In Plain Sight: The real-life story behind ITV's mini-series

ITV's new mini-series, In Plain Sight, tells of the fight to bring Scottish serial killer Peter Manuel to justice, but just how true is it to real-life events?

Line of Duty star Martin Compston plays the killer, while Shetland's Douglas Henshall plays William Muncie, the police detective determined to track down the person responsible for a string of murders in late 1950s' Lanarkshire.

But unlike recent true-crime dramatisations such as Rillington Place and Mary Ann Cotton, In Plain Sight isn't so much an exploration of the mind of a serial killer as an "old fashioned" and satisfying "battle between good and evil", says Gerard O'Donovan in the Daily Telegraph.

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Henshall's solid, dependable Muncie represents a small-town copper who believes in decency and justice, he adds, while Compston is "chillingly convincing" as the "arrogant, delusional, compunction-free criminal".

So how does this gripping drama compare to the real story?

The real-life killer

Manuel was born in New York to Scottish parents, who returned to their native country when he was still a child and then moved to Coventry. The bright but troubled boy won a place at grammar school, but was bullied and ran away. He was a petty thief aged ten and went on to commit a string of sexual assaults by the time he was 16. He was sent to borstal in 1943.

A psychological report commissioned in the 1950s said Manuel thought his parents had done their best to bring him up well, but he was a "dishonest person" - some people "are made that way", he added.

Manuel's first encounter with Muncie

After his release, Manuel worked in a showground before running foul of the law again in 1946. He was sentenced to one year for housebreaking and a further eight years for a rape committed while on bail. He claimed the police had framed him and always blamed the detective who sent him down – William Muncie.

The killing spree

Manuel was released from prison in the early 1950s, but soon faced fresh charges of rape, although he successfully defended himself in court in 1955. The following year, perhaps emboldened by his success, he embarked on a killing spree, often with a sexual motive. His first victim was Anne Kneilands, 17, who he met in East Kilbride on New Year's Day and took to a tearoom. He later dragged her to a deserted golf course, raped her and bludgeoned her to death. He is known to have killed another seven people across Lanarkshire and southern Scotland between 1956 and 1958 and it is believed he may have murdered two more.

The arrest

Manuel never forgave Muncie for convicting him of housebreaking. He taunted the detective by sending him clues and birthday cards before going on to kill Isabelle Cooke, 17, in 1957 and the Smart family -Peter, Doris and their ten-year-old son Michael - in 1958. Police raided Manuel's parents' home, where he had been staying, and found items he had stolen both from the Smarts and other burglaries. He was arrested, confessed to the murders and was hanged in July 1958.

Part two of In Plain Sight airs on Wednesday 14 December at 9pm, ITV