After appearing on screen with neo-Nazis, violent prisoners, drug addicts and Jimmy Savile, Louis Theroux says he doesn’t shy away from “the troubling side of life”.
But for his latest project, the documentary maker has stepped away from the camera to delve into one of the UK’s most notorious murder cases.
Jeremy Bamber has spent more than three decades in jail after being convicted of fatally shooting his adoptive parents Nevill and June, his sister Sheila Caffell and her six-year-old twin sons, Daniel and Nicholas, in 1985.
Image: White House Farm near Maldon, Essex, where the murders took place
Image: June Bamber (L), her daughter Sheila Caffell and grandchildren Nicholas and Daniel were all killed
He has always protested his innocence and insists the murders at the family’s farmhouse in Essex were committed by Ms Caffell – a model nicknamed “Bambi” who was diagnosed with schizophrenia – before she turned the gun on herself.
It is a version of events that police initially believed, and Theroux says there are “legit” people who think Bamber is serving a whole-life prison term for a crime he didn’t carry out.
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“Across the board you’ll find people who believe there were serious problems with the case, in terms of how it was investigated and how it was prosecuted,” he tells Sky News.
“There are things that are quite hard to explain on both sides.
“There was no forensic evidence of his presence at the farm, which is kind of extraordinary.”
Image: Jeremy Bamber was convicted of murdering five members of his family: Pic: Anglia Press Agency/Sky UK
Theroux says former detective Mark Williams-Thomas – who helped expose Savile’s sexual abuse – is one of those who believes Bamber “didn’t do it”.
He explains: “There’s a lot that’s positive about people attempting to find cases of historic crime in which there may have been an error.
“A lot of them are legit people. There are a lot of prominent journalists who would say they would feel Bamber is innocent.
“It’s not by any means a kind of fringe belief.”
While viewers are used to seeing Theroux feature in his documentaries, he is executive producer of The Bambers: Murder At The Farm, a new four-part series which re-examines the case and explores evidence that has emerged since the original trial.
It features first-hand testimony and previously unseen archive footage, as well as recordings of Bamber talking to a journalist while in jail.
Image: Bamber, who is serving a whole life prison term, continues to protest his innocence
So does Theroux himself believe Bamber committed the murders?
He remains tight-lipped on that, apologising for being “coy”, but admits the documentary has made him ask questions about who was responsible.
Theroux says: “Whether you think Jeremy Bamber did it or whether you think Sheila did it, both scenarios have anomalies, or at least require one to accept… surprising and in some cases seemingly anomalous details.
“The journey I went on was hearing something and going ‘If Jeremy Bamber did it, how did they explain that?’ – or ‘If Sheila did it, how would they explain that?'”
He adds: “Because of the nature of the case, we’re not in the realm of absolute certainty.”
Image: Bamber (R) was branded ‘warped and evil beyond belief’ by a judge. Pic: Sky UK
The documentary’s makers had hoped to interview Bamber, but director Lottie Gammon says the Ministry of Justice refused to allow it.
She says some of those campaigning for Bamber’s release have “legitimate” concerns, including how police treated the murder scene.
“There’s a lot of question marks over their behaviour,” she says.
“No one really clearly explains – because they didn’t really have to during the trial – how did he do this crime? That’s not something that was nailed down.
“Because there are these loose threads, many loose threads, it’s easy for people to look at it and have questions.
“I think this case is quite suited to the online world now of deep diving into these cases – especially over lockdown, these groups have really proliferated.”
Image: Bamber (L) pictured being escorted by an officer. Pic: Anglia Press Agency/Sky UK
What happened in the White House Farm murders?
On 7 August 1985, Jeremy Bamber rings police claiming his father had called him to say his sister Sheila Caffell had ‘gone crazy’ and had a gun
Police attend White House Farm and find the bodies of Bamber’s parents Nevill and June, Ms Caffell and her twin sons Nicholas and Daniel
Officers initially treat the case as a murder-suicide after Ms Caffell is found with her fingers around the rifle used in the shootings
A silencer which allegedly had traces of Ms Caffell’s blood on it is found in a cupboard three days after the murders
A month after the killings, Bamber’s then girlfriend, Julie Mugford, tells police he plotted to kill his parents for £436,000 inheritance
Bamber is charged with the murders and stands trial in 1986
The trial hears expert evidence that Ms Caffell – who had two gunshot wounds – could not have placed the silencer in the cupboard given her injuries from the first shot
A jury finds Bamber guilty by majority verdict and he is sentenced to five life prison terms
The judge, Mr Justice Drake, calls Bamber ‘warped and evil beyond belief’
Bamber has lost several legal challenges over his conviction since the original trial, including an appeal which was dismissed in 2002.
