The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - 2011 ***

I wouldn't agree that this production was a classic, although I suspect that the book itself was probably much more detailed and interesting. Paddy Considine as Mr Whicher was very good as a sort of 1860's Sherlock Holmes who finds all the clues that people miss despite being ridiculed and very unpopular with the crowds of the time. The story is based around the true events that happened in Road Hill House in 1860, where a 3 year old boy named Saville was brutally murdered by an unknown person, his body dumped in a privy outside the family home. The results are somewhat bizarre, and at times it seems that the film hasn't really progressed from the beginning to the end. I understand that the dramatisation is being very precise in the facts, and none of the names or events have been changed, but it was a bit of a shame that *SPOILERS* you never know the true identity of the murderer. As a big fan of Victorian murders I was surprised that this book and film have become so immensely popular over the last year. I would very much now like to read the book to see if my opinion about the story is justified.