The Landscapers Podcast

The final ingredient of a “can’t get you out of my head” true crime story is the way it sticks with you, changes how you see the world and lingers in your consciousness many years after you heard about the story for the first time. The creative team behind the show worked hard to translate what is compelling about the original case into just such an experience for the viewer. And as they were doing so, they found the process just as absorbing as the story itself - they can't get it out of their heads either.

 

This final episode of the Landscapers podcast will look back on the production and revisit Mansfield to find out how people there feel about the crime and investigation after so much time has passed. 

 

The episode will include creator Ed Sinclair, and will bring back previous characters with a focus on the ‘real people’ who were involved in the case to look at how their feelings have changed over time and how the public reaction to the case and story has affected them. How does the true story behind Landscapers relate to the real world, and how does it change it? 

 

Caroline Crampton is revisits the case and production with Landscapers producer Katie Carpenter and the others who have featured in the series so far including creator Ed Sinclair, script executive Jess Hill, cast members Dipo Ola and Kate O’Flynn, cinematographer Erik Wilson, Rob Griffin who led the original investigation for Nottinghamshire police, Susan and Chris’s solicitor Darrell Ennis-Gayle and local journalist Andy Done-Johnson.

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Justice is an omnipresent theme in any true crime story. It's part of what helps to move any case towards a satisfactory conclusion: once we understand what crimes have been committed, we instinctively want the bad people to be punished for them. The legal process that brings this about is a big part of a story like this. As the drama reaches its conclusion it is worth unpicking exactly why it happened like it did, and how you go about turning that often technical detail into compelling television.

 

At the same time, we need to be aware that there is more than one kind of justice. Beyond the details revealed by solicitors and detectives, as they absorb the case the viewer develops a larger sense of what is right and just, separate to a verdict that is handed down in court. Is it ever justified for an abuse victim to take justice into her own hands, as Susan Edwards claims to have done after decades of provocation? In this episode we look at the different ways that justice is served, or not, in this story. Plus, we take a deeper look at how the writers and creatives decided to end their story in such a surprising style that asks questions of the case and of the whole nature of the true crime genre itself.

 

Caroline Crampton is joined by Landscapers creator Ed Sinclair, local journalist Andy Done-Johnson and cinematographer Erik Wilson

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What comes next in any good true crime story is the twist — that moment when everything you think you know about the case so far is upended and suddenly it all looks very different. Anticipating it is what keeps us hooked as events unfold, and that jolt in the stomach you get once it arrives is like nothing else. With Landscapers, it comes as the investigation begins to go deeper and the detectives move past the "what the hell?" moments and start to get at the hidden undercurrents in the testimony.

 

In the third episode of Landscapers, this odd couple with the strong emotional connection that we have come to sympathize with is seen in a new light. Is Susan quite as fragile and helpless as she seems, or is she quietly canny enough to know the ins and outs of financial crime? Is Chris really just the supportive husband who tried to clean up the mess after the fact, or did his knowledge of historic guns and expertise in accountancy lead him to play a much more central part in the story? The tension between what we think we know, and what we actually know, is explored in this episode.

 

Caroline Crampton is joined by Will Sharpe, director of Landscapers, creator Ed Sinclair and actor Kate O’Flynn, who plays DC Emma Lancing.

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The crucial next ingredient to any great true crime story is the emotional wallop. Right when you think it’s all about the oddity of the case – the safe waters of “weird” – you get hit with that emotional wave. With the Mansfield Murders, the strange facts of the case are what catch the eye, but it's the deep emotional current that holds your attention.

 

In this episode we get to know Susan Edwards as a person. Her backstory makes us question our initial assumptions about her motivations and experience. As we hear from people who know the real life Susan and Chris, we come to see a more nuanced picture where trauma and perspective suggest there is more to this unusual couple’s story than meets the eye.

 

Caroline Crampton is joined by Ed Sinclair, creator of Landscapers, as well as Susan and Chris’s solicitor Darrell Ennis-Gayle and actor Dipo Ola.

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A vintage “can’t get you out of my head” true crime story has to be weird. You need the oddity to capture attention, of course, but also that strangeness is what makes it feel safe. It’s the permission we need to plunge into those waters, without realizing we’ll get walloped by some emotional waves later. With the Edwards’s case, as with all good true crime, we are hooked on the story before even realising how much depth there is to it. In the first episode of the Landscapers Podcast we look at the plethora of strange things that stand out in the case and that drew people into the Edwards saga. A backyard burial, some unusual correspondence between the suspects and the police and an obsession with old film memorabilia is just the beginning.

Caroline Crampton is joined by Ed Sinclair, creator of Landscapers and we hear from script executive Jess Hill and Rob Griffin who led the original investigation for Nottinghamshire police.

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Landscapers is a new four part television drama from HBO and Sky that brings the true story of Susan and Christopher Edwards and the murders they were convicted of to the screen. 

The details of a “stranger than fiction” true crime story are addictive. The more we hear about a case, the more it captivates us. We become hooked on the story, wanting more specifics to puzzle over, and more insights into the “why” behind a shocking crime. It creates a loop where you are walking down the street, still thinking about what you've heard. You can’t get it out of your head.

This five- episode podcast series takes us behind the scenes of Landscapers to explore the real life events that make the show so compelling. It is the story of the people who couldn’t get the tale told in “Landscapers” out of their heads as they share the different aspects that pulled them in.

We hear from the creators about the often complex relationship between the ‘real life’ events and the story that emerges on-screen and revisit the real life events through some of the key people involved in the case. 

Landscapers airs from December 6 on HBO and from December 7 on Sky.

The Landscapers Podcast is produced by HBO and Sky, in conjunction with Campside Media.

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