Unlike any true crime drama we've seen before.”
Sam Warner, Digital Spy
The three-part series follows the real-life story of the murder of Rachel Nickell in 1992. The mother was stabbed on Wimbledon Common while walking her dog, with two-year-old son Alex the sole witness, and the show follows the impact on Alex and Rachel’s partner André Hanscombe’s lives. Since its premiere on the streamer yesterday, The Witness has been widely watched, the true crime drama currently sitting at the number two spot in the Top 10 Series in the UK Today list.
It has attracted a perfect 100% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Daily Telegraph praising the “phenomenal, star-making performance” by Jordan Bolger, who portrays André.
“It’s unlike any true crime drama we’ve seen before, in that it’s not really a true crime drama at all,” wrote the Irish Independent. “It’s primarily a story of survival in the most appalling circumstances.”
“It is a crime that has been discussed, analysed and dramatised, but never quite in the way The Witness does,” added The Guardian. “Across its three episodes, narrative emphasis rarely falls where we expect it to, because the main characters are not the police or the killer but the family Rachel left behind.”
IndieWire further suggested it was “unshowy, unhurried, and methodical” and “ultimately less true crime dramatization and more invaluable public service broadcasting”.Speaking previously about the drama, André and Alex said: “Our life has been a battle. We can never express how indebted we are to everyone that’s been a part of this, for the kindness and generosity they’ve extended to us, for the chance they took with us in bringing our story to the screen, and for the care they have taken.”Our journey has all been by the grace of God and a promise to go on together, and we feel incredibly blessed to be able to share our story in this way. We hope that audiences will be left with a testament to the tough battle of life we all face and to the power of faith, hope, love – and never giving up.”
The Witness is streaming now on Netflix.