Wednesday TV Tips: Killer enjoyed Christmas 'as normal' after murdering these little girls
Marú inár Measc: Nadia and Zarah Whelan
Casualty and Innocent actor, Priyanga Burford, narrates this new four-part documentary series that really brings to light the sheer scale involved in the construction of the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. Situated in a remote corner of the Somerset countryside, this is the first such plant to be made in Britain in a generation, and building it is not without its challenges. This series follows the engineers, technicians, and staff who are under pressure to keep the project on track.
The opening pattern challenge is to recreate an iconic dress from (will anyone be brave enough to try to recreate the famous lift?). Next up is a -inspired transformation task, as the sewers must channel their inner Julie Andrews and make children's clothes from old curtains. Finally there's a disco-styled 1970s made-to-measure thanks to the musical .
On Christmas morning 2008, people in the community of Windgap, Co Kilkenny, spotted smoke billowing from the home of Sharon Whelan, who lived just outside the town centre with her two young daughters Zarah and Nadia. Thought to be an accident at first, it soon emerged there was something much darker to this tragedy.
As the bodies of Sharon and her daughters were pulled from the blaze, therefore preserving their bodies, investigators were able to determine that Sharon had not died of smoke inhalation and had been killed before the fire took place. Crucially, DNA evidence from Sharon’s body soon led Gardaí to a suspect.
Local man Brian Hennessy was known to Sharon and her family. At the time of the murders, he was 23 years old and working as a postman. As the Whelan family struggled to come to terms with the loss of three loved family members, Brian enjoyed his Christmas as normal.
Featuring interviews with Sharon’s parents, Christy and Nancy, and Sharon’s older brother John, this episode lays bare the pain and loss suffered by those who lose family members to murder. Brian Hennessy was handed three life sentences at his trial; these mandatory murder sentences were to run consecutively. On appeal, it was ruled that the sentences would run concurrently. This episode also explores the efforts families of victims must go to keep killers behind bars as they approach parole hearings.
Documentary focusing on the tens of thousands of letters written to Gay Byrne over three decades.
UEFA Friendlies: England v Austria (ko 8pm, Virgin 2).
