Netflix has recently added a riveting British crime series that first aired in 2014 and it’s topping the charts.

Despite its initial broadcast over a decade ago, the three-part series The Widower, featuring Sheridan Smith and Reece Shearsmith, currently sits at number four on Netflix’s TV chart.

The series delves into the life of Surrey nurse Malcolm Webster, who murders his first wife and tries to kill his second to claim hundreds of thousands of pounds in life insurance payouts.

After receiving high praise from audiences and critics upon its original release, The Widower is experiencing a resurgence now that it’s available for streaming.

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But what should viewers anticipate from this drama and is it rooted in reality?

Sheridan Smith as Claire Morris

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Webster was convicted of murdering his first wife Claire Morris(Image: ITV)

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Is The Widower based on a true story?

Indeed, the acclaimed miniseries is actually based on real events that primarily took place in the 1990s.

Shearsmith takes on the role of Webster, a real-life convicted murderer, now aged 66, who regularly targeted women for financial gain.

His co-star Smith plays his first wife, Claire Morris, whom he married in 1993 before drugging her and staging a car accident in May 1994, positioning her in the passenger seat and setting the car on fire.

Webster then married Felicity Drumm in New Zealand in 1997, even having a son together.

Reece Shearsmith as Malcolm Webster

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Reece Shearsmith gives a chilling performance as real-life murderer Malcolm Webster(Image: ITV)

However, in 1999 he staged a second car crash and was accused of trying to murder Drumm in order to receive a £750,000 payout from nine life insurance policies.

The series also explores Webster’s romance with Simone Banerjee, played by Archie Panjabi, which started after he falsely claimed to have been diagnosed with terminal leukaemia.

Banerjee chose to change her will, leaving Webster her complete fortune, but officers informed her about her partner’s past and the fact he was already married with a child before their official wedding.

Webster received a minimum 30-year prison sentence in July 2011 for Claire Morris’s murder and the attempted murder of Felicity Drumm.

He continues to serve his time today.

Reece Shearsmith and Archie Panjabi

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The real Simone Banerjee has called the series “99% accurate”(Image: ITV)

In 2016, the convicted murderer failed in his bid to have his case referred to the High Court, with the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission rejecting his application.

A previous appeal in 2013, where Webster insisted he had suffered a miscarriage of justice, was similarly thrown out.