Is A Confession based on a true story? The real case behind the crime drama

Heartbreaking drama A Confession has been added to Netflix, renewing interest in the show that originally aired on ITV. Many viewers are asking if the series is based on a true story, with curiosity building around the real life case that inspired the show.

Netflix is packed with true crime docuseries and dramatised versions of some of the world's most notorious crimes. Viewers arrived in droves to tune into the likes of Woman of The Hour and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, both taking inspiration from real events.

Crime drama A Confession has now been added to the Netflix catalogue, bringing new audiences to the devastating series that first aired on ITV in 2019.

Martin Freeman heads up an all-star cast in the show, that includes Happy Valley's Siobhan Finneran and Harry Potter's Imelda Staunton. Freeman takes the lead as Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, the man tasked with investigating the disappearance of a young woman. Many viewers have been let wondering about the real life crime that the series was inspired by.

Is A Confession based on a true story?

Yes, A Confession is based on the real-life disappearance of 22-year-old Sian O'Callaghan, who disappeared from Swindon, Wiltshire, after leaving a nightclub in the town. Sian disappeared on March 19, 2011 and her body was found on 24 March near Uffington in Oxfordshire.

When Sian left Suju nightclub, she only had 800 metres to walk until she would've been home to the flat she shared with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend sent Sian messages to check her whereabouts, before reporting her missing the following morning. Possible leads led police to Savernake Forest, where Detective Superintendent Stephen Fulcher of Wiltshire Police headed up the investigation.

On March 24, police made a link between a green Toyota Avensis taxi and Sian's disappearance. By the same afternoon, police arrested a 47-year-old taxi driver, Christopher Halliwell, on suspicion of kidnapping. Sian's body was discovered later that same day.

Further attention was brought to the case when Stephen Fulcher was found to be in breach of protocol, and he eventually lost his job and career following the subsequent investigation. Instead of bringing Halliwell back to Gablecross police station in Swindon on his arrest, Fulcher instead had him taken to Barbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort.

Fulcher suggests he did this believing immediate questioning was necessary if Sian was alive - he didn't want there to be any delay. He cited Article 2 of the Human Rights Act for this decision, which states the victim’s life comes first. Fulcher also wanted to look Halliwell straight in the eye with no distractions, feeling he'd have a gut feeling after years of experience, whether he was looking into the eyes of a guilty man.

Following four hours of questioning with nobody else present, Halliwell admitted being guilty and offered to show Fulcher where he'd left Sian's body. He then led him to the body of Becky Godden, a 20-year-old woman he'd murdered some years previously. Although he'd used the Human Rights Act as a defence for his actions, Fulcher knew he'd breached Code C of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace), which protects the rights of an individual when being questioned and detained.

In 2014, the Independent Police Complaints Commission found Fulcher guilty of gross misconduct. The stress of the investigation took its toll, and although he wasn't sacked, Fulcher resigned from his job. He was then unable to find work with the police afterwards. The families of Sian O'Callaghan and Becky Godden applauded Fulcher's actions, believing their daughter's bodies might not have been found without him. Fulcher also maintains that despite all that it cost him, he wouldn't have changed his actions on that day.

Where is Christopher Halliwell now?

Christopher Halliwell is currently serving life imprisonment with a whole life order, meaning he won't have the opportunity to apply for parole.

In the aftermath of her death, Sian's mother, Elaine, campaigned for more stringent safety checks for taxi drivers. The Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill, also to be known as Sian's Law, became a Private Members Bill introduced by Darlington MP Peter Gibson.

Gibson said, "I'm going to call it Sian's Law because it's a way to remember Sian and pay tribute to the work that Elaine has done along with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. It closes that loophole...so that bad people who we don't want driving taxis can't circumnavigate the system."