Lucan ITV: week starting 7 December, day and time to be announced

Lucan is a thrilling new two-part drama based on the life of flamboyant aristocrat, Lord Lucan, and written by award-winning writer, Jeff Pope.

Rory Kinnear (Southcliffe, Loving Miss Hatto, Skyfall) will play Lucan whilst Christopher Eccleston (Song for Marion, Blackout, The Shadow Line) takes the role of John Aspinall. 

The drama will tell the story of Lucan’s exploits as a member of the infamous Clermont set and will focus on his marriage collapse to Veronica (Catherine McCormack), the Countess of Lucan. 

With his marriage disintegrating, Lucan became obsessed with regaining custody of his children.   Ultimately the drama will reveal what happened on that fateful night in November 1974 when his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett (Leanne Best), was cruelly bludgeoned to death in the basement of the family’s home in London’s Lower Belgrave Street.

To this day Lucan is thought to have mistaken Sandra for his wife Veronica, whom he blamed for the fractures in his family life.  His whereabouts and eventual fate have remained a mystery for nearly four decades, captivating and intriguing the public whose fascination with Lucan is undiminished.

The drama is inspired by and based upon the book, The Gamblers, written by author John Pearson who conducted exhaustive interviews with those most closely connected to Lucan at the time of Sandra’s murder.  Pearson gained unprecedented access to Lucan’s friends and acquaintances from the Clermont Club who helped him try to piece together the Earl’s movements on the evening of 7 November. Once the dreadful murder had taken place they speculated on how Lucan might have escaped the police search, and what might have ultimately been his fate.

Michael Gambon plays older Burke, Paul Freeman plays John Pearson, Rupert Evans plays Dominic Elwes, Jane Lapotaire plays Susie Maxwell Scott and Gemma Jones plays Lucan’s mother Dowager Countess.

Cast:

Lord Lucan - Rory Kinnear

John Aspinall - Christopher Eccleston

Veronica Lucan - Catherine McCormack

Older John Burke - Michael Gambon

John Pearson - Paul Freeman

Older Susie Maxwell Scott - Jane Lapotaire

Ian Maxwell Scott - Alan Cox

Susie Maxwell Scott - Helen Bradbury

Dowager Countess - Gemma Jones

Lady Osborne - Ann Bell

Sandra Rivett - Leanne Best

Dominick Elwes - Rupert Evans

Jimmy Goldsmith - Alistair Petrie

John Burke - Rufus Wright

Susie Maxwell-Scott - Helen Bradbury

Annabel Birley - Annabel Mullion

Jane Hastings - Anna Walton

Charlie Benson - James Bradshaw

Ulrich -  Aleksandar Mikic

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/ep2week51/lucan#.UpBwr9JWySo

ITV commissions two-part drama Lucan

Published: Wed 31 Jul 2013/ http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/itv-commissions-two-part-drama-lucan#.UpB799JWySo

ITV today announced commission of a two-part drama, Lucan, based on the life of flamboyant aristocrat, Lord Lucan, and written by award-winning writer Jeff Pope.

Rory Kinnear (Southcliffe, Loving Miss Hatto, Skyfall) will play Lucan whilst Christopher Eccleston (Song for Marion, Blackout, The Shadow Line) takes the role of John Aspinall.  Acclaimed actor Michael Gambon will also appear in the drama.

The drama, produced by ITV Studios/GroupM Entertainment and from the department headed by Creative Director and Executive Producer for ITV Studios Francis Hopkinson (Wallander, DCI Banks, Married, Single, Other), will tell the story of Lucan’s exploits as a member of the infamous Clermont set and will focus on his marriage collapse to Veronica, the Countess of Lucan. 

With his marriage disintegrating, Lucan became obsessed with regaining custody of his children.   Ultimately the drama will reveal what happened on that fateful night in November 1974 when his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, was cruelly bludgeoned to death in the basement of the family’s home in London’s Lower Belgrave Street as she made her way to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

To this day Lucan is thought to have mistaken Sandra for his wife Veronica, whom he blamed for the fractures in his family life.  His whereabouts and eventual fate have remained a mystery for nearly four decades, captivating and intriguing the public whose fascination with Lucan is undiminished.

