Ralf Little swaps detective work for a sinister tale of mistaken identity in Channel 4's six-part drama Hunting Alice Bell, launching tonight. The fictional series follows Fran Da Silva as she becomes the target of online hatred from people convinced she is a serial killer's accomplice.
The Death in Paradise actor plays Graham alongside Simon Pegg as Jason and Alexandra Roach as Fran. Written by David Baddiel and inspired by real events, the series premieres on November 11.
Premise and cast
The official synopsis reveals that Alice Bell is a former nurse and accomplice of a notorious serial killer. Living under a new identity in the UK, she has managed to evade discovery — while Fran is falsely accused of being her. To make matters worse, Fran soon discovers she is not the only woman to have suffered the same ordeal.
Little, known for playing Detective Inspector Neville Parker in Death in Paradise, shared the trailer on Instagram, where one fan commented: "This looks great.. can't wait to watch." Another added: "Can't wait for this!"
Trailer details
The trailer shows Fran's tormentors threatening, "we are going to make her pay", while her family also suffers the consequences. She maintains her innocence, but her protests are ignored.
The preview reveals that five women have been identified as Alice Bell. As they unite to defend themselves, they pledge to trust each other — but could the real accomplice be hiding among them?
Inspiration and themes
Baddiel told Cosmopolitan that the idea came from a documentary about women wrongly identified as Maxine Carr, the former partner of murderer Ian Huntley. Carr was jailed for supplying Huntley with a false alibi.
He said: "Women [were] being targeted in their local communities by people who decided that they were Maxine Carr, when Carr was first allowed out. There were literally people whispering, 'that woman is Maxine'. And then next they did have mobs in their garden. In one case, the local paper actually printed an article saying 'Maxine Carr living amongst us'."
Speaking separately to Channel 4, he described the series as a psychological thriller, "with more emphasis on the psychological than you get in a lot of thrillers".
He continued: "There's a sense of dread, uncertainty and mystery, rather than guns and police procedure. It's about how we live now, when people can create rumours, myths, lies and identities for others that don't feel as if they belong to them."
Explaining the inspiration further, he said: "After Maxine Carr was released, she was given lifelong anonymity. But women with no connection to her were being targeted in small towns by people who were certain they were her, living under another name."
He added: "There were four women in the documentary, and a couple of scenes in the show are based on what I saw. In one, a woman has just moved to a new area when rumours start. Within a couple of weeks, there's a mob in her garden, shouting at her. She comes out with her passport to prove who she is; that stayed with me."
Hunting Alice Bell airs on Channel 4 from November 11.
