The Staircase: Netflix releases trailer for new true crime whodunit

The series is drawing quite obvious parallels to Making a Murderer

We are treating readers to an exclusive look at the next true crime phenomenon set to take over TV screens this summer.

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

It follows Peterson from arrest to verdict following on from the 2004 docu-series directed by filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade - the Oscar-winner behind Murder on a Sunday Morning - who was granted immediate access to the North Carolina case after it occurred.

The series 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 much in the same way as Making a Murderer which told the story of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey.

In the intervening years, the streaming service has gone on to release a spate of true crime projects including Casting Jon Benet, Wild Wild Country, Evil Genius and 2017 series The Keepers which focuses 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 the Avery/Dassey case and is said to feature 'unprecedented access' to law enforcement figures such as District Attorney Ken Kratz.

All 13 episodes of The Staircase, which was announced at Netflix's showcase in Rome last month, will be available to watch on 8 June.

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