As the first episode of Maxine begins, Ian Huntley (Scott Reid) approaches Maxine Carr (Jemma Carlton) before the show jumps back in time. Maxine helps Ian get ready for work. Ian talks to the interviewers about their vacancy in Soham. He admits he thoroughly enjoys the work. Ian is told that the job comes with a caretaker’s cottage right next to the school. There are challenges working with young people at the school. Ian knows to maintain an appropriate distance and bring any concern to their attention. He is asked about changing his name from Ian Huntley to Ian Nixon. He says he changed to his mother’s maiden name when his parents split. Once Ian gets back into the car, he tells Maxine he doesn’t think they like him. She tells him not to be paranoid because they did a good application.

Maxine says they’d be lucky to have him like she is. Howard believes Mr. Nixon will be their man if the background checks are clean. Maxine and Ian move into the caretaker’s cottage later. She is surprised that it is lovely since she didn’t expect that. Six months later, Ian works at the school where he tells one of the boys to tuck his shirt in. Maxine helps at the school. She approaches a group of girls and tells them he really fancies them. Later, she tells Ian that her job is ending this term although they’re advertising a permanent position too. Ian seems jealous when Maxine says hello to a man passing by. As he takes the dog and walks away, Maxine promises that she has never met the man before. Later, Ian’s parents visit. Lynda (Lesley Conroy) tells Maxine she is sorry she didn’t get the job, but Maxine admits there were more qualified candidates.

Ian credits his father for getting him the job. They talk about Ian’s brother Wayne and his wife Claire. Ian calls his brother a wanker. When asked about her mother, Maxine says she is going to see her in Grimsby soon. Ian’s mother offers to give her a ride since they’re going up too. Ian gets upset about that so his mom says he is sensitive. Before she leaves, she tells Ian it is only a few days back home. He complains it is going to be a week. She tells the dog to watch after him before saying while the cat is away. Ian gets mad and says it’d serve her right if he did do something. Maxine reminds him that he did do something before. Once she reaches Grimsby, Ian calls and angrily tells her he has been waiting all day for her to call. He accuses her of shagging someone even though she quickly denies it.

Maxine says she is sorry for seeing her family and not calling him back sooner. Once he learns she is going to get a quick drink, Ian curses her. While Ian goes for a drive to unwind, Maxine makes out with another man. Maxine goes into the bathroom stall where she finds a note on the wall saying Ian Huntley is a rapist. Sadie whines at home as what looks like a pool of blood is shown on the floor. While sitting in his car, Ian hears someone yelling for Holly and Jessica. It is August 4, 2002. The next day, Brian Farmer (Steve Edge) calls someone after getting a call from the police press office. He explains that two ten-year-old girls went missing yesterday evening in the small town of Soham, Cambridgeshire. Police have called a press conference at 7 AM outside the girls’ school. After the call, Milly (Molly McCann) tells her father that they might be lost.

Maxine gets a call from Ian who tells her about the girls that have gone missing. He has been up all night helping search for them. Ian apologizes for getting all mean on the phone yesterday. After Brian gets off the phone, he talks to another member of the press about the missing girls. He admits it looks bad because the girls are from good homes with stable backgrounds. The other reporter says her money is on a dad or uncle. Maxine hears a news report about Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. She calls Ian to tell him that the girls were in her class. Ian says he is really worried before revealing the girls came by the house asking for her. He claims they said they were sorry that she didn’t get the job. Ian told the police what he said and how the girls ran off happily. He is worried they’re trying to pin it on him like they did before.

Ian begins breaking down and saying he can’t do it again. As he says there is something else, Max encourages him to tell her whatever it is. Howard makes it to the school where he learns that Ian has been helping the police with access. Brian arrives to cover the event. Maxine and Shirley (Kate O’Toole) watch a news report about the missing girls. On August 6, 2002, Maxine goes home with Ian while police continue searching for the girls. Ian and Maxine see the search party as they drive home. She notices that Ian has been cleaning the house and there are remnants of a stain on the floor. He explains he is washing because he wants everything clean after telling the police he spoke to the girls. Ian told the police because someone could’ve seen them and heard them. He says he can’t go to prison. He went before when they charged him and he did nothing wrong.

Maxine promises that he won’t go to prison since she will say she was here with him. They try to come up with an excuse as to why Maxine didn’t come outside to say hello before settling on that she was in a bath at the time. While cleaning up the stain, Maxine believes Ian yells at her but he doesn’t. He tells her that he needs to go to work because they’re using the school for a press conference. She reassures him that he has nothing to hide since he is innocent. Ian helps set up for the press conference before Howard tells him to come to his office when he is done. Brian tells the other journalist that the other siblings of the girls come to this school. Jane Kerrigan (Natalie Britton) says she’d like to interview them, but Brian hopes they’re being protected from that.

