As The Pembrokeshire Murders begins, we are introduced to DCS Steve Wilkins (Luke Evans) as he gets ready for the day. He leaves, jumps in his vehicle, and we hear a news report about Prime Minister Tony Blair leading political tributes from a grateful nation. He interrupts that by calling his son Jack (Steffan Cennydd) to make sure he is up. Steve wants to come to his son’s match although Jack claims none of the parents are going to be there. Before long, Steve arrives at the Dyfed-Powys Police Headquarters where an ITV reporter prepares to record a news segment. Steve talks to his colleagues before asking Dave what the TV crew is doing outside. Dave says it is old news. Next, we watch a man struggle to walk with a cane as he tries to take his apples inside. He gets inside and quickly swallows pills to deal with his pain.
Steve works before getting a call asking him about picking up Jack from the match. She isn’t happy that he has been back for a month and he is now running the show. He promises Fran that he’ll be there and he cheers Jack on a few moments later. When the match ends, Steve asks Jack about having a mid-week boys’ night in but Jack had plans to stay at Ryan’s place. Then, Steve pitches his idea for Jack to spend a week with him and a week with Mike and his mom. Jack wants to think about it and Steve agrees. He also tells his son that he can spend the night with Ryan. That night, Steve spends the night alone and listens to a report about DNA being used to solve cold cases. He hears something about the double murders of Peter and Gwenda Dixon in Pembrokeshire Wales.
He learns that the couple was killed with a shotgun as they walked along a Coastal Path in Little Haven. Reporter Jonathan Hill (David Fynn) tells the viewer more about the murder and police investigation. Steve realizes this is the old news Dave was talking about. Steve returns to the station and talks to a colleague about the Coastal Path and admits he wants to know more about the case. He is told that their failure would cause a media uproar and it would hurt the Dixon family. Steve believes it is about time they tried to solve the case and reclaim their good name. Steve is given the okay to check the Coastal Path before learning that DCI George Jones was SIO on the case. Steve is told to go easy on the old bloke. Steve meets with George Jones (William Thomas) immediately and learns that police dogs found the bodies six days after they were reported missing.
After they were murdered, the killer took Peter’s wallet and wedding ring. Gwenda Dixon was sexually assaulted with her husband lying dead six feet or so away. George says they did the best they could and the killer was a sick, sadistic individual. George tells Steve he won’t be made a scapegoat. Four days after the murders, a man walked into Pembroke Bespoke Jewellers and sold a 22-carat gold band that matched the description of Peter’s stolen wedding ring. As a result, DC Dylan Rees questioned John William Cooper who lived at 28 Rose Meadow Lane in Birchmede. John claimed the ring was his and he sold it because he needed money. His wife eventually confirmed his story. George admits he should’ve questioned John Cooper (Keith Allen) himself but they were swamped and he didn’t have time to do so.
Later, he learned that Rees drank in the same pub as Cooper and he might’ve been manipulated by Cooper. Now, Cooper is locked away in Dyffryn Prison serving 16 years after being sentenced for a string of burglaries and robberies in 1998. Steve is worried that Cooper will be up for parole soon. He is told about where it happened which is just below Talbenny church and the spot is marked by a plaque. Steve visits the scene immediately after that. Then, he decides to look through the old case files for Operation Huntsman. Steve learns that Cooper’s place was a pigsty and many items were confiscated from his home. Cooper was questioned because his robbery matched the MO of the Coastal Path murders as well as what happened at Scoveston Park. 21 years ago, there was another theft, arson, and double murder in Scoveston Park and it might be linked to Cooper too.
The victims 21 years ago were a brother and sister by the name of Richard and Helen Thomas. During the interviews, Cooper shut down when the murders were brought up. On the lesser offenses, they found almost every single stolen item in his home. Cooper’s wife was scared of him and offered no information but the son was helpful and hated his father. Seconds later, the guy with the cane learns that his disability allowance payment has been delayed because he changed his first name eight years ago. The name identifies himself as Andrew Cooper (Oliver Ryan). Andrew gets upset when he is put on hold. Steve returns home and scours through the evidence until his daughter enters with her laundry. Steve continues looking through the evidence until his daughter repays him with hair gel.
