Netflix’s A Confession, the 2019 ITV six-part true-crime thriller revived on September 25, 2025, with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score, catapults Martin Freeman into a vortex of legal peril and personal purgatory as DS Steve Fulcher, a detective whose “never lost a case” conviction costs him everything in a “dark, twisted” hunt for a missing woman that uncovers a killer’s cold calculus. Directed by Paul Andrew Williams and penned by Jeff Pope (The Reckoning), the series – based on the 2011 disappearance of Sian O’Callaghan – stars Freeman, 53, as Fulcher, whose “unorthodox” interrogation of taxi driver Christopher Halliwell (Joe Absolom) leads to a confession for Sian and another victim, Becky Godden-Edwards (missing 2003), but at the price of his career for breaching PACE rules. “It’s The Staircase’s doubt with Happy Valley’s grit – sharper, more soul-crushing,” Freeman tells Radio Times, his Fulcher a “masterclass in moral mess,” unraveling from hero to heretic. Filmed in Swindon and Wiltshire in 2018, the “gone in 2 weeks” limited run has spiked 2.5 million premiere views, outpacing The Jetty.
The saga’s sinister slide? Spellbinding: Episode 1’s “The Vanishing” catapults Fulcher into the fray, Sian’s 2011 nightclub exit unspooling into a frantic search that fixates on Halliwell, whose “confession” – coerced without caution – cracks two cases but courts catastrophe. Freeman’s Fulcher? A “tour de force of tenacity,” his everyman earnestness eroding into ethical erosion, unraveling a web where “twists shock” and truths torment. Absolom’s Halliwell? A “villain virtuoso,” his unassuming cabbie a chilling chameleon. Siobhan Finneran’s Karen Edwards? A “vixen of vulnerability,” her grief a grenade. Imelda Staunton’s Elaine O’Callaghan? A “force of fury,” her maternal might a mirror to Fulcher’s fall.
The “sharper than Line of Duty”? Seismic: Pope’s adaptation amps the “pacy” probe with “spooky” soundscapes and “authentic” accents, Williams’ direction a “gripping” gasp of “grim themes” in Swindon’s “eerie charm.” The Guardian‘s Lucy Mangan raves “very well-made, pacy drama” with Freeman’s “reliably likeable” levity; The Independent‘s Ed Power hails Finneran’s “Icily Glamorous” iciness and the “understated and spooky” score. Evening Standard‘s Vicky Jessop praises the “overall confidence, style and authenticity.” Skeptics? “Mired in darkness,” but the 1-in-2 clue-to-cliff ratio hooks, BARB metrics outgunning The Jetty.
This isn’t whodunit wallpaper; it’s a web-weaving whirlwind, A Confession‘s confession a testament to truth’s toll where victories venomize. Fulcher’s fall? Fracturing. Halliwell’s hold? Haunting. September 25? Not a drop – a delusion. Binge it; the confessions creep, the costs crush. Freeman’s fray? Fraying, fierce. The obsession? Overnight, inescapable.
