The Staircase: Netflix true crime series getting huge Making a Murderer comparisons

The story follows a crime novelist accused of killing his wife in 2001

Netflix has announced a brand new series that looks set to follow in the footsteps of Making a Murderer as a true-crime phenomenon.

Titled The Staircase, the series tells the story of Michael Peterson, a crime novelist who was accused of killing his wife Kathleen after she's found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home in 2001, and the 16-year court battle that followed.

The streaming service will show the original docuseries which aired back in 2004 as well as three follow-up episodes directed by documentary filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade - Oscar-winning director of Murder on a Sunday Morning - who was granted immediate access to the North Carolina case.

Following Peterson from arrest to verdict, much like Making a Murderer did with the cases of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, The Staircase has been described as “a gripping real-life courtroom thriller” and will no doubt take over viewers' television sets when it's launched this summer.

Netflix's most recent true crime series arrived in the form of The Keepers which focused on the unsolved murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik.

In regards to Making a Murderer, a rival series is in development that will show the other side of Avery's case and is said to feature 'unprecedented access' to law enforcement figures such as District Attorney Ken Kratz.

The Staircase was announced at Netflix's showcase in Rome where it also unveiled a new season of GLOW and cast additions to the third season of Stranger Things.

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