Four Lives, originally[1] and internationally[2] titled The Barking Murders, is a television series, first aired from 3 to 5 January 2022 on BBC One. It follows the true story of the families of four young gay men (Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor) who in 2014 and 2015 were murdered by Stephen Port. Facing failings by the Metropolitan Police, they fought for justice for their loved ones.[3][4][5] Stephen Merchant plays serial killer Port[6] with Sheridan Smith as Sarah Sak, the mother of Anthony Walgate, Port's first victim.[7]
| Four Lives | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Neil McKay |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Producers |
|
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One BBC Two Wales |
| Picture format | 2:1 1080p |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 3 January (2022-01-03) – 5 January 2022 (2022-01-05) |
First announced in early 2020, production on the show was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series was delayed twice after its announcement. On 13 December 2021 the official trailer was released with stills from the show being released on social media. During promotion for the series, star Sheridan Smith shared: "Every night I was going home in bits, crying – you can't help but take it home [...] I really beat myself up with it because I want to do a good job for them."[8]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) 7 day | UK viewers (millions) 28 day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | David Blair | Neil McKay | 3 January 2022 (2022-01-03) | 4.95 | 6.44 | |
| Two young men are found dead in Barking, London. The first, Anthony Walgate, is found outside the flat of Stephen Port. The police suggest the death may have been a drug overdose, but his friends in London and his family back in Hull, are unconvinced. Walgate's mother thinks there is more to the case than the police are letting on and believes her son may have been murdered. Walgate's friends also reveal that Walgate was going to meet a man he met via a male escort website, but was not heard from since, and are frustrated that the police seem more interested in Walgate's sex life than the nature of his death. The second victim, Gabriel Kovari from Slovakia, is found by a dog-walker in the graveyard of the nearby church. Kovari had moved into Port's flat but before shortly his death had confided to Port's neighbour that he found Port's behaviour intimidating. Port is arrested for perverting the course of justice, having lied to the police by claiming he didn't know Walgate before switching his story to claim the two had sex after Walgate had taken the drugs himself, but is released on bail. | |||||||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | David Blair | Neil McKay | 4 January 2022 (2022-01-04) | 4.28 | 5.94 | |
| The body of a third victim, Daniel Whitworth, is found, in the same graveyard by the same dog-walker. Again, the police suggest a deliberate drugs overdose, pointing to a suicide note left by Whitworth's body which implies he knew Kovari and was responsible for Kovari's death, but Whitworth's partner and his family are all unconvinced, claiming that Whitworth didn't do drugs and that the tone and handwriting of the note are uncharacteristic. Kovari's friend and former landlord also conducts research of his own and is astonished to find what appear to be suspicious but obvious connections between the three deaths. He, the families of Whitworth and Walgate, and Port's neighbour, all express their concerns to the police but are told there is no evidence to indicate the deaths are linked. Meanwhile, Stephen Port is tried for perverting the course of justice, and sentenced to eight months in prison, but is released sooner with an electronic tag. The inquests of Kovari and Whitworth are held, but both reach an open verdict. The coroner states there is insubstantial evidence to suggest murder but also raises concerns over how Barking police have carried out the investigation into Whitworth's death. | |||||||
| 3 | "Episode 3" | David Blair | Neil McKay | 5 January 2022 (2022-01-05) | 4.37 | 5.93 | |
| The body of a fourth victim, Jack Taylor is found, in a public park adjacent to the same graveyard. His sisters challenge the police over their collection and interpretation of evidence, which again suggests Taylor died from an accidental overdose, claiming that Jack also wasn't a drug user. They start conducting their own research and through learning about the previous victims, notice three of the deaths follow the same pattern and come to the conclusion that their brother was killed by someone. CCTV footage of Taylor meeting Port indicates the sisters' version of events to be correct. Port is arrested following a positive identification on the CCTV footage by a member of the police. The police concede to the families and friends of the victims that corroborated evidence now shows they were indeed murdered and that the Met will refer itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission over the handling of the investigation. Port is tried at the Old Bailey and is found guilty on four counts of murder. He receives a whole life order. | |||||||
Four Lives first aired from 3 to 5 January 2022 on BBC One.[4]
It aired on SBS Television in Australia over three weeks from 14 April 2022.[9]
Four Lives is distributed internationally by BritBox as The Barking Murders.[2]
Writing in The Independent, Ed Cumming said, "In less sensitive hands, a case like this could lend itself to prurience or melodrama, but Neil Mackay's script and David Blair's direction deftly avoid these traps".[10]
In The Guardian, Lucy Mangan said, "The drama does a good job of making the victims... live again... Beyond that, and despite the usual great work of Sheridan Smith and others, the drama never catches fire".[11]
Hugo Rifkind in The Times wrote, "Superficially, the most interesting thing about Four Lives was the casting of the great Stephen Merchant as Port. There's something intrinsically chilling about a comedian as a killer, but Merchant was more blank than sinister. This didn't particularly matter because although Port inevitably sat at the heart of Four Lives, this was more a story about police incompetence...".[12]