The Intruder: He’s Watching You From Within – all about the C5 true crime doc
THE story of the police manhunt for one of the most prolific offenders in British criminal history is set to be told in a Channel 5 documentary.
The Intruder: He's Watching You From Within takes place in the summer of 1984, at a time when the Yorkshire Ripper was also at large.
What is The Intruder: He's Watching You From Within?
This full-length documentary chronicles the chase of Malcolm Fairley, one of the most notorious and depraved criminals in British history.
In the blistering hot summer of 1984, a sadistic predator terrorised rural Britain.
His victims were men and women ranging in age from teenagers to pensioners.
The suspect’s reign of terror spanned across the serene towns and villages of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Hertfordshire, an area that came to be ominously referred to as the Triangle of Terror.
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Known as The Fox due to his peculiar and distinctive behaviours, this assailant and burglar would invade homes eating the occupant’s food and drinks.
He then would use the victim’s own furniture and blankets to construct a makeshift den where he could conceal himself.
In an eerie ritual, he would unscrew all the light bulbs and he would either look through the family's photo albums by flashlight or watch their television.
He would then lie in wait until the sound of a key turning in the door signalled the arrival of his unsuspecting victims.
During the peak of the crime spree, three assaults occurred within a single week.
The Fox, hidden behind a menacing mask and lacking any recognisable traits, remained an enigma.
It led Bedfordshire Police to accumulate a list of over 5,000 potential suspects, a number that expanded with each subsequent attack.
A pivotal piece of evidence eventually emerged, significantly reducing the pool of suspects.
This development accelerated the pursuit of The Fox.
It forced law enforcement to return to traditional investigative methods that ultimately guided officers to his residence.
The effort to apprehend him mobilised 200 police officers and served as an early example of using computers to assist in cross-referencing data during a criminal probe.
The operation cost Bedfordshire Police £200,000 in 1984, which amounts to around £805,000 in today's money.
By the time of his capture, Fairley had committed 80 crimes as The Fox.
In February 1985, Fairley was convicted at St Albans Crown Court and sentenced to six life terms.
Who stars in The Intruder: He's Watching You From Within?
The true crime film is told by the detectives who ultimately snared the man responsible.
It features never-before heard police interviews with Fairley confessing to his terrible crimes and explaining why he did them.
Operation Peanut, the police operation to apprehend Fairley, would ultimately engage up to 200 officers, alongside police canine units and the deployment of a Lynx helicopter from the British Armed Forces.
Director for ITN Productions Chris Hackett remarked that it was one of the last big police manhunts before the introduction of DNA analysis and required “old-fashioned detective work”.
Hackett added: “We wanted to tell the story of the police officers desperate to find this man while also fearing for their own families."
Channel 5 Commissioning Editor Dan Louw said that this “real-life horror movie” was a tribute to the victims and law enforcement who managed to track him down.
“There’s something primal about our fear that there’s someone lurking in our homes – in our place of safety,” he said.
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How to watch The Intruder: He's Watching You From Within
The Intruder: He’s Watching You From Within is produced by ITN Productions and has been commissioned for Channel 5.
The 120-minute documentary airs on Channel 5 on April 8 at 10pm.