ITV has commissioned two-part drama Code of a Killer, which tells the extraordinary true story of Alec Jeffreys’ discovery of DNA fingerprinting and its first use by Detective David Baker in catching a double murderer.
Code of a Killer will tell the story of how Jeffreys’ science and Baker’s investigative foresight created the single biggest leap in the history of criminal investigation.
David Threlfall takes the role of Detective David Baker who in 1984 headed up an investigation into the brutal murders of two Leicestershire schoolgirls, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth. Only three miles away, Alec Jeffreys was a young scientist who had unlocked a remarkable technique to read each individual’s unique DNA fingerprint.
Certain the murderer was local, Baker approached Jeffreys to use his new science as a way to solve the murders. What followed was the first ever DNA manhunt, and the blood testing of over five thousand men before the killer was caught.
Code of a Killer has been developed and written with the knowledge and input of retired professor Sir Alec Jeffreys and former Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker.It was written by Michael Crompton (Kidnap & Ransom) and will be directed by James Strong (Broadchurch, United).
Filming is due to begin in late September 2014.
