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Simon Cowell’s New Docu-Series ‘The Investigator’ To Rival ‘Making A Murderer’

By Coburn Palmer
Published on: 07:17 PST, Jun 27, 2016

Simon Cowell will soon be taking his judging expertise from the TV talent world to the courtroom when he teams with an English investigative journalist in a new reality crime show set to rival Making a Murderer.

Cowell, a former American Idol judge, will team with reporter Mark Williams-Thomas, who exposed BBC television star Jimmy Savile as a serial sex offender. Cowell’s Syco production company is reportedly involved with the new show, the upcoming four-part docu-series The Investigator: A British Crime Story.

The real-life crime drama series, airing next month, will explore the closed case of Carole Packman, who disappeared in 1985. Her body was never found, but her husband, Russell Packman, was given a life sentence for her murder in 1996 after police uncovered evidence that he cheated on her with his mistress.

Mere weeks before Carole vanished, Russell moved his mistress into his wife’s family home, which raised the suspicion of local police. His life sentence was eventually commuted, but a 2004 retrial found him guilty again. He was ordered to complete the jail term.

While in jail, Russell reportedly admitted to fellow inmates that he did indeed kill his wife and dissolve her body in acid to hide the crime.

Cowell’s TV company, Syco, teamed with journalist Mark Williams-Thomas to produce the upcoming four-part ITV reality crime series set to air in Britain.

Real-life crime dramas can be big audience draws with huge TV ratings, and Simon Cowell spent the last year working with Williams-Thomas to produce the latest crime series with stylized drama, reports the Mirror.

“He was introduced to Mark last year and they hit it off. They talked and worked on some ideas. This is the first to make it to the screen and could be the first of many. Simon is excited.”

Simon reportedly became interested in real-life crime dramas after watching HBO’s The Jinx, which explored the case of Robert Durst, the real estate heir who was accused of killing three people in 1982.

The six-part crime series explored the unsolved disappearance of Durst’s wife and the murder of her friend and neighbor.

Reporter Williams-Thomas, who helped produce the new show The Investigator, recently interviewed Oscar Pistorius over the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, and he has been also awarded two Royal Television Society awards for his television show The Other Side of Jimmy Savile.

Savile, a DJ and BBC host, died at the age of 84 before allegations of sexual abuse could be brought forward, but an investigation after his death showed he sexually abused 72 people. The investigation was aired on ITV as part of the new real-life docu-crime series genre.

Netflix’s Making a Murderer was the first real-life crime drama series to make it big and now the genre has exploded with armchair detectives around the world eager to dive into closed murder cases.

The series examined Steven Avery who was mistakenly jailed and then freed by new DNA evidence before being accused of murdering a photographer; he was found guilty and is now serving life in jail.

The show was an instant hit, and Americans across the country were eager to help prove Avery’s innocence. Fans have been responsible for a record number of public information requests in their attempt to free Steven.

Instead of filming another reality talent show, Simon Cowell decided to branch out and take on the role of detective in the new ITV reality crime series The Investigator: A British Crime Story, reports the Express.

“Simon is very excited about producing some serious TV shows in a very different genre to The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.”

Simon Cowell’s The Investigator: A British Crime Story will air next month on Britain’s ITV.

[Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP Images]

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