White House Farm (broadcast in some countries under the titles White House Farm Murders and The Murders at White House Farm) is a British television crime drama based on the real-life events that took place in August 1985.
The series was produced by New Pictures for ITV and distributed worldwide by All3Media. It was broadcast by ITV on 8 January 2020.
Premise
The series is based on true events from 6 August 1985. Five members of the Bamber-Caffell family are shot to death at White House Farm, Essex. The police, led by detectives DCI Taff Jones (Stephen Graham) and DS Stan Jones (Mark Addy), are called in to investigate.
When questioning the Bambers’ son, Jeremy Bamber, he claims that his sister, Sheila, who was suffering from schizophrenia, went “berserk”, got hold of a suppressed rifle and killed their parents and Sheila’s six-year old twin sons. As the murder case unravels, a devastating twist comes to light.
Cast
- Stephen Graham as DCI Taff Jones
- Freddie Fox as Jeremy Bamber
- Cressida Bonas as Sheila Caffell
- Mark Addy as DS Stan Jones
- Gemma Whelan as Ann Eaton
- Mark Stanley as Colin Caffell
- Alexa Davies as Julie Mugford
- Alfie Allen as Brett Collins
- Millie Brady as Sally Jones
- Amanda Burton as June Bamber
- Nicholas Farrell as Nevill Bamber
- Scott Reid as DC Mick Clark
- Grace Calder as Heather Amos
- Oliver Dimsdale as Peter Eaton
- Richard Goulding as David Boutflour
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Episode 1” | Paul Whittington | Kris Mrksa | 8 January 2020 | 7.99 | |
| Sheila, June and Nevill Bamber and Daniel and Nicholas Caffell are all found dead at White House Farm. | ||||||
| 2 | “Episode 2” | Paul Whittington | Kris Mrksa | 15 January 2020 | 7.89 | |
| Detective Stanley “Stan” Jones and his number two Mick Clark speak to Jeremy Bamber and relatives of the murdered family, but their picture of what really happened that night at White House Farm remains inconclusive. | ||||||
| 3 | “Episode 3” | Paul Whittington | Giula Sandler | 22 January 2020 | 7.79 | |
| After a vital discovery at White House Farm by the family, Stan and Mick feel closer to shoring up their own suspicions about Jeremy. The arrival of a friend Brett from New Zealand increases tension between Jeremy and his girlfriend Julie Mugford. | ||||||
| 4 | “Episode 4” | Paul Whittington | Kris Mrksa | 29 January 2020 | 8.27 | |
| The funerals approach, and without the answers he needs and still more questions being thrown up from White House Farm, Stan’s efforts remain fruitless. All looks lost for Stan and Mick solving the case, until a vital witness comes forward. | ||||||
| 5 | “Episode 5” | Paul Whittington | Giulia Sandler | 5 February 2020 | 8.20 | |
| With the testimony of a vital witness confirming some of Stan and Mick’s suspicions, Taff still remains unconvinced. However, the police are forced to question what they thought they knew previously, and pursue the case against Jeremy. | ||||||
| 6 | “Episode 6” | Paul Whittington | Kris Mrksa | 12 February 2020 | 8.67 | |
| The evidence is examined as Jeremy’s trial begins; Julie Mugford testifies against him. The jury find Jeremy Bamber guilty for all murders that took place at White House Farm. | ||||||
Production and release
The series was first reported on in August 2018, when filming had begun. Stephen Graham, Freddie Fox, Cressida Bonas and Alexa Davies were announced as the main cast.Further details of the show were revealed by ITV in October 2019, and a release was scheduled for early 2020. The trailer was released in December 2019, and the series began airing on ITV on 8 January 2020. It was released on DVD in February 2020.
International release
International distribution of the series was handled by All3Media. In November 2019, HBO Max closed a deal to air the series on their service in the United States; it was released in September 2020 under the title The Murders at White House Farm. The series was also aired in the Netherlands in June 2020 by the Dutch broadcaster KRO-NCRV, adding the word “Murders” to the series’ title.
Filming locations
The house we used to depict the house at White House Farm was key. Firstly for its setting in rural Essex, its isolation and beauty. Also crucially what ultimately tipped the balance for us in terms of that particular location was the interior layout of that house which was very similar to the original house itself.
— Paul Whittington, director
The real-life murders took place in the village of Tolleshunt D’Arcy. No scenes in White House Farm were filmed there; instead, the producers chose other locations to replicate the area. The scenes of Jeremy Bamber’s trial were filmed in the same courthouse that the real-life trial took place in, Chelmsford Crown Court.
Reception
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, White House Farm holds an approval rating of 82%, based on 17 reviews. On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted averagescore out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 58 based on 4 reviews, indicating a “mixed or average” response.
Stephen Graham’s portrayal of Welsh detective “Taff” Jones drew some criticism, with a number of pundits, including Carolyn Hitt of WalesOnline, stating that his Welsh accent was inauthentic. Some online commentators described the accent as the “worst screen accent since Dick Van Dyke”.
Podcast
On 18 September 2020 an official companion podcast produced by iHeartRadio was announced via a trailer published across all podcasting platforms, with the first episode premiering on 24 September 2020 alongside the release of the series on HBO Max.
Hosted by three-time Emmy award-winning producer Lauren Bright Pacheco, the podcast features conversations with the creators of the series, experts on the case, and family members of the deceased to “provide context to what’s happening on screen as well as extended audio clips to further immerse the listener in the world of the show.”