The Body | Preview (5)

This true-crime anthology explores murder stories that began with bodies discovered in unusual public or private spaces – leading to complex and gripping investigations requiring groundbreaking police work.

With first-hand accounts from detectives involved, and chilling archive and evidence, we trace the unfolding tales of some of modern history’s most compelling criminal mysteries.

This programme begins with a jarring sight – an unopened suitcase in a hedge on a quiet lane in a sleepy northern village. Its contents, the remains of a young woman, would lead to the most complex murder investigation ever undertaken by North Yorkshire Police.

Who is she? How did she get here? Who killed her? And why? In South Korea, an appeal for information about a missing student attracts the eye of an expat cop on secondment in the UK – and soon a double-murder case unfolds…

Along the way, myriad disparate threads - including a remnant of dried paint on the suitcase and a roll of limited edition tape designed by artists Gilbert and George - begin to form a link with an address in London, the Korean expat community in the capital, and the mysterious disappearance of all the money in the victim’s bank accounts – and lead investigating officers to a killer on the run in Canada.

The Body begins with The Body In The Suitcase begins Wednesday 24th September at 10pm on 5.