The Trial of Lord Lucan
1994 British TV series or programme
The Trial of Lord Lucan is a British television film of 1994, offering a fictitious trial of the real John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan for the murder of Sandra Rivett in November 1974.
The first broadcast of the film on the ITV network was on 10 November 1994, timed mark the twentieth anniversary of Lucan's disappearance.
The film was written by Peter Whelan and directed by Richard Signy.
Factual background
Lucan (born 1934), who was separated from his wife, vanished the day after the killing of Rivett, his children's nanny, and was never found. Starring Julian Wadham as Lucan, Lynsey Baxter as Lady Lucan, the film speculates on what might have happened if Lucan had been arrested and stood trial for the murder. In the intervening years, the whereabouts of Lucan had itself become a famous international mystery.
Synopsis
After the discovery of Sandra Rivett's body, Lucan flees but is found and arrested as he boards a cross-channel ferry. Brought to trial, he pleads not guilty and gives evidence, with a story of a night of astonishing coincidences. Other key players in the real-life events also set out for the court what they know, including Dominick Elwes, a key member of Lucan's Clermont Club set.
At the end of the trial, a jury of twelve people (not actors, all were selected at random from the electoral register) arrives at its verdict.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Trial of Lord Lucan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.