He offers to let her stay for dinner but she is late for the cinema and leaves in a hurry. When she leaves, Steve finds a picture of the possible murder weapon. Steve returns to work and talks to his colleague about Cooper’s offending kit for the robberies was black gloves, balaclava, and a shotgun. She says Nolton Hill Estate. He shows her a picture of the shotgun Cooper used during a robbery gone wrong in the village of Sardis. The customized shoulder strap got Steve’s attention. Steve tells another colleague he believes Cooper might be responsible for the Nolton Hill incident when a masked man with a shotgun attacked five teenagers. One girl was raped and another was sexually assault. The shotgun Cooper used exactly matched the description provided.
Then, he shows them what else he found. He shows them a video interview of John Cooper. During the interview, John is asked about the murders of Peter and Gwenda Dixon and he says he is not a murderer. They realize he has a strong South Pembrokeshire accent. Then, he is asked about the Scoveston Park incident. John turns to the side and refuses to say anything. Meanwhile, John Cooper throws darts in his prison cell. Meanwhile, Steve and the others prepare to meet with Chief Constable Tyler (Suzanne Packer) and other higher ups. Steve explains Huntsman didn’t miss anything since Cooper was questioned on all three cases. Steve admits there was no hard evidence and John stayed mute during the interviews.
Steve explains their hard evidence is waiting for them to find it. Thanks to the prior investigation, they have more than 3,000 exhibits in storage. That gives them a potential treasure trove of victim and perpetrator DNA. Tyler believes it might be best to focus on the two murders since the CPS won’t like it and it could get muddled with the rape cases involving the young girls. Steve’s partner explains that the kids have been scarred for life so they deserve another chance at justice. Steve says the murders are the bricks and the attacks on the kids is the mortar holding them together. Tyler is worried they’ll be crucified if things do not go their way but Steve says it’ll get even worse if they don’t go ahead with it. John is on the verge of getting parole and he will likely kill again.
Pat Cooper (Caroline Berry) arrives at the prison to meet John. He isn’t happy with his wife and tells her to make an effort next time since she looks like an old woman. John is surprised to hear that Adrian is back and he is walking with a stick. John believes it might be a scam but she doesn’t since Adrian was a worker. John doesn’t care since Adrian is dead to them now. Meanwhile, Andrew goes for treatment and Steve visits Cooper’s last home before he went inside. Then, they travel to Nolton Hill Estate and Steve says he wants a team of six. Steve talks to Ella (Alexandria Riley) about his missus and says it is what it is. They check out the scene where the kids were attacked before sharing a drink to Operation Ottawa. Before long, Steve and this team meet to discuss the new investigation.
They agree to be silent about Operation Ottawa because they don’t want Cooper or the media to see them coming. Steve explains cold cases are 99% forensics so they need to help the scientists find that DNA golden nugget. They explain they’re going to use Angela Gallop and her team to test the DNA evidence. They have a limited budget so they need to be very careful about what evidence they send to Gallop for testing. Then, they begin working through the cases starting with the Thomas couple. They agree to save their money for items from Coastal Path and Nolton Hill since the fire likely destroyed DNA evidence at Scoveston but Steve wants to make sure they recover any Scoveston Park exhibits that will support their take on his MO.
They begin looking through the evidence after that. They check the Nolton Hill rainbow T-shirt and Coastal Path rope. Steve learns that Peter Dixon’s bank card was used to withdraw cash from NatWest cashpoint machines at Pembroke, Haverfordwest, and Carmarthen. The public saw a man wearing shorts making one of these withdrawals. They turn their attention to the black balaclava and the double-barrel shotgun. Later that night, Jack interrupts his father as he looks through the case files a little more. Steve makes sure Jack hasn’t gotten into a major fight with his mother before telling him to unpack his belongings. In the morning, Steve is told to come to headquarters because they got a fly in the ointment. Jonathan Hill arrives and wants to meet with Steve Wilkins.
