Killing Eve star Jodie Comer tipped to play baby killer Lucy Letby in ITV drama
Actress Jodie Comer has reportedly been tipped to portray convicted child-killer nurse Lucy Letby in a new television drama series. As well as Killing Eve star Jodie, it's thought that Sophie Turner of Games Of Thrones fame is also interested in the poignant role.
While still at discussion stage, sources believe the harrowing drama will unveil on ITV and delve into the disturbing narrative surrounding Lucy, who was sentenced last year for taking the lives of seven infants and attempting to kill six additional children. Creator of popular shows including Line of Duty, Trigger Point and the BBC's Bodyguard, Jed Mercurio is rumoured to be orchestrating the piece, with experienced hospital paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram who helped reveal Lucy's murderous streak from 2015-2016, set within Chester's Countess of Chester Hospital.
Regarding the project, an insider informed The Sun: "Jed sees this as an important story that should not just be chronicled in a drama but also explored. It aims to try to explain how her crimes could have gone on for so long and how others - particularly Dr Jayaram - tried to act when suspicions were raised."
The source continued: "Securing a high-profile name to portray Letby would certainly help draw attention to the show, but it's not a role to be taken lightly."
Lucy lodged an appeal against her sentence in February, which was subsequently denied. The convicted murderer is set to face a retrial for the attempted murder of another infant in February 2016, reports the Mirror.
It's still unclear whether the drama will be a one-off special or a series.
Jodie is no stranger to tackling challenging roles, having received critical praise for her performance in the drama Help, which highlighted the lack of support care homes received during the Covid pandemic. As for Jed's other works, his creation of Trigger Point caused quite a buzz when its second series concluded.
So much so, fans across the UK flocked to X, pleading for him to write a third series.
On the topic of another series, he previously stated: "I don't think you can predict whether shows will be long-running, all you can do is do the best possible job with each season and hope it connects with the audience. If we're fortunate enough that season two is viewed with the same enthusiasm as season one then it would be brilliant if we could do season three, but we're not thinking about that yet. We'd love season two to be a hit and to have opportunities to do other seasons, but no one's counting their chickens."
