BBC Radio 4 creates docudrama on Daphne Caruana Galizia

The first of five instalments of BBC Radio 4’s docudrama entitled Daphne: A Fire in Malta was released on Monday. 

The first episode described the start of Caruana Galizia's blog, Running Commentary, in the aftermath of an arson attack on her house in 2005 by unknown individuals suspected to be far-right sympathisers.

The docudrama will feature five 15-minute episodes, in an attempt to piece together what might have happened “behind the headlines,” leading up to Caruana Galizia's murder.

Michelle Fairley

Michelle Fairley, who is best known for her role as Catelyn Stark in the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, will be voicing Caruana Galizia. Fairley is joined by Paul Hickey, who played inspector Gregson in Doctor Who, as her husband Peter, and also Jonny Holden who will play her son Matthew.

The docudrama introduced Caruana Galizia as "Malta’s top investigative" journalist and described her as a woman who dedicated her life to holding power to account; investigating allegations of organised crime, cronyism and corruption in Malta.

"On the afternoon of October 16th, 2017, she was driving to the bank to regain control of her account, which had been frozen at the request of a government minister, when she was killed after a bomb exploded under her car. Half a kilo of explosives, hidden under the driver’s seat, were detonated remotely. She was 53 years old," the introduction to the series read.

"Daphne was often described as fearless. Her provocative, uncompromising style made her work both controversial – and high risk. But what compelled Daphne to take on these influential forces? Across the series, we explore five episodes from Daphne’s life and investigative work. In telling her story, there is much we cannot know and so some we have imagined."

It said that the docudrama drew from various sources, "and sometimes conflicting accounts" in an attempt to piece together a picture of "what might have happened behind the headlines".

The show is written by playwright Lizzie Nunnery and BBC Senior Investigative Journalist Alys Harte and directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.