ITVX is getting a major true-crime drama with two big movie stars in just a few weeks, as 2022's The Staircase is joining the streaming service's library on Saturday, 25 July.
The show follows the story of crime novelist Michael Peterson, played by Colin Firth, who is accused killing his wife Kathleen, played by Toni Collette, after she is found dead at the bottom of the stairs in 2001.
A lengthy legal battle ensues and causes headlines around the world, while the case also catches the attention of a documentary team looking to capture every event as it unfolds in court.
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The documentary in question, also called The Staircase, ended up releasing in 2004 as a mini-series, and as more developments happened in real life, further episodes were released in 2012 and then in 2018.
This mini-series starring Firth and Collette is a dramatisation of the real-life events, with the official synopsis reading: "Intertwining multiple perspectives and timelines, this gripping limited series explores the elusive nature of truth while serving as an intimate portrait of a family's grief."
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The show boasts an impressive supporting cast, with The White Lotus' Parker Posey and Patrick Schwarzenegger, Chronicle's Dane DeHaan, Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner, and Elvis' Olivia DeJonge among them.
The two leads were both nominated for Emmy Awards, while Firth was also up for a Golden Globe for his performance.
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Over on Rotten Tomatoes, the show has an extremely impressive score of 92% positive from 72 critic reviews.
"Firth and Collette are, as you might expect, brilliant", wrote The Guardian. "The former is slippery and arrogant, putting in a performance that teeters on so many brinks... that you cannot help watching to see if and which way he will fall. Collette is given less to work with, but nevertheless conjures it into an impressive turn."
The Bay Area Reporter agreed, calling the show "riveting and brilliantly acted from start to finish", while CNN stated that Firth's performance "elevates" the show "several steps above standard true-crime fare".
"One of The Staircase's strengths, is the attention to detail given to each set piece, and each characterisation, to replicate the story that the documentary captured", wrote Loud and Clear Reviews. "Putting the documentary footage and the scenes from the drama side-by-side would result in the hardest game of spot the difference you’ve ever played
The Staircase is coming to ITVX on 25 July, while it can be streamed now with a Sky/NOW subscription, or on HBO Max. The documentary series can be streamed in full on Netflix.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
