Hot Picks: Maxine

Mini-series Maxine is a true-crime drama that digs into one of the UK’s most notorious murder cases. Produced by Clapperboard Studios, it follows the investigation of school assistant Maxine Carr and her caretaker fiancé Ian Huntley over their involvement in the 2002 Soham murders.

Carr was not directly involved in Huntley’s abduction and murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, but became a major focal point after giving Huntley a false alibi. She served two years in jail and now lives under a new identity.

The drama tells the story of Huntley and Carr’s tumultuous relationship from Huntley’s perspective, exploring her motivations for lying and how the sheer scale of the media coverage nearly derailed the investigation and trial.

Jonathan Ford, chief executive of distributor Abacus Media Rights, says he has no doubt Maxine can travel internationally: “What we’ve seen with true-crime drama in recent years is that audiences are not so concerned with whether they know the story, but whether the psychology and behaviour of the characters is compelling.”

Ford says the decision to focus on Carr’s story provides the production with a distinctive tone and perspective: “Maxine doesn’t dwell on the horror of the murders, but on the nature of Carr’s relationship with Huntley. It’s a sensitive and impactful drama in which audiences can explore the reasons why she protected him and assess her level of culpability for what happened.”

Director Laura Way (The Holiday) and writer Simon Tyrrell (The Spanish Princess) have a strong track record, but the cast – Jemma Carlton as Carr and Scott Reid (White House Farm) as Huntley – are relatively unknown, something Ford says was a shrewd decision.

“Big names can help international sales, but the beauty of this casting is that the leads resemble the characters,” he says. “That’s important when trying to tell a true-crime story authentically.”

Maxine will be delivered in late 2022, so AMR will be showing buyers teasers and trailers at Mipcom and Content London, focusing initially on buyers it knows are interested in true crime from pre-existing relationships, Ford says.