The Girl Who Caught a Killer

The Girl Who Caught a Killer follows Rachael Watts, now 42, as she tells her extraordinary story – how, as a seven-year-old girl, she was kidnapped by a stranger, strangled, and left for dead.  

Four years earlier, the "Babes in the Wood" murders of schoolgirls Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway had shocked the nation. Despite the evidence, the killer Russell Bishop walked free – free to proclaim his innocence and, sickeningly, lead a hunt for the "real" killer. Rachael not only survived the appalling attack on her, but she was able to pick out her attacker from a police lineup. Bishop was found guilty of her attempted murder, and Rachael's identity remained a secret.  

Now, in this new two-part documentary series, Rachael breaks her thirty-year silence to share her story for the first time on camera, revealing the long-term impact of her trauma, and her role in helping convict a murderer.  Alongside Rachael's story, family members of Nicola Fellows describe their thirty-year struggle for justice, leading to a sensational re-trial. 

Featuring the personal accounts of family, witnesses, police detectives, and with previously unreleased police footage and photos, the series gives unparallelled insight into one of the most notorious crimes in British history, how a second crime exposed the real killer, and how the testimony of one little girl finally caught a killer.