Hot Picks: Drowning In Lies

Drowning In Lies is a true-crime documentary about the case of Donald McPherson, who discovers the body of his wife Paula floating fully clothed in the pool at their holiday home in Denmark.

Though at first sight the incident appears to be an accident, the ambulance crews notice worrying marks on Paula’s body and Donald is tried for murder. The case against him collapses – but it emerges that Donald McPherson is not his real identity.

The two-parter traces ‘Donald McPherson’s’ secret past in a larger-than- life tale that spans the globe. From his unusual upbringing in New Zealand, the journey takes viewers through the minimum 13 different identities he has held, a first wife and child who died in mysterious circumstances, a multimillion-dollar fraud, jail and connections to the American mafia.

For Sarah Bickley, head of sales at distributor Beyond Rights, the series reflects an intriguing sub-genre of true crime – the “true con craze”, in the vein of The Tinder Swindler.

“There’s this huge mystery around it, and there’s a lot of demand for this kind of content,” she says. “It’s in a sweet spot for us as well as it’s 2 x 60 minutes. Schedulers are looking for that kind of programming as something that’s going to jump out on their channels and platforms.”

Ideal length

The two-hour format is particularly popular with Scandinavian buyers, she notes, given the need to attract time-poor viewers immediately.

“There’s so much competition to watch things, and when it’s longer it feels like a bigger commitment for the viewer,” she explains. “As a viewer, I like to watch the shorter docs because I don’t want them to drag it out – you just want to get to the solution. Two-or three-episode titles are ideal.”

The international aspects of McPherson’s story are likely to make it attractive to global buyers. “It covers the UK, US, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand, so you’ve got audiences in different countries who are probably familiar with parts of the story already – it will be fresh in people’s minds there.

“Buyers are often looking for something that’s got a link that local audiences can understand.”

The project is the first Beyond Rights has done with London-based The Wimbledon Killing producer Caravan Media, which has a history of high-profile true-crime docs, including Netflix’s Killer Ratings.

“We’re always developing new relationships, just so that we can find that key piece that’s going to do really well,” Bickley says. “We’ve been nurturing this relationship, so it’s great that we can finally have something from them.”

The show has been commissioned by Channel 5 and Paramount+ in the UK, and Bickley hopes it will interest public broadcasters elsewhere too, particularly in Scandinavia.

There is also increasing demand for true-crime in the FAST space, she says, where shows often need to be playable in daytime. This is a potentially tricky ask for a show about crime – but is something Drowning In Lies can offer.