At the time, the Court of Appeal judges said the more they examined the detail of the case, the more likely they thought that “the jury were right”.
They also concluded there was no conduct by the police or prosecution which would have “adversely affected the jury’s verdict”.
In 2011, Bamber contacted Ofcom over a documentary about him which he claimed invaded his privacy – but the complaint was rejected.
Theroux believes the convicted killer will “probably take issue with parts” of his latest series.
“Whether or not you believe he did it, he’s on a campaign to have himself freed,” he says.
“I think he’d appreciate the fact we’ve done a nuanced and forensic view, but we’ve clearly included material that undermines or disputes that (campaign).”
Image: Bamber has lost several legal challenges over his conviction
The four-part series, airing on Sky Crime, has been made by Theroux’s production company Mindhouse, which he founded with his wife, producer Nancy Strang, and fellow documentary maker Aaron Fellows.
Now aged 51, Theroux says he intends to keep making documentaries for another “good 25 to 30 years”.
“You could either say that’s a lot or a little,” he adds.
“The stories I most enjoy are not overly cuddly. I think there’s a reason I’ve been on BBC2 for 25 years, as opposed to BBC1.
“I’m interested in stories that have a dimension to them that is in some ways troubling.
“I don’t think you should shy away from the troubling side of life – that’s sort of my bread and butter.”
Image: Louis Theroux is the executive producer of The Bambers: Murder At The Farm. Pic: Freddie Claire
But despite the recent success of his celebrity interview podcast Grounded, a reboot of Theroux’s TV show When Louis Met… – when he famously spent time with the likes of Savile, Max Clifford and Neil and Christine Hamilton – isn’t on the cards.
“I’ve got a lot older. Times have changed, TV’s changed,” he says.
“It would be like doing Weird Weekends again. It would be quite weird, wouldn’t it?
“I would never rule out doing programmes that feature celebrities in… a single person profile, or go on a journey with someone and I’m on camera. I could see that happening and that would be fun.”
The Bambers: Murder At The Farm will premiere on Sky Crime and NOW on Sunday 26 September at 9pm.
The Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle series premiered this morning – in which she talks about her life in California, her time spent living in Argentina and her love of food.
With Love, Meghan – an eight-part series on Netflix – had been delayed from a January release due to the Los Angeles wildfires.
The episodes, which last about 30 minutes each, feature a host of celebrity friends along with a few cameos from her husband, Prince Harry.
From her first jobs growing up to what she was like on the Suits set, here are some things we learnt about the duchess.
Image: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Mindy Kaling.
Pic: Netflix
‘I’m Sussex now’
One of Meghan’s guests is The Office star Mindy Kaling, who she bonds with over their lives as toddlers’ mums while putting together a tea party in the garden.
As they put sandwiches together for the tea, Meghan talks about her love of Jack In The Box – a classic US fast-food chain, to which Kaling responds: “I don’t think anyone in the world knows that Meghan Markle has eaten Jack In The Box and loves it.”
The duchess laughs and says: “It’s funny, you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know, I’m Sussex now.
“You have kids, and you go, ‘now I share my name with my children’… I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go ‘this is our family name, our little family name’.”
Similarities with Archie
During episode four, the duchess goes on a hike with her friend Delfina Blaquier, who is married to Argentinian polo star Nacho Figueras, and together they have a picnic with homemade focaccia bread.
The duchess reveals how she passed time during her childhood – and the similar traits her son, Archie, has: “As a kid, I was taking a bag of tea from the drawer in my house, putting it in a mason jar or probably an empty jar that once held spaghetti sauce and putting it in the sun, and sitting there… waiting for it to change colour.
“Funny enough, which Archie does now.”
Days before the show aired, in an interview with People magazine, the duchess said Archie had told her: “Mama, don’t work too hard” during filming.
She added the five-year-old helped with the clapperboard while visiting the set with his sister Lilibet and Harry.
Image: Delfina Figueras and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix
Life in Argentina
The two friends met through their husbands – “The moment we met, we bonded over our love of the outdoors and being in nature. We always hike together whenever she’s in town. And sometimes we let our husbands join us,” Meghan says.
Reflecting on when they first met, Meghan says: “What’s so funny is, I remember when we first met, and you were like: ‘Wait a minute, you speak Argentinian Spanish?’ But it’s such a pretty language because it sounds so musical.”
Her friend says: “When you started speaking Spanish and I recognised the Argentinian, I was blown away, because I didn’t know that…”
“That I’d lived there,” Meghan responds.
