Under Suspicion: Kate McCann | Preview (5)

In May 2007, three-year old British girl Madeleine McCann disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal. It would become the most famous and heavily reported missing person case in modern history.

This factual drama begins three months into the search to find Madeleine. Portuguese Police have no substantial leads, no real evidence, and no arrests have been made. As international attention intensifies, they summon Madeleine’s mother Kate for a meeting. Unlike previous friendly interactions, this meeting takes an accusatory tone from the start. When Kate asks police why she is being treated this way, the answer is alarming: ‘because we don’t believe you’.

Drawn directly from official statements and recorded testimony, this drama depicts Kate McCann's interrogation, as Portuguese investigators face mounting pressure to deliver answers. Public support has turned to scrutiny as the world’s media report on forensic evidence, leaked by the police, apparently implicating the McCanns.

Kate finds herself trapped between co-operation and self-preservation as she is confronted by detectives again - this time as an official witness. After 11 hours of questioning, Kate is told that the next day she will be named arguida—a formal suspect.

What’s more, the police want a confession, and without one, they may charge her with her daughter’s murder. This revelation not only threatens Kate's freedom; it diminishes all hope of finding Madeleine. If detectives believe Kate is guilty, she fears they will stop looking for the real culprit. 

In her final interrogation, Kate defies all accusations by answering ‘no comment’ on her lawyer's advice. As she leaves the police station, we are reminded that this story began with a mother searching for her child, and that no amount of suspicion, however constructed, will diminish her hope of finding her daughter.

Suspect: The McCanns airs Wednesday 20th May at 9pm on 5.