She jokes that they have to resort to intercepting phone calls. Jane asks if he was at the dawn raid at the travelers’ site since she thought he might have a local contact he’d be willing to share. He can’t help. The parents enter with the police. When Ian returns home, Maxine acts like she is busy working. They go through the timeline to ensure that she doesn’t mess anything up. Maxine suggests going to the candlelight vigil later since everyone will be there, but Ian doesn’t think that’d be a good idea. He wants to visit his nan to get away from all this for a while. Maxine wonders if she should go since she is the teacher. Ian says it is too risky and too emotional. She asks if it’d be suspicious if she doesn’t go, but Ian says no because she isn’t the star of the show. Once Ian leaves, Maxine notices what looks like a crack in the bathtub.

Brian learns that police have released CCTV footage of the girls walking through a car park. He calls the police press office to say he is having difficulty writing up the girls’ last movements because it is too confusing. He is told they’ll get it tomorrow before his daughter surprises him from behind. She asks what happened to them only for Brian to say no one knows. When she walks away, he says someone knows. Ian tells Maxine that a female journalist wants to interview him because he saw the girls. When she mentions the crack in the bath, Ian says he sealed it. He goes on to claim it happened when he was washing the dog. Later, someone comes to the door to give Maxine a flyer of the missing girls. On August 8, SIO Chris Stevenson (David Ryan) talks about getting the operation organized.

The press learns from Andy Hebb that there was no evidence of grooming on the girls’ computers. When asked about Beck, Andy says he is coordinating from Huntingdon. The press thinks it’d look better if he was there. Andy is asked about Jessica’s phone so he says they’re working on that, but it was turned off on Sunday evening. He says they bought sweets at the sports centre and spoke to the school caretaker outside his house. Then, they were seen near the pizza restaurant. He reveals they just had a possible sighting outside a local petrol station. Brian tells Jane he isn’t going to the garage. Maxine continues cleaning at home. Ian gets upset when he learns that she put the photo in the window before they hear the doorbell. Once they open the door, Brian introduces himself and explains he is an Eastern Counties reporter for the Press Association.

Although Ian doesn’t want to speak to the press, Maxine says they want to help so she invites Brian to come in. Brian quickly gets their names, Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr. She tells him that she taught the girls as a classroom assistant. Maxine wants to show him the leaving card Holly made for her. After Brian asks if they both saw the girls, Maxine tells him the story about being in the bath when the girls came by. Maxine agrees to let him get a photo of the leaving card. Brian calls Parsons to ask him to come by. Ian tells him what happened when the girls came by and asked about Maxine. They walked off towards the library. Ian claims to have not met the girls before. Brian asks if they were taught about stranger danger at school. Maxine says yes. When Brian asks how they’d react if someone tried to force them into a vehicle, Ian says Holly would go quietly while Jessica would put up a fight.

He quickly suggests that is what Maxine said or the parents did. Brian reminds him he said he didn’t know the girls. Ian says he was just repeating what he heard before Maxine says Jessica was sporty. Ian can’t imagine how two girls would go missing in broad daylight. Parsons arrives to take pictures of Maxine and the leaving card. Ian refuses to get his picture taken while alleging even his mom doesn’t have a picture of him. When Brian leaves, Ian and Maxine argue about their performances during the interview. Brian calls the police to tell them this guy needs another look. After reporting Ian, he asks Helen to take a picture of him when he comes out of the house. Once she does, Brian says they can only use it if they arrest him and they’ll share the credit.

Maxine looks at herself in the mirror with the card. She puts on lipstick and smiles at herself in the mirror.

 

Maxine Review

The opening episode of Maxine was a decent start to a grim series about the killing of two young girls in Soham. The episode was decently acted with solid performances for the main stars including Scott Reid, Jemma Carlton, Steve Edge, and others. It was a bit slow at times, but it is hard to complain considering the series is only three episodes and under three hours.

The story should be fascinating since Maxine is based on gripping true events that are probably still fresh in the minds of many viewers. The success of the series may depend on how deep the story gets and whether it can dissect Maxine effectively since the show is centered around this character.

From the first episode, it is already clear that Maxine is going to be a gritty drama that is difficult to stomach at times. Viewers will have to wait and see whether it is just a retelling of events or if it digs deeper into the central characters and their respective motives. The opening episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Maxine are available on Reel Mockery here. We’ve been an independent entertainment website for over ten years. If our site has been helpful to you, consider supporting us by following this link.