‘Extraordinary piece of access. Gripping storytelling. Amazing characters’
Dr Brenda Page, principal of the genetics department at the University of Aberdeen Medical School, was found dead in her flat on 14 July 1978. Her ex-husband was convicted of her murder 45 years later.
The two-part documentary The Killing of Dr Brenda Page explores the murder of a brilliant scientist and the changing attitudes towards coercive control and domestic violence. It sets out to balance sensitive examination of a horrifying murder with the highs and lows of the pursuit of justice.
Judges praised the documentary’s ability to create engaging drama while still delivering the disturbing facts of the case, in what they called an “extraordinary piece of access”.
When it debuted on BBC Scotland, it was 25% above slot average. The documentary’s popularity is down to what one judge described as “gripping storytelling”.
Murder Trial, Scotland’s factual series, also highlights the judicial and cultural differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK. One judge said that they had “learnt so much about the law and how it has changed through the decades”.
SHORTLISTED
Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story
Dorothy Street Pictures, Lorton Entertainment, and Walt Disney EMEA Productions for Disney+
Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story explores how growing up under intense media scrutiny affected a young woman, and delves into the libel case on everyone’s minds in 2022.
Broken down across three parts, the docuseries includes exclusive interviews with Rooney’s family and legal team involved in the trial, giving viewers an insight into Rooney’s emotional journey.
Lockerbie
Mindhouse Productions for Sky Documentaries and NOW TV
The 270 fatalities make the bombing of a Pan Am plane over Lockerbie in 1988 the deadliest terrorist attack in the UK. This minimalist film places testimonies of the town’s residents at its centre, and seeking to offer more than a true crime thriller-style documentary. It follows the continuing fight for justice, as well as exploring how Lockerbie today copes with the impact of the tragic event.
Otto Baxter: Not a F***ing Horror Story
Story Films and Archface Films for Sky Documentaries
Set in Victorian London, Otto Baxter: Not a F***ing Horror Story is a comedy-horror-musical that is also an autobiography of a 35-year-old man with Down Syndrome. The BAFTA-award-winning documentary follows Baxter as he narrates his life story in his aesthetically quirky and funny film.
The documentary also explores ingrained societal ableist attitudes using archive footage of Baxter’s own experiences of prejudice, which is balanced with home movies of his warm family life.
Right to Fight
Raw for Sky Documentaries Original
This feature-length documentary tells the story of Marian ‘Lady Tyger’ Trimiar, Cathy ‘Cat’ Davis and Pat ‘Liberation’ Pineda, the pioneers of the women’s boxing movement in the 1970s.
It took 18 months to track down these elusive women, and the resulting documentary is patient but brutally honest as it tackles the harsh realities of the early years of the women’s boxing movement – confronting sexism, racism and homophobia.
The Man who Played with Fire
Raw for Sky Documentaries Original
The Man who Played with Fire is a four-part docuseries following the unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. The production team had exclusive broadcast access to late author Stieg Larsson’s investigative files, telling a unique and thrilling story.
From secret recordings of South African military intelligence to archives of Vietnam and Cuba, the docuseries showcases the global impact of one of the most mysterious assassinations in history.
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