The Hunt for Raoul Moat writer on why he wanted to make a drama about the infamous fugitive

Virgin Radio

4 Apr 2023, 11:27

The hunt for fugitive Raoul Moat is being turned into a drama for ITV and writer of the new series, Kevin Sampson, has shed some light on why now was a good time to do so.

In 2010, Raoul Moat shot his ex-girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart, her new partner, Chris Brown and police officer David Rathband in a two day killing spree. He ended up going on the run for a week and was at large and armed in the Northumbria area with the intention of harming any police officers he came across.

It was one of those cases the nation will struggle to forget and it led to a huge investigation of the police force.

Now, quite controversially, it is being turned into a true crime drama for ITV and writer Kevin Sampson has reassured viewers the victims’ stories are being handled with care.

Speaking to virginradio.co.uk and other press at a Q&A for the new series, Sampson revealed they had spoken directly to Chris Brown’s family to “get a sense of how they would prefer the story to be told”.

He said: “The first thing I did was to reach out to Chris Brown's family to get a sense of their attitude towards their lives been being portrayed in a primetime television drama, and also to get a sense of how they would prefer that story to be told.

“They were very, very supportive and the message that came from them right from the start was that they felt that Chris had been forgotten. Every time they heard this referred to as the Raoul Moat case, it pains them. And you know, it prolonged their suffering. So, their status was that they would like Chris to be honoured. They would like him to be remembered.”

The whole incident took place 13 years ago, which might not seem like a long time and it's fair to say the case is still very much in the memory of the public. However, Sampson also said he felt like he wanted to look back on the case and how we still approach violence against women as a society.

He explained: “The idea really came in the wake of lockdown. There was an escalation of incidents of domestic violence. That was something I had a real interest in and we've been talking about platforming issues like this.

“The whole thing coalesced from there. It was the coming together of things like fake news, the malign influence of social media and the almost trivialization of crimes against women generally.

"Then, on top of that, it was such a potent and unique case and the way that that all played out- it struck me that all of those threads could come together and make something that was a kind of powerful and yet sensitive drama that highlighted some of those things, and perhaps challenged our audience to think again about how they view cases like this.”