Freeview film of the day: London Road

London Road ★★★★
Premiere 10.00-11.30pm BBC2

If you think the very real subject of the murder of five women in Ipswich in 2006 by forklift truck driver Steve Wright has no place in a musical, I urge you to sample London Road.The 2011 National Theatre stage production has been sensitively stewarded to the screen by NT Artistic Director Rufus Norris, who opens up the story in real, grey locations. The original cast are joined by marquee names Olivia Colman and Tom Hardy, but the effect is the same: faithfully transcribed witness testimony ingeniously set to the music of Adam Cork. It takes a little getting used to, but the tale of a community regaining its sense of self-respect after a media mauling is ultimately uplifting, and there is even dark humour in some numbers (It Could be Him; We’ve all Stopped). A unique achievement.