She adds: “When I lived in Argentina, I think the reason I loved it so much is because it reminded me of California in a lot of ways. Where you have the mountains and you have this joy of life and the joy of being outside.
“I was only there for a few months interning at the US Embassy, but I loved it.”
First jobs in doughnut and yoghurt shops – and some more childhood memories
In episode five, as Meghan hosts long-time friends, former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer and Kelly McKee Zajfen, she says that her first job was at Humphrey Yogart, a frozen yoghurt shop in Los Angeles playfully named after actor Humphrey Bogart.
That came after she told chef Roy Choi in episode three, as she presented him with doughnuts she prepared for him, that she once had a job at a doughnut shop.
“Doughnuts in general just remind me of my childhood,” she said.
“I once had a job at a little donut shop called Little Orbit Donuts. They made tiny, tiny, little mini donuts.”
She said she often helped them sell at craft venues, adding that doughnuts generally were a big part of her childhood.
“Growing up, driving down Highland to get to school, there was always a Yum Yum Donuts right there.”
“Highland and Melrose,” Choi clarifies.
“Exactly… is it still there?”
When Choi says it is, she responds: “Oh my god. I should go back in.”
In another episode, Kaling asks whether Meghan began cooking at home or picked it up later. Meghan replies: “I was a latch-key kid so I grew up with a lot of fast food and also a lot of TV tray dinners.
“It feels like such a different time but that was so normal with the microwavable kids meals.”
Life in Montecito house
Image: Branden Aroyan and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix
The lifestyle show, which was filmed in a California farmhouse rather than in her Montecito house, features her describing her every day life – including how it is a “daily” task to pick fruit when it’s in season at her home.
Episode one Hello Honey! features Meghan’s friend Daniel Martin as she prepares a “thoughtful guest basket”.
It begins with her harvesting honey from bees, saying: “The biggest thing is keeping a low tone – talk in our bee voice.”
With the help of a beekeeper, she talks about “trying to stay in the calm of it because it’s beautiful to be this connected”.
Harry is the king of eggs
When asked by Kaling about how best to season eggs, the duchess says: “I have a family, a husband, who no matter what meal is put in front of him before he tastes it puts salt on, so I try to under salt.”
Harry himself, it is later revealed, is something of an egg connoisseur.
Speaking to two close friends in a later episode, she says “H” is a “great cook” and makes “the best scrambled eggs”.
She further praises him by saying he generally makes “a really good breakfast”.
Bacon was the subject of discussions on more than one occasion during the series, with Meghan saying that whenever she cooks it the kitchen “becomes full of husband and three dogs”.
“It’s not my perfume that’s bringing them all in,” she jokes.
What the duchess was like during Suits
Meghan’s days of playing paralegal Rachel Zane in popular drama Suits came to an end in 2018, the year she married Harry.
But she has clearly remained close with co-star Abigail Spencer, who played Dana Scott.
In episode five, as the pair sat in Meghan’s garden alongside Kelly McKee Zajfen, Spencer reflected on what Meghan was like during the Suits days.
She said Meghan was “the head of morale on the show,” to which Meghan thanked her and added: “I liked to plan fun for everyone.”
Heart-warming moments of Meghan with beloved beagle
The whole series ends with a tribute to Meghan’s late dog, Guy, who featured prominently in several episodes.
One morning, the duchess is seen making bone-shaped peanut butter biscuits for the rescue beagle, who died shortly after filming wrapped, saying you can make them with leftover bacon from breakfast.
Image: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Guy. Pic: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
She admitted there was “never” any leftovers in her house because “we eat a lot of it” – another reference to the Sussexes love of bacon.
“I would do anything for Guy, and he knows it,” she then says. “He can have whatever he wants ’cause he is whatever kind of guy you need him to be depending on the day. My sweet guy, my silly guy, my saucy little guy. Always my spoiled guy.”
Later, as she hands him a peanut butter cookie, she adds: “They provide us with unconditional love, so they get unconditional peanut butter dog biscuits. Why not?”
The Sussexes also have two other dogs – another rescue beagle named Mia and a black Labrador called Pula, who is seen trying to steal some of Meghan and her guests’ food at various points during the series.
Meghan’s ‘next chapter’
In the eighth and final episode, called Feels Like Home, Meghan prepares for Prince Harry to make an appearance.
She is putting together a brunch for family and friends to celebrate the “next chapter” in her life.
Sharing details of how she envisages the so-called “next chapter”, Meghan, wearing a blue maxi dress and putting the finishing touches to a spread of food outdoors, says: “Of course, my husband will be here, my mum will be here, my best friend since college, my community having a brunch in the sunshine with the people that I love, celebrating this next chapter of my life.”
