Unprecedented Madeleine McCann drama announced – but family has no involvement

Channel 5 is set to air the first drama to be based on Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, almost 19 years after the three-year-old was taken from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Madeleine went missing in May 2007, and the case garnered international attention, with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann’s emotional turmoil laid bare as they desperately pleaded for anyone with information to come forward.

But in September 2007, the couple found themselves named suspects in their daughter’s disappearance and were questioned by Portuguese police. They were later acquitted when authorities said there was no evidence against them.

Channel 5’s drama will focus on Kate being questioned, with Killing Eve star Laura Bayston playing the former GP in the film, titled Suspect: Kate McCann.

The broadcaster confirmed toThe Independent that the McCanns are “not involved editorially”. They “have been made aware of the film,” a spokesperson added.

While Madeline’s disappearance has been the focus of many documentaries over the years, this marks the first time it has been dramatised.

In a press release, Channel 5 says the drama “explores the period when flawed evidence against the McCanns was released to the press, changing the global media narrative and creating a false legacy on social media that persists to this day”.

It adds that Bayston delivers a “raw and visceral performance of a mother having to maintain her faith that her daughter will be found despite extraordinary challenges”.

Commissioning Editor Dan Louw said: “This fantastic film goes where the cameras couldn’t – behind the closed doors of the interview room – to create a deeply moving drama from documentary evidence.

“Suspect: Kate McCann is one of the most tense, moving and shocking films you will see this year.”

The search for Madeleine remains ongoing. Kate McCann last year reflected on the moment her daughter went missing as she backed The Independent’s SafeCall campaign to fund a free, round-the-clock service to reach the 72,000 UK children who disappear every year.

“I don’t often speak about the details, but not because they fade; they continue to live quietly alongside you, every day. Some experiences never leave – you simply learn to carry them,” she wrote.

“Whenever I hear about a young person who feels vulnerable, frightened, or at risk, it resonates so deeply. I recognise the fear, the exhaustion, and the fragile balance between hope and heartbreak that families live with every day. It is also why the SafeCall service matters so profoundly.”

The main suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance is a German man named Christian Brueckner, who was last year released from prison after serving a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a woman in Portugal’s Algarve region, in the area where Madeleine went missing.

Channel 5’s film is part of a two-episode limited series. The second, which has the working title Suspect: The Road Rage Killer, examines the 1996 case of Tracie Andrews, who killed her fiancé after an argument in their car.