ITV's The Suspect Is Inspired By Gripping True Crime Cases

Adapted from author Michael Robotham’s bestselling novel of the same name, ITV’s The Suspect is a psychological thriller that’ll surely keep fans hooked. Created by the producers of popular crime drama Line Of Duty, the series follows Dr. Joe O’Loughlin — played by Aidan Turner — as his life is upturned when he is suddenly caught in the middle of a murder case. Turner’s character is shown to have the perfect life with a loving family and a prestigious career as a clinical psychologist. But the story begins to get murky when the police seek his advice in analysing and solving the murder of a young woman. But is The Suspect based on a true story?

The short answer is no, the series is not based on real events. The five-part drama is entirely fictional and stands true to Robotham’s novel. Previously, actor Anjli Mohindra, who plays the role of DS Riya Devi in the show, spoke to RadioTimes.com about how she studied real life murder cases as part of her research into the character of a female police officer in the UK.

“I focused in on what it would feel like to be a woman dealing with a case like this — with the Sarah Everard case and Sabina Nessa… I mean, we all know how it feels to be a woman in this country or on this planet at the moment with things like that happening,” the actor explained.

In the series, a young woman is discovered in a shallow grave in West London and DI Vincent Ruiz (played by Shaun Parkes) and his partner DS Devi are assigned to investigate the case. As they work with Turner’s character Dr. O’Loughlin to uncover the truth, we learn hidden details of O’Loughlin’s life that indicate a potential criminal mindset.

Jake Lushington, the show’s executive producer, also explained that they worked hard to humanise the victim and develop the female characters. He told the same publication: “That’s something that I think has become enhanced from the original novel — all the female characters have quite interesting voices and interesting POVs. It was a completely male piece to start with. It's actually made it a lot richer as a piece.”

The Suspect begins on ITV on August 29 at 9 p.m. Each episode will be available on the ITV Hub immediately after broadcast.