Dolly Parton’s husband – who she married in a secret ceremony aged just 20 – has died.
The country music star’s website said Carl Dean died on Monday in Nashville.
Parton said in a statement: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
Dean was the inspiration behind Jolene, one of her biggest hits.
She said she wrote the song after a flirty bank clerk seemed to take an interest in him.
“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton told NPR in 2008.
“And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention.
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“It was kinda like a running joke between us… So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”
Image: Parton, 78, said ‘words can’t do justice to the love we shared’. Pic: AP
The pair met outside the Wishy Washy launderette, where Parton was doing her washing, the day she moved to Nashville at age 18.
“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),” Parton said in 2016.
“He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”
Anora has dominated the Academy Awards, winning five gongs including best picture.
The film’s star, Mikey Madison, who plays a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, took home the best actress award – a win that was not a total upset, but many had expected Demi Moore to scoop the prize for her performance in The Substance.
Anora filmmaker Sean Baker was named best director, and used his acceptance speech to make a plea for audiences to support cinemas, which he said were “a vital part of our culture” and at risk of being lost.
Both also thanked sex workers who consulted on the film, saying they could never have made it without them.
Anora also won the Oscarsfor best original screenplay and best editing. Winning all four awards he was up for, Baker tied with Walt Disney’s record for the most Oscar wins by a single person in a single night – although Disney won his awards for multiple works, rather than a single film as Baker has done.
Adrien Brody won the best actor Oscar for playing Hungarian architect Lazlo Toth in architectural epic The Brutalist.
It was his second Academy Award win in the category some 22 years after his first, for The Pianist back in 2003.
Image: Adrien Brody won the best actor award – his second Oscar – for his performance in The Brutalist. Pic: Reuters
Accepting his award in a lengthy speech, he paid tribute to his partner Georgina Chapman, who he said had “re-invigorated” his “self-worth” and “sense of value”.
Best cinematography also went to The Brutalist directror Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour epic, which also took home the prize for best original score.
Papal thriller Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, took just one award, for best adapted screenplay.
Image: Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor. Pic: Reuters
Kieran Culkin took the first award of the night, best supporting actor, for his role in comedy drama A Real Pain, while the best supporting actress prize was won by Emilia Perez star Zoe Saldana, her first Oscar win and nomination.
One of the highest-grossing actresses ever, she cried out “Mommy, mommy”, on stage, explaining her entire family was there with her. She became tearful at the end of her speech as she spoke of being “a proud child of immigrant parents”.
Image: Zoe Saldana was named best actress. Pic: Reuters
Announced by Mick Jagger, best song went to Emilia Perez’s El Mal (which translates as “Evil”), while the prize for costume design went to Wicked’s Paul Tazewell – who became the first black man to receive the award. The Wizard Of Oz prequel also won best production design.
Brazilian director Walter Salles won best international feature for Portuguese-language film I’m Still Here, set in the 1970s in the midst of the Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship.
A word-of-mouth hit, the film’s Brazilian star Fernanda Torres has gone from a relative unknown to a much-talked-about actress in the US in the last few months.
Image: Star of I’m Still Here, Fernanda Torres. Pic: Reuters
Make-up and hairstyling was awarded to body horror The Substance, a film which showcased extreme prosthetics, make-up and gore throughout. It was the film’s only win of the night.
The documentary categories went to The Only Girl In The Orchestra and No Other Land – made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective – for short film and feature film respectively.
Accepting the prize, it’s makers Basel Dra and Yuval Abraham made a political plea to the US: “The foreign policy in this country is helping to block [the path of peace]. Why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? There is another way. It’s not too late for life, for the living.”
Best sound and best visual effects went to Dune: Part Two, directed by Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve.
A night where independent and unusual filmmaking was rewarded, best animated feature went to Latvian computer-generated film Flow, while best animated short film was won by Iranian entry The Shadow Of The Cypress. Both international productions are dialogue-free.
Live action short film went to I’m Not A Robot, a study in an AI-fueled identity crisis.
Image: Tributes were paid to a host of late industry greats, starting with Gene Hackman. Pic: AP/Chris Pizzello
A video montage honoured Academy members who have passed away over the last year, including British stars Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Joan Plowwright and Donald Sutherland, and US performers James Earl Jones, Kris Kristofferson and David Lynch.
There was also a moving segment honouring late music producer Quincy Jones, led by Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg and featuring rapper Queen Latifah.
Sky News is livestreaming the Vanity Fair and Sir Elton John after-party red carpets following the ceremony. Catching the Oscar-winners as they party the night away, join us there from 6am.