Manhunt: Chasing The Fox: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
The story of the violent burglar who terrorised Bedfordshire in the summer of 1984
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
'This is a true story. This is a horror story.' So goes the introduction of this true crime documentary, and it doesn't oversell what comes next. The two-parter takes us back to the summer of 1984 when Malcolm Fairley, aka 'The Fox', terrorised Bedfordshire. The case began as a series of burglaries with weird details - holiday photos, belts and ties were left in patterns on the floor; two crime scenes were linked together by the theft of a packet of peanuts - and then escalated to violence and sexual assault, with Fairley striking people's homes by night with a shotgun.
Police at the time were stretched by the miners' strike, and they lacked many of the sources to advance investigations that we have today. There was no DNA analysis or social media and nothing like the CCTV coverage we currently have (there was Crimewatch, just about), and the lack of knowledge about where, when or who Fairley would strike next meant that fear was rife. Window locks sold out and windows were screwed shut instead, with people sweltering in their homes in a state of siege, looking for what weapons they could. The residents look back on it all here, with one comparing it to the pandemic.
The first half of this well-told documentary hears from police, journalists and locals who detail all that before, in the second half, we move on to the clue - Fairley's accent - that finally led to the breakthrough. First shown on Channel 5 in 2024 under the title The Intruder: He's Watching You From Within, this is essentially one big account of the manhunt. (Two episodes)