The drama is inspired by and based upon the book, The Gamblers, written by author John Pearson who conducted exhaustive interviews with those most closely connected to Lucan at the time of Sandra’s murder.  Pearson gained unprecedented access to Lucan’s friends and acquaintances from the Clermont Club who helped him piece together the Earl’s movements on the evening of 7 November. Once the dreadful murder had taken place they shed light on how Lucan escaped the police search, and ultimately his fate.

Lucan will be produced by Chris Clough (Dates, Strike Back, Skins) and executive produced by Francis Hopkinson, Jeff Pope and Quentin Curtis.  The drama will be directed by Adrian Shergold (Mad Dogs, Pierrepoint, Dirty Filthy Love).  Lucan is an ITV Studios/GroupM Entertainment co-production with Executive Producers for GroupM Entertainment being Richard Foster and Tony Moulsdale.

Francis Hopkinson, ITV Studios Creative Director and Executive Producer commented:

“This extraordinary and tragic event has fascinated people for 40 years. Jeff Pope's script, based on John Pearson's book The Gamblers, brings new insight and revelations, which will surprise the audience. We are delighted that a top cast and director have come together to tell this story."

Richard Foster, Managing Director, GroupM Entertainment:

“We are delighted to continue to build on our relationship with

ITV Studios and to be moving into drama with them - especially

when that drama is based on such an intriguing and ultimately tragic story and written by such a talented writer.”

ITV’s Director of Drama commissioning Steve November has commissioned the drama.

“The story of Lord Lucan continues to mystify and intrigue us,” said Steve.  “Jeff’s reputation for award-winning factual drama goes before him and these new scripts offer a compelling insight into the events surrounding Lucan’s disappearance.” 

Jeff Pope has devoted his career to writing and producing factual drama and has a formidable reputation within the genre.  Most notably he wrote and executive produced Mrs Biggs for ITV Studios, and was the executive producer of Appropriate Adult, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, This is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper and The Murder of Stephen Lawrence. 

Filming of Lucan will begin in August 2013 in and around London. 

Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934), popularly known as Lord Lucan, a British peer and suspected murderer, disappeared without trace early on 8 November 1974. He was born into an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family in Marylebone, the elder son of The 6th Earl of Lucan and his wife, Kaitlin Elizabeth Anne Dawson. Evacuated during the Second World War, he returned to study at Eton and from 1953 to 1955 served with the Coldstream Guards in West Germany. Lord Lucan developed a taste for gambling and, skilled at backgammon and bridge, became an early member of the Clermont gaming club. Although his losses often outweighed his winnings, he left his job at a London-based merchant bank and became a professional gambler. He was known as Lord Bingham from April 1949 until January 1964.

Once considered for the role of James Bond, Lucan was a charismatic man with expensive tastes; he raced power boats and drove an Aston Martin. In 1963 he married Veronica Duncan, who bore him three children. When the marriage collapsed late in 1972, he moved out of the family home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street in London, to a property nearby. A bitter custody battle ensued, which Lucan lost. He began to spy on his wife and record their telephone conversations, apparently obsessed with regaining custody of the children. This fixation, combined with his gambling losses, had a dramatic effect on his general demeanour and personal finances.

On the evening of 7 November 1974, the children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, was bludgeoned to death in the basement of the Lucan family home. Lady Lucan was also attacked; she later identified Lucan as her assailant. As the police began their murder investigation he telephoned his mother, asking her to collect the children, and then drove a borrowed Ford Corsair to a friend's house in Uckfield, Sussex. Hours later, he left the property and was never seen again. The Corsair was later found abandoned in Newhaven, its interior stained with blood and its boot containing a piece of bandaged lead pipe similar to one found at the crime scene. A warrant for his arrest was issued a few days later and in his absence, the inquest into Rivett's death named him as her murderer, the last occasion in Britain a coroner's court was allowed to do so.

Lucan's fate remains a fascinating mystery for the British public. Hundreds of reports of his presence in various countries around the world have been made since Rivett's murder, although none have been substantiated. Despite a police investigation and huge press interest, Lucan has not been found and is presumed dead.