Hunting Alice Bell: David Baddiel Reveals the Chilling Maxine Carr Story Behind His New Channel 4 Thriller

Women with no connection to Maxine Carr were targeted in small towns by people who mistook them for the woman linked to the Soham murders. One woman even confronted a mob in her garden with her passport to prove her identity, David Baddiel has revealed. The incident helped inspire Hunting Alice Bell, Channel 4's fictional six-part thriller, which premiered on Wednesday, 11 November, at 9pm.

The Documentary Behind the Story

Baddiel told Channel 4 that the idea began with Being Maxine Carr, a documentary he watched years ago. It featured four women with no connection to Carr who were harassed in their communities by people convinced they were Carr.

Baddiel recalled one woman who had recently moved to an area where rumours spread that she was Carr. Within a couple of weeks, a mob gathered in her garden, shouting at her. She went outside carrying her passport to demonstrate that she was not the woman they believed her to be. It showed how quickly suspicion could become hostility in public.

Baddiel said a couple of scenes in Hunting Alice Bell were based on what he saw in the documentary, while stressing that no single case represented the story. 'There are real examples of this, but no single story that illustrates all of it', he told Channel 4.

Nacionale reported on 11 November that Baddiel also identified cases involving Lucy Letby, Myra Hindley and Mary Bell as influences on the writing. Baddiel said Alice Bell's name deliberately carries a trace of Mary Bell.

Who Was Maxine Carr?

Carr was the girlfriend of Ian Huntley, who murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002. In December 2003, Carr was convicted of conspiring to pervert the course of justice after providing Huntley with a false alibi.

She was released in May 2004 under a new identity. In February 2005, the High Court granted an order protecting that identity indefinitely after her lawyers cited death threats. The women in the documentary were unrelated to Carr and the murders.

What Happens in Hunting Alice Bell?

In the fictional story, Alice Bell is a former nurse who was the lover and accomplice of Dr Jason Nash, an anaesthetist and serial killer. She is believed to be living in Britain under a new identity.

Fran Da Silva, played by Alex Roach, is accused online of being Alice. As the accusations threaten her family, Fran discovers other women have faced the same allegation. They join forces to clear their names, while the possibility that one of them really is Alice drives the mystery.

Who Stars in the Channel 4 Thriller?

Roach leads the cast as Fran, while Simon Pegg plays Dr Jason Nash. The ensemble also includes Amanda Abbington as Julie, Ralf Little as Graham Hunter, Emily Barber as Vanessa, Toni O'Rourke as Ros, Christina Bennington as Charlotte and Rudi Dharmalingam as Nick.

Baddiel created the series with Peter Bradshaw and wrote it with Bradshaw, Polly Buckle and Kate Verghese. Paul Walker directed all six episodes for Clapperboard Studios. Channel 4 describes the programme as a fictional thriller, not a dramatisation of Carr's life.