Under Suspicion: Kate McCann true story – how accurate is the 5 drama?

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann is one of the most well-known missing child cases of all time, with the sad sequence of events unfolding in 2007 and still, to this day, remaining a topic of conversation.

It’s been the subject of heavy media coverage and countless documentaries, and is now the subject of 5’s latest factual drama, Under Suspicion: Kate McCann. The one-off drama homes in on a different angle of the case, focusing on the eventual questioning of Madeleine’s mother, Kate.

As detailed in the drama, Portuguese investigators felt mounting pressure to find the perpetrator and, soon, the spotlight fell on Kate.

As per the synopsis: “After 11 hours of questioning, Kate is told that the next day she will be named ’arguida’ – a formal suspect. What’s more, the police want a confession, and without one, they may charge her with her daughter’s murder.”

But what actually happened to Kate McCann and is the new 5 drama accurate in its portrayal? Read on to find out.

Under Suspicion: Kate McCann true story – How accurate is the 5 drama?

The new 5 drama takes us right into the police interview room, mapping out a representation of what is believed to have happened while Kate McCann was being questioned by Portuguese police.

Using real interrogation material was essential in crafting the scripts for the show, with Philip Ralph on writing duties. Speaking about what the biggest challenge was in using them, he told 5: “The Portuguese Policia Judicaria (PJ) officers who interrogated Kate McCann in 2007 did not audio record their interviews.

“Instead one of their team took detailed notes in Portuguese which were then translated into English for Kate McCann to sign off once the interview was complete.

“So the biggest challenge was crafting dialogue that accurately represented the Portuguese police’s questions and direction of enquiry whilst also ensuring that Kate’s answers were accurate to the record and the facts of the case. And then, once that work was done, the dialogue had to be accurately translated back into Portuguese for the actors playing the PJ officers. It was a complex, painstaking process.”

Speaking about what he was most conscious of whilst writing the drama, he went on: “By telling the story in as precise, simple and direct a way as possible, I want the audience to forget what they think they know and see it afresh, through Kate’s eyes, as fellow human beings, fellow parents and children. If this happened to you, to your family, what would you do? How would you react? How would you go on living? Go on fighting? Go on hoping?

“The PJ’s case against the McCanns was based on nothing, fell apart almost instantly, and a year later they publicly apologised to them for accusing them. But still, to this day, the McCanns must face lies and accusations, all whilst they try to go on with their lives and – most importantly – keep searching for Madeleine.”

Similarly, Nat Lippiett (head of programmes at Orchard Studios and executive producer) said that the team were “fortunate enough to have strong material” that they could use for the drama. “There is a huge responsibility to reflect as accurately as possible the spirit of the events in question, if not always the exact letter. The Madeleine McCann investigation is so widely covered that we felt we needed a very strong reason to revisit,” he said.

“We found it by focusing in on a lesser known, vitally important and crucially deeply human aspect of the case that had not been covered in such detail before. This pivotal moment speaks to themes that are universally relevant – suspicion and guilt, speculation and rumour, grief and desperation and the integrity of the criminal justice system.”

Were the McCanns considered suspects in Madeleine’s disappearance?

Madeleine disappeared aged 3 while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal during the evening of 3 May 2007.

The resulting investigation took centre stage in the UK press, with extensive coverage across the media – but it was in June, just the following month, that the sentiment of the media started to shift and put the spotlight on Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry.

During a press conference in Berlin on 6 June 2007, a journalist asked the couple if they were involved and later that month, a 3,000 word article was published in Portuguese weekly magazine Sol, stating that the McCanns were suspects in their daughter’s disappearance.

Kate and Gerry have always denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance, but both the Portuguese and British press went on to publish numerous articles, not based on any evidence, alleging various things about the McCanns.

The PJ made both Gerry and Kate ‘arguidos’ (named suspects in English) in September 2007. The PJ suggested that Madeleine could have died in an accident in the apartment, and Kate later claimed she was offered a deal to admit covering up her daughter’s death in exchange for a shorter sentence.

In Kate’s resulting arguido interview, she only answered one question and remained silent for the rest, as advised by her lawyer.

On 21 July 2008, the police inquiry was closed due to a lack of evidence able to link the McCanns to Madeleine’s disappearance. Their arguido status was subsequently lifted.

Following this, Kate said: “It is hard to describe how utterly despairing it was to be named arguidos and subsequently portrayed in the media as suspects in our own daughter’s abduction.

“It has been equally devastating to witness the detrimental effect this status has had on the search for Madeleine.”

The McCanns’ then-spokesperson Clarence Mitchell added: “There is a degree of relief but no air of celebration whatsoever. They should never have been arguidos. The fact that they have emerged from this without being charged proves that.”

In 2023, Panorama reported that a delegation of senior Portuguese police officers travelled to London to apologise to the McCanns for the way they treated them and how investigated Madeleine’s disappearance.

Under Suspicion: Kate McCann premieres on Wednesday 20 May at 9pm on 5.

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