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Must Watch reviews: Lucan

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan Naga Munchetty to review new BBC documentary Lucan.

On 7 November 1974 the body of a children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, was discovered in a mail sack in the basement of a Belgravia townhouse. The chief suspect was the father of the children, an Eton educated gambler called Richard John Bingham, the seventh earl of Lucan - who had disappeared.

It started a decades-long manhunt amidst varying rumours of what happened to Lord Lucan.

This three-part series follows the deeply personal quest of Hampshire builder, Neil Berriman, whose conviction in his own ability to solve the mystery is unshakeable.

The case has consumed Neil for the last two decades, and it has done so for very personal reasons: Neil’s birth mother was Sandra Rivett.

Trailer: Series 1

A murder that obsessed the nation and a disappearance that's mystified police for 50 years

Naga: "Scott, Must Watch for you.”

Scott: "It is for me with a few caveats. I think the caveat is that it could have been a two-parter rather than a three-parter.

"Lucan's last sighting was in Newhaven in East Sussex, but then it wasn't long before sightings were all over the world. Jersey, , South Asia, Japan, the Philippines, he was seen as a hippie in Goa and then a leaked Scotland Yard report suggested that he was in Mozambique.”

Scott: “This is where it turns from a documentary that you may have seen before about Lord Lucan into something different and intrinsically more personal. It is all about one man's obsession trying to work out the truth. You keep going down rabbit holes and it throws you in a multitude of different directions.

You think it's going to be about Lord Lucan but actually it's about obsession and seeking closure"

“The knack, the skill of this documentary, is that you think it's going to be one thing, then it's actually another. You think it's going to be about Lord Lucan but actually it's about obsession and seeking closure. With Neil, this takes up so much of his life.

"We speak to Neil's partner who says, "It's good to have a mission in life, but not at the expense of your own life". I don't want to reveal exactly what happens, but it's this idea of at what point does even finding the answer mean that you're actually able to move on from a very troubling moment in your past?

“I also think, interestingly, whether this was the intention of the documentary or not, I can't really work out, but it also looks at exploitation. I mean, as the viewer following this person's obsession in of finding the truth, I mean, what position does that put him in? What position does that put ourselves in - in of trying to find an answer from something that we might never get to the bottom of?”

Scott: "As a piece of documentary making, I found it fascinating. It's a bit long, I have to say, but I found it surprisingly compelling."

Hayley: "I agree with Scott."

Naga: "This is getting boring, you two agreeing all the time!"

Hayley: "I know, I'm so sorry."

Scott: "It doesn't always happen."

Hayley: "I know, it's just you're saying correct things today."

Naga: "Haha I like that."

Scott: "We never compare notes."

Hayley: "He's looking at my notes!

"But I agree. I really like also that this is an investigation by a man who has something riding on it, which is his whole life and where he comes from, rather than one of those horrible Netflix documentaries that I hate.

"I think it spends so much more time on feelings than just facts and outrage. This story - it's much more about a builder trying to reckon with his biological past and what it means than it is about a missing murderer."

Hayley: “I think if this was a Netflix thing, it would be like 'Oh where is he?' and that would be the extent of the mystery. But it’s more about a man who believes in something so strongly, his life just gets swallowed up by it. It's a story about obsession.

His life just gets swallowed up by it"

“One thing that I personally loved is that he tracked down a suspect to Brisbane, Australia. To give you an idea of what Brisbane's like, that's where I'm from, but it's also where Bluey is from. For a huge mystery to end up there, that's just one...."

Naga: "What's Bluey?"

Hayley: "Bluey is this kid's show.”

Scott: "You must know who Bluey is?"

Hayley: "It's a phenomenon.”

Scott: "Anyway, I did not expect this conversation from Lord Lucan to turn to Bluey so fast, but it did".

Naga: "I didn't know what Bluey was. You explained, but yes, you've contextualised it as in being able to visualise parts of Brisbane..."

