New documentary explores theories about disappearance of Lord Lucan 47 years ago

Lord Lucan's sudden disappearance from the face of the earth remains one of the most mysterious missing persons cases even after almost five decades.

A new two-part documentary by ITV reimagines his disappearance and explores the theories surrounding what might have happened to him on that fateful night in 1974.

The 7th Earl of Lucan had vanished months after he was accused of the murder of his children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, who was found dead in his home in Belgravia. Several theories and speculations emerged about the mysterious case, including one that claimed he had committed suicide by throwing himself into the English Channel.

One of the people who believed this theory was the Lord's wife, Lady Veronica Lucan, who also appealed for him to come forward in a letter published by the Daily Mirror in 1977. However, no body was found in the channel, so that angle was closed. Lady Veronica herself died five years ago without finding out the truth about her husband's disappearance.

Lady Veronica and Lord Lucan had a turbulent relationship in the years before his disappearance. According to rumours, they were going through a hostile separation in the months before his vanishing, and their children's nanny had to lose her life just because Lord Lucan mistook her for Lady Veronica in the attack.

Meanwhile, another conspiracy theory suggests that Lord Lucan was alive, as over the years, there have been several unverified sightings of him in countries across the world, including South Africa and India. This was also not verified, and so after failing to find him for decades, police declared him dead in 2016. This enabled Lord Lucan's son, George Bingham, to finally inherit the title of the 8th Earl of Lucan and gain access to his inheritance, four decades after his father's disappearance.

The case seemed to be closed for good at this point, but it took a dramatic turn in January last year after it was claimed that the apparently dead aristocrat was found in Australia by Neil Berriman, son of Rivett- the murdered nanny.

Berriman, now 52, discovered in 2008 that he was Rivett's biological son and was given up for adoption soon after he was born. When he found about his mother's murder, he hired private investigators to track down Lord Lucan. Berriman claimed that Lucan, who would now have turned 86, is living as a Buddhist in a commune in Australia.

However, after a 15-month probe, the Metropolitan Police told Berriman that the elderly man was not Lord Lucan. Berriman, meanwhile, believes that the response of the police had been "shallow and weak" and has vowed to keep looking for Lord Lucan.