Yahoo News ITV viewers pan controversial Fred and Rose West film after delay
After a last-minute cancellation and weeks of waiting, ITV has finally aired its controversial documentary about serial killers Fred and Rose West.
Fred and Rose West: The Real Story with Trevor McDonald was originally supposed to premiere on January 31, but was pulled from the schedule by ITV due to "legal reasons" mere hours before transmission.
It was the case that shocked the nation. 25 years on, Trevor McDonald discovers new insights with exclusive, never seen before interviews. #CrimeAndPunishment: Fred & Rose West The Real Story with Trevor McDonald. Tonight 9pm @ITV pic.twitter.com/di54f9PhG9
- ITV (@ITV) February 21, 2019
Fans were left waiting for weeks before ITV eventually rescheduled the special to air on Thursday (February 21), promising explosive never-before-seen information about the Wests.
The Real Story featured acclaimed journalist Sir Trevor McDonald travelling to the notorious 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucestershire where Fred West was involved in a dozen killings, many with his wife Rose's assistance.
McDonald spoke at length with the sisters of one of the Wests' victims, Juanita Mott, and also with one of the killers' former lodgers.
"To call them mentally ill is an insult to the mentally ill," Juanita Mott's sister said of the Wests. "They're evil. I call them evil."
In another segment, the lodger admitted that she heard sounds of possible abuse from the Wests' children during her short stay, but was too scared to ever report it once she left.
As shocking as all of this may seem, many of those who have followed the case complained that it's all been covered before in numerous other news reports and documentaries about the Wests, including a recent Channel 5 film.
By the end of the hour, people wondered why The Real Story had ever been delayed in the first place?
Anticlimax much #FredAndRoseWest
- eidoJ/Jodie (@JudeHeyWhyte) February 21, 2019
All the hype about the #fredandrosewest doc... other than @TrevorMCDonaldd it’s almost identical to one channel 5 aired 2 weeks ago. C5 was a bit more detailed tho
- Sara Ebrahimi (@lisara_x) February 21, 2019
So no new evidence #FredAndRoseWest
- evil batman returns (@clsyoshimoo) February 21, 2019
That was an hour I’ll never get back. I thought he was actually going to interview #rosewest. All this has been documented numerous times before!! #itv #FredAndRose #fredandrosewest #therealstory #truecrime #rosewest #fredwest
- That Redhead Girl (@xCountMeInx) February 21, 2019
Well that was a bit of a let down, what exactly was new in that documentary? #fredandrosewest
Love Trevor Mcdonald though 💋- 🐾Eryn11175🐾 (@eryn11175) February 21, 2019
I still don’t know what the delay of this documentary was there was no new information that I didn’t already know or hasn’t been shown. Rose will never speak out the woman doesn’t have the backbone #FredandRoseWest #CrimeAndPunishment
- Stacey Newburn 🌙 (@staceyxnewburnx) February 21, 2019
We'll never know the true secrets of 25 Cromwell Street cause Rose will take it all to her grave just to make sure she still has control and to anger the victims families #FredAndRoseWest
- Chan Dutton (@vamplacey) February 21, 2019
#crimeandpunishment Basically could have told you all this @ITV Not Worth The Delay 🤬🤬😤😤
- Callum⚽ (@callumLtfc) February 21, 2019
I’m sure there’s more that we don’t know about #CrimeAndPunishment
- John Tarbet Walker (@JohnTarbet71) February 21, 2019
Rose won’t ever admit her guilt or anymore truth. Fred took everything with him, I personally think she will too #crimeandpunishment #fredandrosewest
- shannon (@shannon0121d1) February 21, 2019
#crimeandpunishment “New” #fredandrosewest documentary told us nothing we didn’t already know. Just another nice pay check for Sir Trev
- Chips_T95 (@Chips_T95) February 21, 2019
But not everyone who watched it was disappointed:
This documentary is harrowing and to hear how they committed these evil crimes is quite chilling. #FredAndRoseWest
- Rachael ⚓️ (@RachWoods97) February 21, 2019
This #FredAndRoseWest documentary is absolutely harrowing - whatever possesses someone to do all this?!
- Skelly (@Adamant_Mod) February 21, 2019
Very disturbing documentary on #fredandrosewest evil evil people. How they got away with what they did for so long is unbelievable.
- Fiona Collins (@FionaC77) February 21, 2019
Today, Rose remains imprisoned for the rest of her life for her part in the killings of multiple women between 1967 and 1987. Fred killed himself while awaiting trial for his crimes, including killing his own daughter Heather.
ITV's Crime and Punishment season continues next Thursday (February 28) at 9pm with In the Line of Fire with Ross Kemp, as the former EastEnders star embeds with a tactical firearms unit to explore whether all police in the UK will someday be armed.
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