Steve meets with Jonathan and introduces himself. Then, he asks him about wanting to make a program about the Coastal Path murders. Jonathan says he’d like to make a documentary exploring the possibility that those murders are linked to the ones at Scoveston Park in 1985. Steve admits it would be a problem for him before telling Jonathan he needs to keep everything he is about to stay quiet. He tells him they’re investigating both offenses again. Steve is worried that a news piece would make the kill vigilant. He promises that he’ll get the exclusive if he is willing to shelve the documentary for the time being. Jonathan agrees to that arrangement. Steve explains he wants the media and police to work together. However, he warns him that he’ll make sure all of the officers know Jonathan Hill can’t be trusted if he screws him over.
Moments later, Steve is shown professional portrait photos done in the late 70s after he won all that money on the Spot The Ball. They find it odd that they were the only two photos found in the house. Mr. Cooper goes in front of the parole board and he promises the honor that he’ll be able to maintain his good behavior outside in the world. He goes on to say that he isn’t the same man he was and he is loyal to his wife. When asked about Adrian, Cooper admits he hasn’t been the best father but he’d like to make it up to him. The team learns many of their items do not have DNA so Nigel Rowe (Kyle Lima) wonders if it is hopeless. Steve tells him they have no right representing the victims if they don’t have hope. Then, Steve learns Cooper has been granted parole. Steve goes to the board and requests them to revoke Cooper’s parole.
He talks to Cooper’s attorney and another man about it but admits he can’t tell them when Cooper when be charged. Cooper gets the news and gets upset in his cell. Steve tells his team that Cooper will get another parole hearing in 3 to 6 months and he’ll be released if they don’t find anything by then. He says it is about time to send Cooper a message. Cooper watches the ITV news in his cell. Steve goes to Jonathan and tells him they believe one man did all four murders and they need his help catching him. He wants Jonathan to make a personal appeal for information on the evening news. He admits it is a smokescreen and they’re going to interview the suspect. He wants to use the appeal to send a message to him ahead of the interview. Jonathan agrees and learns that Cooper watches Wales Tonight every night.
Later, Steve tells Ella they won’t mention the kids since they don’t know if CPS will include the offenses. There is someone they need to give a heads-up to though. Steve visits Andrew Cooper next. He is asked about changing his name from Adrian but doesn’t answer. Steve tells him about the investigation into his father but Andrew doesn’t like him being referred to as his father and would prefer for him to be called John. He learns that John is being investigated for four murders. Andrew says he isn’t getting dragged back into that again and he told Huntsman everything he knew. When they leave, Steve and Ella discuss Andrew’s decision to change his name when John went away to prison. Jonathan and Steve prepare for the televised appeal for information.
Jonathan tells Steve about his experiencing camping near the murder scene and how it made him want to become a crime reporter. Andrew leaves his flat while Jonathan and Steve appear on Wales Tonight. John watches from his cell. Steve reveals on television he believes it is the same local man responsible for all four murders. He says new DNA technology puts them in a stronger position to catch the killer. Andrew stops in the road and takes a bunch of tablets before walking along with the trains. He falls to the ground nearby before two men find him passed out.
The Pembrokeshire Murders Review
Although a little long-winded, I enjoyed the first episode of The Pembrokeshire Murders. I believe I am more intrigued with the relationship between Andrew and his father than anything else so far. Sadly, this was only covered for a few minutes during the episode but it caught my attention more than anything else. I think the relationship between Steve Wilkins and Jonathan Hill could be very intriguing as well.
I am eager to learn more about the investigation that brought down the killer. I am sure the show will do a good job of covering much of that. I just hope it can hold my attention for three full episodes. I can’t complain about the acting though. The three main characters did well with their respective roles. I love true crime dramas and think anyone who does will like this. The opening episode scores a 7 out of 10.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
