Under Suspicion: Kate McCann cast list for Channel 5 drama

It is set three months after the disappearance of Madeleine, with the media and Portuguese police now treating the McCanns very differently.

The one-off drama maps out Kate’s cross-examination after she and Madeleine’s father, Gerry, were named suspects.

A synopsis for the programme shares: “In her final interrogation, Kate defies all accusations by answering ‘no comment’ on her lawyer’s advice.

“As she leaves the police station, we are reminded that this story began with a mother searching for her child, and that no amount of suspicion, however constructed, will diminish her hope of finding her daughter.”

Madeleine disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the evening of May 3, 2007, at just three years old.

Her disappearance has been dubbed “the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history”.

Both Kate and Gerry were subjected to intense scrutiny and faced accusations of involvement in the disappearance.

In 2008, as a result of false allegations of their involvement in Madeleine’s death, they and their travelling companions received damages and apologies from Express Newspapers.

How accurate will Under Suspicion: Kate McCann be?

Writer Philip Ralph shared that the production used real interrogation material to help craft the script.

Speaking to Channel 5, he shared: “The Portuguese Policia Judicaria (PJ) officers who interrogated Kate McCann in 2007 did not audio record their interviews.

“Instead one of their team took detailed notes in Portuguese which were then translated into English for Kate McCann to sign off once the interview was complete.

“So the biggest challenge was crafting dialogue that accurately represented the Portuguese police’s questions and direction of enquiry whilst also ensuring that Kate’s answers were accurate to the record and the facts of the case.

“And then, once that work was done, the dialogue had to be accurately translated back into Portuguese for the actors playing the PJ officers.

“It was a complex, painstaking process.”

Under Suspicion: Kate McCann full cast list

• Laura Bayston as Kate McCann
• Joana Borja as Armanda Duarte Salbany Russel
• Hugo Nicolau as Inspector João Carlos
• Miguel Freire as Inspector Ricardo Paiva

Recommended reading:

• Carlos Agualusa as Carlos Pinto De Abreu
• James Robinson as Gerry McCann
• Ruby Ranson as Madeleine McCann

When will Under Suspicion: Kate McCann be on TV?

The one-off episode will air on Channel 5 at 9pm on Wednesday, May 20.

It will air until 10.25pm and will be available to watch on Channel 5’s streaming service.

Will you be watching Under Suspicion: Kate McCann? Let us know in the comments.