Drama ‘Maxine’ relives shocking murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman

It’s now 20 years since Britain was shocked by the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, two 10-year-old friends who went missing in Soham, Cambridgeshire.

Channel 5 is revisiting the case in three-part drama Maxine, which focuses on Maxine Carr, the school assistant who was jailed for perverting the course of justice after providing the killer, her boyfriend Ian Huntley, with a false alibi.

The series, which is being broadcast on consecutive nights, sets out to explore their tumultuous relationship, asking what drove her to lie for Huntley, and how she came to be dubbed ‘the most hated woman in Britain’.

The decision to explore the case from Carr’s perspective will be a controversial one, and actress Jemma Carlton, who is making her TV debut in the role, took the responsibility seriously.

She says: “Maxine is one of those roles that when it lands in your inbox, you don’t ignore it. It’s a kind of a once in a lifetime role. I knew that there would be difficulties that came with it, but I got a lot of reassurance from Channel 5 and Laura [the director] that the project was going to be handled with a lot of care…

“That’s why the huge amount of research and preparation behind the scenes was so important. We all wanted to make sure the tone of the series was right.”

Although Carlton was very young when the story of Holly and Jessica’s disappearance hit the news, she is well aware of the huge impact it had.

She says: “I was five when it happened and I was on holiday with my mum and my brother, but having so many older people around me to help draw [on] their experiences of the case from was useful.

“I was able to draw on how they experienced that summer and how the case played out. The only tricky thing about having all these voices is their opinions are incredibly strong. So I had to collate all of these responses and then form your own take when taking on the role.”

While she learned more about Carr while making the series, Carlton points out that the drama isn’t necessarily about changing preconceptions. She says: “[The research] didn’t change the facts of what happened, we know what she did and the outcome of that. The only thing that changed for me was the things I didn’t know, like her life growing up, her friends and previous boyfriends. I had no idea about this until starting on the job.”

The opening episode finds Carr arriving in Soham to make a fresh start with her boyfriend, Ian Huntley (Scott Reid).

One weekend, Carr heads home to Grimsby to visit her mother and, following a jealous row with Ian, goes out partying. The next morning, she wakes to the news of Holly and Jessica’s disappearance, prompting her to go home – and give Ian, who is the last person known to have seen them, an alibi.

As the police investigation intensifies, just how far is Carr willing to go to protect Ian? And, possibly the biggest question of all, how much does she really know about what happened?