Is The Sister on ITV based on a true story?
ITV’S new thriller The Sister promises to give us all the spooks in the run up to Halloween.
The chilling four-part series is the brainchild of Luther creator Neil Cross, and is based on a frightening experience in his own life.
Is The Sister on ITV based on a true story?
The Sister was written by Luther creator Neil Cross and is based on Cross’s 2009 novel Burial.
Although the events of the novel are fictional, the author has revealed how a moment from his life inspired his book.
At a press event for the new ITV drama, Neil said as a teenager he believed he killed someone.
He said: “I was very young, I was 16 or 17 and I was out of my head on rough cider in Bristol… we used to drink rough cider in gallon containers because it was 32p a pint.
“I was making my way back to my sister’s house and there was a shortcut and you could either walk round a very long road – this huge sprawling council estate – or you could take a shortcut through the woods, through [to] these concrete steps through the woods.
“I woke up with a very, very clear memory of coming across a homeless man asleep on the steps who I randomly stabbed to death.
“I woke up the next morning and there was no sense of it being a dream, I just remembered doing it. To the extent I lived in degrees of fear certainly for the next week.”
Neil explained there was no blood on him or the knife he used to carry but still looked through the news as he was “absolutely certain” he remembered killing someone.
He added: “For years and years – I genuinely find this difficult to talk about – even now there is one per cent of me which is troubled by the memory of it.
“When the internet was invented one of the first things I did, when I became aware of what search engines were, was search the old newspapers. So yeah that was the inspiration.
“I didn’t do it if anybody’s wondering.”
What is the book The Sister is based on called?
The Sister is based on Neil Cross’s novel Burial.
Although Burial isn’t autobiographical, the protagonist Nathan is as close to autobiographical as any of his other characters, according to Cross.
Nathan is haunted by a terrible secret.
He is newly married and terrified the dark truth will be revealed, ruining everything he holds dear.
An old figure from his past arrives one evening – threatening his whole lifestyle.
The Sister features elements of the supernatural, but ghosts are never explicitly featured.
THE SISTER
When is The Sister on ITV?
The Sister is on ITV all this week (October 26-29) at 9pm.
It will air on four consecutive nights from Monday, with the finale on Thursday, October 29.
All episodes will be available to watch on the ITV Hub from Monday.