Your latest true crime documentary obsession hits Netflix in the coming weeks – and it focuses on a famous Irish case. Sophie: A Murder in West Cork examines the murder of French documentary producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier, in West Cork in 1996.
The three part series was filmed in West Cork and in France and includes contributions from Sophie’s family, including her son Pierre-Louis Baudey, alongside residents from Schull and the local press.
Sophie’s murder shocked the country and triggered one of the biggest investigations ever seen in Ireland.
To date the only name linked as a possible suspect to the murder of the 38-year-old filmmaker has been journalist Ian Bailey. Although there is no hard evidence he was involved in the killing 25 years ago.
He was also disliked by some in the bohemian community of Schull, West Cork. He won his fight against extradition to France after claiming he wouldn’t get a fair trial but was tried in his absence in 2019 and sentenced to 25 years in jai for murder. The French tried to get the Government to extradite him again to serve his sentence last year but failed.
The series promises to unravel the extraordinary story from the beginnings and offer a unique window into the ongoing battle to find justice for Sophie. The series comes Simon Chinn, with Irish producer Suzanne Lavery also involved.
Speaking to IFTN (Irish Film and Television Network) they said: “Sophie was much more than a victim of a murder. She was a mother, a daughter, a sister, a filmmaker and a writer. Whatever actually happened on that cold December night in 1996, the story is one of a collision of worlds, cultures and characters and it was that which drew us to it.
“It was meeting and gaining the trust of Sophie’s family which really gave us our purpose. Justice has eluded them for a quarter of a century since Sophie’s death and their main aim in cooperating with us to make this series is to do justice to her memory. We hope we have achieved that, for them.”
Sophie: A Murder in West Cork will clash with Oscar winner Jim Sheridan’s similar five part offering for Sky Documentaries Murder At The Cottage, which also examines the case.
Sophie: A Murder in West Cork will launch on Netflix on June 30th.
