They planned the murder.
They covered their tracks.
They thought they had got away with it.

They almost did.

In The Makings of a Murderer: Fatal Mistake, award-winning investigative journalist and broadcaster Donal MacIntyre examines the extraordinary true stories of killers who came terrifyingly close to escaping justice.

These are the murderers who lied convincingly, destroyed evidence, created false alibis and, in some cases, remained free for years.

But somewhere, something went wrong.

A tiny forensic trace. A forgotten witness. A change in behaviour. A piece of CCTV. A phone call. A contradiction. One mistake that finally began to unravel everything.

Drawing on some of the most compelling murder investigations of modern times, Donal takes audiences inside the hunt for killers who believed they had committed the perfect crime.

How did they avoid suspicion for so long?
What finally gave them away?
And just how close did they really come to getting away with murder?

Gripping, revealing and packed with extraordinary real-life cases, The Makings of a Murderer: Fatal Mistake explores the killers who nearly beat the system - and the investigators, evidence and chance discoveries that finally brought them to justice.

*Please note that tickets cannot be refunded. 
Full seating information can be found by visiting THEATRE INFO on our website. 
Tickets booked after 1st April 2025 will include a small restoration levy of £1.50 to support ongoing maintenance and significant restoration projects at the Playhouse theatre.