Hayley: "Yeah, but it is mad that this big mystery, which has been going on for 50 years, has a strain that ends up in Brisbane, Australia. It is just one absurd thing that happens in three episodes of absurd things.”

Naga: “We spoke to him [Neil Berriman] on Breakfast. And I must say, ahead of interviewing him, I was quite worried about his frame of mind because I think this is very emotional.”

Naga: “I know the Lord Lucan story, the first episode was gripping enough for me to go into the second one. And then by watching the second one, and I agree with you, Scott, I wish it had finished then, I wish it had just been edited tighter because the whole story has to be told. But I really needed to see what happened in the third.

“I think Neil Berriman gives a lot to this programme, and I think it's almost a privilege seeing how much he's willing to show us and he hasn't given up, and that doesn't spoil anything. I think it was very gentle. It's not like he had a traumatised childhood, it's actually his adoptive mother who encouraged him to look into the history of his birth mother and left it in his hands.

"I think the family impact is fascinating - even if you don't give two hoots about Lord Lucan and the murder that he committed, I think just watching someone try to come to grips with their own personal history is really lovely to watch, and it's a real insight into the human psyche. So yeah, it's a Must Watch for me as well.”

Scott: “It makes me realise about the tragedy involved in such cases, like the victims involved. Because sometimes I think that when the tabloid press get so excited about a story like Lord Lucan in the far surreal locations that he's been seen in, it seems like a light-hearted, fluffy, silly news story.

It's a real insight into the human psyche"

“Then actually, from watching this, you're reminded about how there are people who are still reeling, thinking about this, whose lives have been forever changed by this. It makes you realise that you can get distracted by silly stories but actually the sadness involved at its heart.”

Naga: “They have great access to people as well who were connected to his birth mother as well, the nanny who was murdered. Must Watch from all of us then!”

You can watch all episodes of Lucan on BBC iPlayer now.

But before all that, why not Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on [email protected].

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on BBC Sounds.

This week the team also reviewed Wolf Hall and Say Nothing (with Emily Watson).

As always, we like to include your reviews - on shows you love, loathe or lament.

Message @bbc5live on social media using the hashtag #bbcmustwatch or email [email protected].

Margaret wrote in after watching Until I Kill You…

"This drama was riveting and harrowing at the same time. The acting was superb and I was spellbound and on tenterhooks to see how it would turn out. Anna Maxwell-Martin was absolutely brilliant with her portrayal of stubbornness, fear and intense anger."

As did Susan…

"This was gripping. I had been watching Anna Maxwell-Martin in Ludwig but was actually getting bored with it. When I realised she was playing Delia, at first I thought “oh same actress” but, I do find dramas and films based on true events quite interesting, so thought I’d give it a watch. At the end of the second episode, following the horrific assault on her on the doorstep outside her front door, and the efforts of the ambulance crew trying to save her, I was in tears. How did Anna get through the acting in this drama I have no idea but she was outstanding."

Bill watched Helmand: Tour of Duty after we reviewed it a few weeks ago…

"I watched the documentary you reviewed about the Welsh Guards in Afghanistan and thoroughly enjoyed it, with humour and sadness. As a Veteran of Afghan myself, I empathised throughout and understood so much of what they were saying even if I could not fully comprehend what they went through then and since! I felt it should have been longer, maybe two or even three one hour episodes as there must have been much that was edited out to fit."

Anne didn’t agree with the team's review of Mr Loverman…

"I've just finished watching Mr Loverman and relistened to your review from a few weeks ago and I have to say how much I disagree (rarely should I it) with your assessment, Scott and Hayley, that you do not consider it a Must Watch, I thought it was phenomenal. I was really disappointed when it ended. The story was very poignant. Lennie James and Sharon D Clarke are very fine actors and I hope it receives awards for a heartbreaking and finally uplifting story well told."

And Strum in Bristol shared his review of The Diplomat which the team reviewed the other week…

"Further to your discussion of series two of The Diplomat, it’s worth noting that there was another UK show called The Diplomat, starring Sophie Rundle as the British Consul in Barcelona - not half bad."