Murdered by My Boyfriend

Murdered by My Boyfriend is a BAFTA Award-winning one-off fact-based drama first aired on BBC Three in 2014.[1] It stars Georgina Campbell as Ashley Jones, a young victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her controlling boyfriend, Reece, portrayed by Royce Pierreson.

Murdered by My Boyfriend
GenreCrime drama
Written byRegina Moriarty
Directed byPaul Andrew Williams
Starring
ComposerNavid Asghari
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time60 minutes
Production companyBBC Productions
Release
Original networkBBC Three
Picture format16:9 1080i
Original release23 June 2014 (2014-06-23)
External links
Website

It was based on an actual case of murder, with the victim's family asking the producers to give the characters different names. According to the producers, the purpose of the film is to educate juvenile viewers about relationship abuse.[2]

Plot

Ashley meets Reece at a club and becomes pregnant with his child without meaning to do so. Reece's abusive personality shows more and more. Ashley's friends ask her to leave him, but she struggles to do so. Ultimately Ashley chooses to exit the relationship, then travels to Leicester where she sleeps with another man. In response Reece kills her with an ironing board while their daughter watches from her bedroom. He is initially sentenced to fifteen years in prison, but is increased to twenty on appeal due to the nature of the assault that resulted in her death.

Characters
  • Ashley Jones - Jess Commons of Grazia states that Ashley is not a "pitiful victim" through and through but becomes innundated with abuse as the film progresses. Due to an increase in domestic violence involving people aged 16–24, the producers made Ashley a teenager.[3] The mother of the real-life murder victim stated that "My daughter was strong-willed and independent, but her murderer manipulated, controlled, and persuaded her into continuing the relationship."[4]
  • Reece - Sophie Goddard of Cosmopolitan UK remarked that the character has a "likeable, personable side" and an "abusive, controlling, violent" one, which shows the "complexity of this situation for victims."[2] Campbell states that initially Reece is "charming and older and funny and sweet".[3]

Reception

In a piece for British broadsheet The Daily Telegraph, writer Regina Moriarty said: "I hope that people watching will note the way that Reece starts, little by little, to take control of Ashley's life, and if they can see that that's happening to them or someone they know, they'll do something about it – talk about it, get some more information... something".[5]

Sarah Hughes of The Guardian wrote that the "veracity" of the story and the young ages of the characters "marks [it] apart" from similar works.[6]

The programme won a Royal Television Society Award for best Single Drama in 2014,[7] and Campbell won a BAFTA Award for Best Leading Actress in 2015, ahead of bookmakers' favourite Sheridan Smith.[8][9]

This drama was released on DVD on 21 September 2015.[10]

References
  1. Sweeting, Adam (20 July 2014). "Murdered by My Boyfriend, BBC One, review: 'convincing'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  2. Goddard, Sophie (19 June 2014). "Why "Murdered By My Boyfriend" is such an important piece of TV". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  3. Commons, Jess (24 June 2014). "Murdered By My Boyfriend Is The Drama You Need To Watch This Week". Grazia. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. White, Alan (22 June 2014). ""Murdered By My Boyfriend" Showed The Horrific Reality Of Domestic Violence". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  5. Moriarty, Regina (23 June 2014). "Murdered By My Boyfriend: How a confident, bubbly woman became a tragic victim of domestic violence". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  6. Hughes, Sarah (16 June 2014). "Teenage girls and domestic violence – the truth". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  7. "Programme Awards 2013 - 2014: The Winners". Royal Television Society. 17 March 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  8. Strang, Fey. "Who is Georgina Campbell? Meet the Murdered By My Boyfriend star who won Leading Actress at BAFTA TV Awards". The Mirror. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  9. Evans, Denise (11 May 2015). "BAFTAs 2015: Coronation Street and Happy Valley win top awards". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  10. "Murdered By My Boyfriend [DVD]". Amazon.
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