Murder at the Cottage release date: Trailer, news and more
Director Jim Sheridan investigates the brutal murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in 1996.
Five-part Sky Original series Murder at the Cottage: The Search for Justice for Sophie examines the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was found brutally murdered outside her Irish holiday home in 1996.
The series is directed and narrated by Jim Sheridan – best known as the Oscar-nominated director of Irish biographical dramas My Left Foot and In The Name Of The Father – who has followed the case for over 25 years, and uses original evidence, never-seen-before footage and new interviews to investigate the story of Sophie’s murder.
Murder at the Cottage release date
Sky Original documentary series Murder at the Cottage will premiere on Sky Crime and NOW on Sunday 20th June. All five episodes will be available.
What is Murder at the Cottage about?
The series focuses on the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was found dead outside her holiday cottage in Schull, West Cork on December 23rd, 1996.
There is a prime suspect in the case – an English journalist named Ian Bailey who was one of the first people to report from the scene – but Sophie’s family have yet to receive justice.
Bailey lived close to the cottage where Sophie was killed and became a suspect because he was found to have cuts on his face and hands, and also because he admitted to having left his own cottage on the night of the murder.
While he was arrested, he was never charged in Ireland. However, in May 2019 he was found guilty of her murder by the Paris Cour d’Assises in France and was convicted in absentia. “All they’ve done is convict an innocent man who had nothing to do with the crime,” he told the Guardian after the verdict was announced. “All they’ve got is a pyrrhic victory.”
- For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021
There have been attempts to extradite Bailey to France from Ireland to serve his sentence, but the Irish High Court ruled in 2020 that he could not be extradited.
“Two legal systems and two investigations by the French and Irish found two very different conclusions,” says Jim Sheridan. “I wanted to understand how that could happen, to search for justice and to help uncover the truth. I hope this series will help bring about a definitive conclusion to the case.”
Is there a Murder at the Cottage trailer?
You can view the trailer for Murder at the Cottage here:
Murder at the Cottage: The Search for Justice for Sophie arrives on Sky Crime and streaming service NOW on 20th June. If you’re looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide. Check out our Documentaries hub for all the latest news.
