Watch: New trailer released for Sophie Toscan du Plantier documentary
Murder At Cottage: The Search For Justice For Sophie is out June 20, followed by Netflix's Sophie: A Murder In West Cork on June 30.
A date has officially been announced for the airing of a new Sky documentary series based on the unsolved murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork.
The highly anticipated is due to come to our screens on June 20, just 10 days before a similar series is set to drop on Netflix.
The programme, directed and narrated by Oscar-nominated Jim Sheridan, is a five-part series that will be released as a box set on Sky Crime and NOW.
“Sophie Toscan du Plantier. She died here among the brambles and the briars and now the hills call out for justice. The people want answers. They want conclusions. They want to be able to lay Sophie to rest,” Sheridan narrates over footage from the documentary in a new trailer released today.
Du Plantier's body was found just two days before Christmas near her holiday home outside the small village of Schull in 1996.
The unsolved case has generated huge media interest, with the new documentaries, as well as the TV adaptation of the famous West Cork podcast set to bring the story even further afield.
“This is a story that has fascinated me for over two decades. It is a murder that carries implications for the meaning of justice in Ireland, in France, and in the UK,” says Sheridan.
According to the filmmaker, pieces together original evidence, never-before-seen footage, and interviews with those closest to the case, including du Plantier's family.
West Cork resident Ian Bailey will also feature. Bailey was convicted of the crime in absentia by a French court but has always maintained his innocence and was never charged for the murder in Ireland.
“Two legal systems and two investigations by the French and the Irish found two very different conclusions,” says Sheridan.
“I wanted to understand how that could happen, to search for justice and to help uncover the truth. I hope this series will help bring about a definitive conclusion to the case.”
Less than two weeks after the series drops, viewers can also tune into Netflix’s documentary on the case.
is three-part series that was created with the blessing of the du Plantier family, who wish to put Sophie back at the centre of the story.
“The project became something that we really wanted to get involved in when we met Sophie's family and gained their trust,” says executive producer Simon Chinn.
“We felt that we had a purpose. They hoped to place Sophie, the victim, at the centre of the story. That was our assurance to them.”
Bailey will also feature in the Netflix series, as well as du Plantier’s son Pierre-Louis Baudey and residents from Schull.
is directed by John Dower and was filmed around Cork and in France. The series drops on June 30.
