Kate and Gerry McCann have responded after Channel 5’s Under Suspicion: Kate McCann aired, which depicts Madeleine’s mother being treated as a suspect during the investigation into her disappearance in May 2007
(Image: PA)
The parents of Madeleine McCann have said they are “disappointed” they were not consulted or asked for consent during the production of a new true crime drama about their daughter’s disappearance.
Channel 5’s Under Suspicion: Kate McCann depicts Madeleine’s mother being treated as a suspect during the investigation into her disappearance in May 2007. Kate and Gerry McCann said they “had no involvement whatsoever” in the creation of the programme.
The drama aired on Wednesday, with Slow Horses actress Laura Bayston taking on the lead role of Kate McCann.
Kate and Gerry issued a statement the same day, expressing their concerns over the “negative impact” such programmes have on their family as they continue to grieve Madeleine’s disappearance 19 years on.
“Thank you to everyone who has offered support and kindness this month,” they wrote on the Find Madeleine Campaign website.
“May is never the easiest. We usually start to feel a bit ‘lighter’ at this stage of the month. We are disappointed however, knowing that a Channel 5 ‘docu-drama’ will air tonight.
“We have not given, or been asked for, our consent and have had no involvement whatsoever in its making. We fail to see how it will help.
“Programmes like this, always have a negative impact on our family.” The statement, which was also shared on the official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, was signed “Kate, Gerry and Family”. Madeleine McCann disappeared from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on 3rd May 2007, just days before her fourth birthday.
Portuguese authorities named Kate and her husband Gerry as suspects in Madeleine’s disappearance for a period of 10 months, between September 2007 and July 2008. The new production dramatises Kate’s police interrogation and draws upon official police material, documentary evidence and recorded testimony.
The 90-minute film has been penned by acclaimed screenwriter and playwright Philip Ralph, and is directed by Paula Wittig, who previously helmed Black Widow.
The Manchester Evening News has approached Channel 5 for comment.
