The title of the programme, “The Serial Killer’s Wife”, aired on Virgin Media One at 9 pm on Thursday, carries a promising indication of a fast-paced, murder-filled thriller with a hint of marital complications. The adaptation, derived from Alice Hunter’s bestselling novel, skims the surface of these themes but unfortunately, fails to provide enough to salvage the series from a stifling monotony.
Our central character is Beth played by Annabel Scholey, an ambitious woman who stumbles upon a woman’s corpse during a beach run. In parallel, the series offers a glimpse into her past, spotlighting her electrifying introduction to her unfaithful husband Tom, played by Jack Farthing, which took place in a bar and concluded dramatically in a restroom.
Tom is undeniably a negative character. Beyond his continuous infidelity, he also displays a worrying penchant for recording his often violent liaisons, carelessly leaving the evidence scattered around their home. He carries himself with ‘champion’ style hair – slicked back with a slight wave at the front, reminiscent of Lord Byron, had the poet existed in the corporate world as a middle manager. It is difficult to ascertain what common ground the apparently stable Beth shares with such a character.
Another trope within the British thriller genre is the unraveling of a woman’s comfortable middle-class existence due to her insufferable smugness, often involving spacious kitchens, oversized wine glasses, exotic ‘other women’, and randy husbands spending their weekends watching Leinster games, motivated more by booze and camaraderie than the sport itself. This is a common theme among series like Doctor Foster, Fool Me Once, and the like.
However, “The Serial Killer’s Wife” seems to fall short, appearing as a second-tier version of the trope, lacking tension and often bordering on the absurd. For example, Tom is apprehended during his 40th birthday celebration and ushered directly to the police station, a scene so contrived it feels as though its stench could fill your living room.
Beth, meanwhile, appears entirely unfazed by her husband’s involvement in rather intense intimate activities, inclusive of both her and impromptu encounters. She equally shows a startling level of tranquility in the face of his potential status as a killer. Yet another impetus to dismiss this disagreeable drama, saturated with distasteful characters, is its tendency to indulge in repulsive elements purely for its own purposes.