Page 160 of Murder in the Family

MAURA

And when you look at her now

AMELIE

I’m so sorry Maurie

I wish there was something I could do

MAURA

No you’re best out of it

I just hope Guy knows what he’s putting us through for the sake of his bloody ‘career’

AMELIE

Yeah right

Voicemail left for Tarek Osman by Bill Serafini, 8th June 2023, 9.45 a.m.

Hi Tarek, It’s Bill. Can you give me a call when you get this? There’s something I need your help with.

Voicemail left for Tarek Osman by Nick Vincent, 9th June 2023, 8.03 p.m.

Hi Tarek, it’s Nick. Just to say I’ve seen the new stuff and it’s dynamite. Brilliant work, as always.

Just make sure you keep it to yourself – this is absolutely Need to Fucking Know. So just the camera crew, OK? No-one else.

See you Monday.

Episode five

Broadcast

October 15

The Times,16 October 2023

TELEVISION

What price truth?

Infamous may be a new kind of reality TV but the cost is only too real

ROSS LESLIE

Infamous: Who Killed Luke Ryder?

Showrunner

It’s taken us from Ambleside to Alabama, and now to Assos, as theInfamousteam of experts continue to pursue the elusive ‘Luke Ryder’, a man whose ability to morph seamlessly through a whole sequence of different identities must surely put him high on the list to become the next Dr Who.

I’ve talked before about the psychological resonance of this case, and how compelling its exploration of complex family relationships has been. Last night’s episode added a new layer of complexity and genuine poignancy, as Nick Vincent, the producer of Infamous, revealed ‘live’ on screen that Caroline Howard Ryder had had a baby when she was still a teenager. This clearly came as a complete shock to her son Guy, the show’s director, which certainly made for can’t-tear-your-eyes-away TV, even if it left me, for one, wondering if we had finally crossed the notoriously blurry line between viewing and voyeurism.

It’s not the first time I’ve been prompted to reflect on the ethical issues raised by this genre; a few weeks ago I referred to Infamous as the ultimate true-crime reality TV. But seeing even a brief glimpse of Guy Howard’s hurt and bewildered face last night was a powerful reminder of the human cost of this type of television. In TS Eliot’s memorable phrase, surely no-one caught up in these crimes should be asked to bear quite as much ‘reality’ as that.

Infamous/LukeRyderJoin