STV and Tod to dramatise Jigsaw Murders
Tod Productions and STV Productions have secured the rights for the true-crime book based on the infamous ‘Jigsaw Murders’ of the 1930s.
The drama will be based on journalist and author Jeremy Craddock’s book The Jigsaw Murders: The True Story of the Ruxton Killings and the Birth of Modern Forensics.
The book throws new light on the murder that rocked the UK nearly a hundred years ago.
In September 1935, Dr Buck Ruxton murdered his wife and their nanny before disposing of their bodies in the Scottish borders.
Sensationally billed as ‘the Jigsaw Murders’, the crime was investigated by Professors Sydney Smith and John Glaister in Edinburgh, using ground-breaking forensic techniques to painstakingly piece together and identify the bodies.
But as justice closed in, and armed with the most famous lawyer in the land, could Ruxton escape justice?
Elaine Collins, MD of Tod Productions, said: “Jeremy Craddock is a hugely talented writer and journalist, who is not only determined to excavate this brutal story and the consequent scientific breakthroughs that still influence today’s forensics, but to give an unprecedented voice to Buxton’s female victims.
“I’m excited to develop this complex and multi-layered crime story for television, to give presence to the victims, and to dramatise the characteristically brilliant scientists at work in 1930s Scotland.”
Craddock added: "I am absolutely thrilled that The Jigsaw Murders has been optioned for TV by Elaine Collins and Tod Productions…
“…This is a story that has haunted me since I was a child, a landmark case that changed the way forensic pathologists help to solve murders. And yet it is a case that is largely forgotten today. Most previous accounts focus solely on the lurid aspects, ignoring the human drama behind it all.
"My book - and hopefully a TV drama - will tell the full story of the people behind the sensational headlines for the first time."
