Five Daughters: Sarah Lancashire Delivers a Devastating Performance in This Powerful True-Crime Drama
Sarah Lancashire is known for playing complex, unforgettable characters, but Five Daughters reveals one of the most heartbreaking sides of her talent. In this deeply moving BBC drama, she plays a mother struggling to come to terms with an unimaginable loss, delivering a performance that makes the series difficult to forget.
First broadcast in 2010, Five Daughters tells the story of the five young women murdered in Ipswich in 2006. Rather than turning the case into a conventional crime thriller focused solely on catching a killer, the three-part drama examines the victims’ lives, the families left behind and the police investigation that gripped Britain.
The result is a harrowing but important piece of television. It is an unflinching look at the circumstances surrounding the murders, while giving the women at the centre of the story an identity beyond the crimes that ended their lives.
For viewers waiting for Sarah Lancashire’s return in Black Doves, this is another opportunity to see the acclaimed actress in a very different role. And for fans of serious British crime dramas, Five Daughters is well worth discovering.
All three episodes are available on Apple TV in the UK, making it possible to watch the entire story in one sitting.
What Is Five Daughters About?
Set in Ipswich in 2006, the three-part drama recounts the murders of five young women: Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Tania Nicol, Annette Nicholls and Paula Clennell.
All five were murdered by Steve Wright, a forklift truck driver who was convicted of their killings and sentenced to life imprisonment. The case triggered one of the largest manhunts in Britain since the search for the Yorkshire Ripper in the 1970s.
The series follows the women’s final weeks, explores the circumstances they were living in and traces the devastating consequences of their deaths. Their experiences of drug addiction and involvement in prostitution form part of the story, but the drama also makes clear that they were individuals with families, friendships and lives that extended far beyond their struggles.
Sarah Lancashire plays Rosemary Nicholls, the mother of Annette Nicholls, portrayed by Eva Birthistle. As Rosemary confronts the loss of her daughter, the drama explores the grief and anguish experienced by families forced to face the aftermath of an appalling crime.
The police investigation provides the framework for the series, but its emotional centre lies with the people whose lives were changed forever. The story does not simply follow the search for a murderer. It examines the women who lost their lives, those who loved them and the wider circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
The Real-Life Research Behind the Drama
Writer Stephen Butchard travelled to Ipswich while researching Five Daughters. He spoke with three of the victims’ families, members of the police investigation and people working with a local drug rehabilitation charity.
That research helped shape a drama that approaches its subject with care while confronting uncomfortable questions about the treatment of vulnerable women and the failures that contributed to their circumstances.
Eva Birthistle also spent time in Ipswich preparing to play Annette Nicholls. She visited the ICENI project, a charity that had tried to help some of the women overcome their drug addictions, and spoke to people who had known Annette personally.
In an interview with the BBC, Birthistle described meeting two women who had been on the streets at the time and had known Annette. One had been a particularly close friend who had experienced similar circumstances, including sex work and drug addiction. Both women had since become clean and had stopped working on the streets following the murders.
The conversations left a lasting impression on the actress. Hearing about Annette from people who had known her in everyday life helped Birthistle understand the person behind the headlines.
She recalled learning that Annette had been cheerful, sociable and optimistic, someone who smiled often and tried to see the positive side of things.
For Birthistle, those conversations were an eye-opener. She reflected on how easily someone’s life can take a devastating turn and how little separates people living very different circumstances.
That perspective is central to what Five Daughters attempts to achieve. Rather than reducing the victims to a single aspect of their lives, it seeks to show their humanity and the complicated realities they faced.
Five Daughters Cast: Who Stars Alongside Sarah Lancashire?
The series features an impressive ensemble of British and Irish actors, with performances that bring the victims, their families and the investigating officers into focus.
The main cast includes:
- Sarah Lancashire as Rosemary Nicholls, Annette’s grieving mother.
- Ian Hart as DCS Stewart Gull.
- Juliet Aubrey as Maire Alderton.
