Philip Glenister To Front True Crime Series ‘What The Killer Did Next’

EXCLUSIVE: A+E Networks UK is exploring more true crimes with its latest British origination – a series that looks at what killers do after their crimes, fronted by Life on Mars and Outcast star Philip Glenister.

The British arm of the U.S. cable giant has commissioned What The Killer Did Next, produced by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Catastrophe producer Avalon Television, for its Crime & Investigation (CI) channel.

The eight-part series explores the aftermath of a series of gruesome killings. Each episode begins with a murder and aims to find the killer’s motive and discover what kind of person could commit this crime: not by looking at what happened before the murder but by studying the killer’s behavior after the heinous event.

Set to air in early 2019,What The Killer Did Next was ordered by VP of Programming Dan Korn and is exec produced by A+E Networks UK’s Commissioning Editor Diana Carter and Avalon’s Jamie Isaacs.

Carter said, “While the public story of that murder is ongoing, we want to tell the story of what the killer was doing. Forget about the news reports from the scenes of the crime, and the police searching, what was the killer doing ten hours after? That’s fascinating.”

Korn said that the show “examines the process of detection and the study of criminal behavior from an entirely new angle – it’s as much a study of the criminal mind as it is a story of pioneering detective methods and dogged policing”.

Carter speaking earlier this week as part of a webinar organized by producers’ association Pact, said CI, which is available internationally but not in the U.S., has long roots in the genre. “CI is a niche channel but it needs to keep the homeland viewer close. It needs to stay close to its true crime roots. We are not salacious or gratuitous, we’re premium trashy. Our stars of cast are victims and killers. We need to tell those stories well.”

“In the past two years with Making A Murderer and the Netflix giants, have made crime really fashionable to watch. It’s the genre du jour but we’ve been doing it for years and suddenly everyone is jumping on our bandwagon.”

It is Avalon’s latest commission for A+E Networks, having recently scored Al Murray: Why Does Everyone Hate The English? for A+E Networks’ History.

“We are delighted to be working with CI on this new series. As DCI Gene Hunt, Philip was arguably one of the most iconic, no-nonsense policemen in British TV history and we are delighted he’ll be sharing these shocking and surprising contemporary psychological detective stories, while also offering new insight into the fascinating practices employed during cutting edge police work,” added Avalon’s Isaacs.