The Hunt for Raoul Moat's Lee Ingleby on series's "hollow ending"

The new ITV drama explored the viewpoint of Moat's innocent victims, as well as the people who sought to bring the criminal to justice after he went on a murderous rampage, killing Christopher Brown and maiming Samantha Stobbart and PC David Rathband.

But the final episode also flashes up the Newcastle Chronicle headline: "It All Ends In Tragedy". When speaking about that headline and Moat's death being the ending that real-life Neil Adamson and his police colleagues didn't want, Lee Ingleby said: "That sums up the fact there were absolutely no winners in this story. It’s a very hollow ending."

Ingleby stars as Adamson in the series, a character that has foundations in the real-life Northumbria police detective but is also based on a culmination of real-life police experiences of the time. The actor continued: "You are left with this trail of destruction which is incredibly sad. Also frustrating for the police.

"David Rathband called Moat a coward for not facing up to what he had done. I agree with that to a point."

To prepare for the role, Ingleby spoke with Adamson and said: "Neil wanted Moat to be arrested and answer for his actions, which comes through in the drama. He was very determined to bring him to justice. But, of course, that did not happen.

"There is a scene one year on when Neil goes to see Chris Brown’s mother and sister, which he did in real life. Chris was, and has been, forgotten. Most of the focus people had was on the subsequent riverside stand-off between Moat and the police."

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He added: "It was very important to our writer Kevin Sampson and the production team that Chris should be remembered. When they were talking to Chris Brown’s family about making this drama one of the key things was to put a name, a face and a person at the forefront. So this was not the Raoul Moat story. We remember his victims.”

Matt Stokoe stars as Moat in the series and when speaking about the final episode that captured that long stand-off, he said of Moat: "He wanted that ‘death by cop’ criminal martyrdom. That was his goal, I think. And, of course, he did not get that.

"David Rathband called Moat a coward for not facing up to what he had done. I agree with that. It’s OK to have embodied this guy for such an extended period of time but still think that. I think he was a coward. That goes back to understanding the mindset of somebody like that but not understanding their actions."

Although Stokoe has spoken out about being initially 'frightened' to take on the role of Moat, he also states that the true crime drama is as pressing as ever today.

He said: "For me, this drama is more like a warning siren than some kind of cautionary tale that wraps itself up very neatly. It’s a ‘grab you by the shoulders and shake you’ story. You need to realise the threads of this man’s argument are still very present in male society today."

Speaking about why the role was so frightening to him, Stokoe explained: “With someone like Raoul Moat it’s frightening because he still has people out there who support and endorse what he did. It’s always difficult to play a real life character and one that society agrees is evil.

“When it comes to someone like Moat you don’t want your decision to embody that character to in any way be viewed as an endorsement of his behaviour. You have to have empathy as an actor but you don’t want to be seen as sympathetic to him."

The Hunt for Raoul Moat is available to stream on ITVX. For more news, interviews and features, visit our Drama hub or find something to watch now with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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