Is Channel 4's Suspect Based On A True Story?

New Channel 4 drama Suspect has been released and it has captured the attention of viewers across the UK.

Directed by James Nesbitt, the series revolves around veteran detective Danny Frater (played by Nesbitt himself) who goes to a hospital for what he believes to be a routine autopsy but finds more than he bargained for.

Without revealing too much of the plot, Frater believes that the woman, who has reportedly committed suicide, dies under suspicious circumstances; the series then follows his quest for truth.

Since its release on 19th June 2022, the eight part series has received a mixture of reviews. Interestingly, on IMDb, every single episode has a rating of over 7/10 yet the show overall sits at a very average 5.2.

Rotten Tomatoes supposedly doesn’t even have enough audience ratings to warrant giving the show a critical rating.

Overall, Suspect seems to have been met with a sense of audience apathy - with audiences not overwhelmingly adoring the show but not disliking it either. 

What some viewers are considering, however, is whether or not the show is fact or fiction?

Is Suspect Based On A True Story?

In short, no. Suspect has been written for TV and the events of the show are entirely fictional. 

The show, which is an adaptation of Forhøret, an original Danish series, is not based on a book and neither does it bear any inspiration from actual occurrences.

As Nesbitt himself said to Channel 4, every episode pits Frater against another character who may or may not know something about the untimely death of the woman in what Nesbitt dubbed “an intensely theatrical double”.

These proverbial Mexican stand-offs are set up to test Frater and also allows the audience to spend quality time with each character, making for more fleshed out personalities on the show.