Credit: Netflix
The Staircase, a true crime docu-series about the death of Kathleen Peterson, is being adapted for a TV series. Here’s everything we know so far.
True crime is the genre that’s not going away. We are addicted to bingeing on podcasts and documentaries that follow the events of unsolved cases, trying to unravel the facts in order to work out the truth. From the murder of Hae Min Lee in Serial to the disappearance of Dr Ruja Ignatova in The Missing Cryptoqueen – we just want to know what the hell happened.
Now, there’s one true crime docu-series that’s about to get turned into a TV drama: The Staircase.
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What is The Staircase case about?
Netflix’s 2004 docu-series The Staircase follows the story of the death of Kathleen Peterson. Her husband Michael rang the police in 2001 to report that he had found her lying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs in their house.
Peterson maintained that his wife must have stumbled down the staircase after consuming a potent mixture of alcohol and Valium – a theory which was disputed by the post-mortem toxicology results. And, when police investigators concluded that Kathleen’s injuries were not consistent with an accidental fall, they arrested Peterson on suspicion of murder.
It was at this point that Jean-Xavier de Lestrade stepped in to begin filming the events for what would eventually become The Staircase, an award-winning Netflix docu-series that chronicled the legal battle all the way through Peterson’s eventual conviction. However, Peterson was released in 2011 and granted a new trial after it was discovered that a witness for the prosecution lied on the stand.
Cue: a rollercoaster story with plenty of plot twists and shock revelations.
Credit: Netflix
What is the new The Staircase TV series?
According to Variety, Harrison Ford will take the role of Michael Peterson in a TV drama adaption of the docu-series. It’s reported that he will also be an executive producer on the show alongside writer Antonio Campos.
This will be the first regular television role of Ford’s career, after starring in hit films such as Star Wars, The Fugitive, Indiana Jones and Blade Runner. His last appearance in a scripted series was on 1993’s The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, appearing as an adult version of the famous archaeologist.
Credit: Getty
At this point, we don’t have any further details about the TV series, but you can still catch up with the docu-series on Netflix.
Images: Netflix
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