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Five Daughters, a new drama for ±«Óãtv One, tells the true stories behind the murders of five young women in Ipswich in 2006.

When Susan Hogg, Executive Producer, ±«Óãtv Drama Production first suggested making a drama about the murders of five young women in Ipswich in 2006, director Philippa Lowthorpe admits she had misgivings. But as she and producer Simon Lewis began researching the case, which sparked the biggest manhunt in the UK since the Yorkshire Ripper in the 1970s, her opinion began to change dramatically.

"I went from one extreme to the other. I thought, 'This has to be made'," says Lowthorpe.

With the help of Suffolk Police, the duo were put in touch with the FLOs (Family Liaison Officers) who contacted the families of the five victims, Anneli Alderton, Gemma Adams, Annette Nicholls, Paula Clennell and Tania Nicol.

As they did so Lowthorpe and Lewis discovered that the families had been deeply upset by the media's coverage of the murders and, in particular, the one-dimensional depiction of their daughters in the tabloid press.

For them, a drama represented their chance to redress the balance. In the end, the film was made with the co-operation of three of the five families.

"The mother and brother of Anneli Alderton (Maire and Tom Alderton); Annette Nicholls's mother Rosemary and her two daughters, and Paula Clennell's mother Isabella and Paula's sister, Alice Bradshaw, all said they wanted to co-operate," said Lewis.

The family of Gemma Adams let the production know they had no objection to the drama being made but they didn't want to be involved, and "we respected their wishes". There is minimal representation of Tania Nicol in the drama in accordance with the family's wishes.

Through the FLOs, all five families were shown or offered the opportunity to see copies of the script so they were aware in advance how their daughters would be portrayed in the drama.

It fell to writer Stephen Butchard to draw on the research that Lewis and Lowthorpe had begun assembling with the families' help. He travelled to Ipswich to begin reconstructing the final days in the lives of the women whose families were supportive of the project.

Butchard spoke to the police, members of the ICENI drug rehabilitation charity and – most importantly – the families of the victims. Slowly he began to piece together the stories of the girls.

"The most important thing was to discover what was going on below the surface. I wanted to know: 'who is that person standing on that street corner?'," he explains.

"I began with each family by simply asking them 'tell me about your daughter.' It was wonderful to hear about the stories from their childhood. As I heard them I began to build up a picture of who they were. It was a privilege."

Butchard discovered that the victims were ordinary young women with ordinary dreams and aspirations.

Anneli Alderton, for instance, had hopes to open her own hairdressing salon. "It was a real revelation to find how much potential they did have," says Butchard.

For Butchard, the other revelation was the fact that the women's fates were sealed not by the fact they were sex workers, but the fact they were drug addicts.

"They were drug addicts first and sex workers second," he said. "Prostitution was a means to an end, and the end was being able to feed their drug habit."

The script that evolved from his research is based entirely on true events – taken either from the public domain or from details provided by the families, police, the local drug agency ICENI and other people closely involved in the events that took place.

Lowthorpe and Lewis assembled a cast of some of Britain's finest actresses, including Sarah Lancashire as Rosemary Nicholls, Juliet Aubrey as Maire Alderton and Kate Dickie as Isabella Clennell. While the drama was shot in Bristol, the production travelled to Suffolk to film some GVs (general views).

"We filmed away from Ipswich because we felt it would be more appropriate to do so," said Lowthorpe.

The poignant and powerful drama Lowthorpe, Lewis and their team have produced will, they hope, stimulate a re-evaluation of the victims of one of the most horrific serial killings in this country's history.

"If people choose to discuss issues raised by the drama like drugs and its relationship to prostitution as a result that's great. For us I think the message is a simpler one. These were ordinary people for whom life took a cruel turn. And none of them deserved their fates, whatever their failings as human beings, and we are certainly not claiming that any of them were perfect," says Simon Lewis.

"It's saying that bad things can happen to ordinary people. The bigger debate, I think the thing that we'd like people to take out of it, is that they were drug addicts first. That seemed to be completely missed by most of the press."

"I want it to open people's eyes. People think prostitutes are somehow different from us. I didn't realise how hard it is for them to get off drugs. Anneli Alderton, for instance, was trying hard to get off drugs and had been successful. That was what was so heartbreaking about it," says Lowthorpe.

"We were interested in the girls. We weren't interested in the nasty, horrible thing that happened to them."

Her feelings are echoed by Stephen Butchard. "I very much wanted this to be about the girls. At the end I wanted people to feel a loss for the girls," says Butchard.

"Part of the reason the families wanted to be involved was to reclaim who their daughters were and put their real personalities in the public domain. At the time they were just referred to as prostitutes, it was absolutely shocking. I think that's what this is all about," says Susan Hogg.

How the public react to the drama remains to be seen. The families' reaction is already known, however. To their delight – and relief – Lowthorpe and Lewis got a positive reception when they arranged private screenings of the finished drama to key members of the three families.

"You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. It was so tense," Lowthorpe admits. "It's felt like a huge collaboration with them, because they have given so much, so much is based on their firsthand accounts. So we wanted them to approve of what we had done."

The families' reaction was swift – and positive.

"Tom Alderton, Anneli's brother, said something very touching to me. He said: 'You have vindicated my trust in you'," says Lowthorpe.

Three of the mothers have issued brief statements supporting the drama.

Maire Alderton (Anneli's mum):

"I think this drama is very powerful. It feels truthful and real. Sometimes dramas can feel more real than a purely factual account. The emotions in it feel very real to me.

"It was so awful when the press referred to the girls as prostitutes. Prostitution is not a career choice, it's drug addiction that drives people to it – simple as.

"If this drama sparks a debate about drug addiction and girls on the street that is a very good thing."

Rosemary Nicholls (Annette's mum):

"I wanted to put across what kind of loving, caring person Annette was to all around her, and that she was close to myself, her father and her siblings, and we loved her dearly.

"We as a family want people to know that women who work on the streets do not choose this, but are forced to do so due to crippling drug habits."

Isabella Clennell (Paula's mum):

"Straight from my heart I would like to get it across to everyone that this drama was helped by myself in order to help other families have an insight into the terrible effects of drug addiction.

"If any other parent sees their child going through this, don't push them away. Guide them to someone who can help them.

"The meaning of this drama is about drug addiction not prostitution.

"My heart aches for any other parents who go through this.

"Watching the other mothers in these films was very familiar and comforting, feeling so sorry, like I did. It helps me feel stronger.

"I thought it was a good idea to make this drama. I wouldn't have appeared in a documentary, and I wouldn't do an interview in a newspaper either, but in this drama I can get my story across."

AF

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