Most of us will be familiar with the Madeline McCann case in 2007 involving a four year old child’s abduction in Portugal at a holiday resort with her family. Since then, Madeline’s disappearance has been kept in the public domain. Now, the BBC has appeared to have created a British mystery- drama series directed by Tom Shankland based on the infamous Madeline McCann case.
The Missing deals with the fictional abduction of a little boy called Oliver who is on holiday with his parents Tony and Emily Hughes in Chalons du Bois, France during the World Cup. Oliver lets go of his father’s hand for a brief moment whilst he catches the football score at a crowded poolside bar and is never seen again. The series follows Tony’s attempt to uncover the mystery of Oliver’s abduction and sees him join forces with the notorious retired French detective Julien Baptiste. Director Tom Shankland cleverly interweaves Tony’s furious attempts to find out what happened to his son in the present day, with heart wrenching past moments of him and Oliver’s last days together.
The similarities between the fictional mystery and the Madeline McCann case are very interesting. Similar to the McCann’s experience, the media ruthlessly portray Oliver’s parents as prime suspects for the abduction of their child, with even the actors, James Nesbitt and Frances O’Connor, made to look uncannily similar to Gerry and Kate McCann. However, there are obvious efforts made by the BBC to avoid being overtly connected to the Madeline McCann case; the drama is based in France, not Portugal and the child who goes missing is male rather than female.
James Nesbitt offers a breath-taking performance of a father who feels unnecessarily but understandably responsible for his son’s disappearance as his anguish and desperation to find Oliver is powerfully realistic and entangles the audience in his own emotional turmoil. Likewise, Frances O’Connor is skilful in her performance as a mother who tries to move on from her tragedy stricken past. Each cleverly crafted episode leaves the audience on edge and nerve shattered after the twists and turns of the unravelling mystery. Although the series deals with extremely sensitive topics of paedophilia and possible child trafficking, the sheer amount of thought and talent incorporated into the series makes it captivating to watch and makes the antagonising wait for the mystery to unravel over the eight episodes, truly worthwhile. For fans of Sherlock and White Chapel, The Missing is a definite one to watch!
-The Missing is on every Tuesday at 9:00pm on BBC1. Past episodes are available on BBC IPlayer.