summer of 2010 bodybuilder Raoul, 37, shot his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart and her new boyfriend Christopher Brown, less than two days after being released from prison. He was released from Durham Prison after serving a sentence for assaulting a relative.
He then headed to a house in Birtley, Gateshead, where he shot and killed Chris and injured Samantha before fleeing the scene. The former Newcastle doorman believed that Chris was a police officer and, continuing his vendetta against the police, Moat then shot and blinded PVC David Rathband as he sat in a patrol car on the outskirts of Newcastle.
From there, Raoul fled to Northumberland, aided by two accomplices and managed to escape detection in the quiet village of Rothbury for a number of days, before being involved in a tense final stand-off with police and killing himself with a gun shot.
ITV said the drama would focus on the innocent victims of Raoul's crimes, as well as the police officers who put themselves in the firing line in their quest to apprehend him; and a local journalist who sought to tell the real story. The producers behind Line of Duty and The Pembrokeshire Murders, World Productions, have worked on the new series, in association with MultiStory Media.
A synopsis for Sunday's first episode reads: "Samantha Stobbart strikes up a new romance with Christopher Brown, but is increasingly nervous about her abusive ex-partner Raoul Moat, who is about to be released from prison. Possessive and pathologically jealous, Moat becomes incensed when he learns about her new partner and commits a brutal and violent crime upon his release from jail."
It adds: "On the run, Moat has no intention of going quietly and sets his sights on attacking the police force now hunting him."
When is it on and how many episodes is there?
There will be three episodes of The Hunt for Raoul Moat, airing on consecutive nights on ITV1. The episodes will be broadcast from 9pm on Sunday April 16, Monday April 17 and Tuesday April 18.
Each episode will be just under an hour long. On Wednesday April 19, an hour-long documentary called Manhunt: The Raoul Moat Story will air.
Who is in the cast?
Lee Ingleby, who stars in BBC drama Inspector George Gently, plays Neil Adamson, a senior Northumbria Police Officer leading the race against time to apprehend Raoul. Sonya Cassidy is local journalist Diane Barnwell, while Doc Marin's Sally Messham stars as Samantha Stobbart.
Bodyguard and Jamestown star Matt Stokoe is Raoul Moat and Josef Davis, whose credits include Chernobyl and Silent Witness, plays Christopher Brown.
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