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Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder: 'British Serial' tops iTunes podcast chart with over 200,000 downloads
London’s most notorious unsolved case has been transformed into a web series
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Your support makes all the difference.Are you an armchair detective, looking for your next murder mystery fix? Look no further, as a podcast, dubbed the ‘British Serial,’ is making waves, topping the iTunes chart after being downloaded over 200,000 times.
Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder tells the complex and murky story surrounding the murder of a private investigator, whose body was found in a London pub’s car park with an axe in the head.
The incident - often described as London’s most notorious unsolved case - occurred outside the Golden Lion in Sydenham in 1987, the P.I. allegedly looking to expose corruption at Scotland Yard.
Despite five police enquiries, costing the public upwards of £50 million, nobody has been blamed for the murder, the most recent prosecution reportedly collapsing in 2011.
Only three of the 10-episodes have been released so far, but already the podcast has gained notoriety in countries outside the UK, according to the Evening Standard.
Launched by the victim’s brother after raising £10,000 through crowdfunding, Alastair Morgan thought the podcast would be the best way for people to hear about the case.
“It’s a chance for me to tell the story in my own words as I saw it develop,” Mr Morgan previously told The Independent. “I don’t think the mainstream media has given the case the attention it deserves. It’s probably the worst police corruption case in 50 years.”
In the years since the murder, allegations have linked the case with police corruption as well as links between Morgan’s investigations agency and News of the World.
The podcast was written by Peter Jukes, who believed - after seeing the reaction to the likes of Serial - that making the podcast could have a profound effect on the case. The team also believe they have uncovered compelling evidence that could eventually lead to a verdict.
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New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
“It’s a very complicated story to cover in one journalistic piece. I felt that, as a storyteller, I could clarify some new things,” Jukes said
Many series based on real-life murder cases have been gaining popularity in recent years, including the likes of Making a Murderer and OJ: Made in America, which is currently showing on ESPN. The OJ case was also turned into a fictionalised version in the form of American Crime Story.
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