- Kate Dickie as Isabella Clennell.
- Jaime Winstone as Anneli Alderton.
- Eva Birthistle as Annette Nicholls.
- Aisling Loftus as Gemma Adams.
- Natalie Press as Paula Clennell.
- Holliday Grainger as Alice.
- Ruth Negga as Rochelle.
- Vicky McClure as Stacey Nicholls.
- Christopher Fairbank as DCI John Quinton.
- Sean Harris as Brian Tobin.
- Anton Lesser as Dr Nat Cary.
- Lisa Millett as PC Janet Humphrey.
- Martin Compston as Jon.
- David Bradley as Patrick Palmer.
With Sarah Lancashire at the heart of the family storyline, the ensemble gives the drama a broad emotional perspective. The focus moves between the investigation and the lives affected by it, showing how the tragedy reaches far beyond the immediate crime.
Is Five Daughters Worth Watching?
Absolutely, although it is important to know what kind of viewing experience to expect.
Five Daughters is not an easy watch. Its subject matter is deeply distressing, and its attention to the families’ grief means that some scenes carry an emotional weight that conventional crime dramas rarely attempt.
That is also what makes it so powerful.
Sarah Lancashire’s portrayal of Rosemary Nicholls is particularly affecting. She captures the pain of a mother trying to process the loss of her daughter without reducing the character to grief alone. The performance gives the story an intimate, personal dimension, bringing home the devastating consequences of the crimes.
Eva Birthistle’s preparation for her role also adds another layer to the drama. By speaking with people who knew Annette, she gained insight into the young woman’s personality and the life she had lived. That understanding helps the series look beyond the circumstances of her death.
The writing is equally important. By following the victims’ final weeks and the impact of their deaths on their families, the drama offers a broader view of the case than a straightforward police procedural.
Its honesty can make for uncomfortable viewing, but the series never loses sight of the people at its centre. It is a sobering reminder that real-life crimes leave behind families and communities who must live with the consequences long after the headlines fade.
For fans of Sarah Lancashire, it is an especially compelling performance to seek out. For anyone interested in thoughtful, character-driven British crime dramas, Five Daughters deserves consideration.
How to Watch Five Daughters
All three episodes of Five Daughters are available to stream on Apple TV in the UK.
Streaming availability may vary by location.
More Sarah Lancashire Dramas to Watch
If Five Daughters leaves you wanting to explore more of Sarah Lancashire’s work, two other dramas showcase different sides of her acting range.
MotherFatherSon
In MotherFatherSon, Lancashire plays Angela Howard, a member of Parliament who becomes involved in a power struggle with Max Finch, a ruthless media mogul played by Richard Gere.
The series moves away from the intimate family tragedy of Five Daughters and into a world of political influence, ambition and competing interests. Lancashire takes on a more formidable role, making it a strong choice for viewers who want to see her in a different kind of drama.
You can watch MotherFatherSon on BBC iPlayer.
Rose and Maloney
For another crime drama featuring Lancashire, Rose and Maloney offers a different take on investigative television.
The series stars Lancashire as Rose Linden alongside Phil Davis as Marion Maloney. The pair work for the fictional Criminal Justice Review Agency, examining cases involving potential miscarriages of justice.
Rose is a hard-drinking, rule-breaking investigator, a character whose methods and personality make her quite different from the grieving mother Lancashire portrays in Five Daughters.
The series is particularly appealing to viewers who enjoy mysteries that question the evidence behind a case and examine whether the justice system has got things right.
Rose and Maloney is available on Prime Video.
From the devastating true story told in Five Daughters to the political tensions of MotherFatherSon and the investigations in Rose and Maloney, Lancashire has demonstrated a remarkable ability to inhabit very different characters.
But Five Daughters stands out for the sensitivity with which it approaches an appalling real-life tragedy. It is a difficult story, told with compassion, and a reminder of how powerful television can be when it looks beyond the crime itself to the lives left behind.