Abacus Media Rights (AMR), a member of the Amcomri Media Group, has linked up with leading UK independent producer Revelation Films to launch a ten-part series The Real Manhunter, written and presented by former Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Colin Sutton.

With a 30-year police career in the UK, Colin Sutton led many of the highest-profile murder investigations of his generation – of the 37 murder cases he investigated, 35 were solved with convictions, an extraordinary success rate.   He was recently portrayed by award-winning actor Martin Clunes in the ITV hit drama Manhunt which has just been commissioned for a second season (Manhunt II: The Night Stalker).

The Real Manhunter is the first production available through the recent exclusive agreement secured by Revelation Films with Colin Sutton for all non-scripted projects.  The series is executive produced by Tony Carne and Trevor Drane at Revelation Films.

In a deal brokered by long term Revelation associate Jonathan Ford from AMR, Sky Crime in the UK has acquired The Real Manhunter. The series, which has been in production throughout the COVID-19 lockdown, will premiere early next year. AMR retains all international rights excluding the UK for the series, which is also available as 6 x one hour and 2 x 90-minutes. The series has been acquired internationally by AMC Networks’ streaming service Acorn TV in the US and Canada and the Seven Network in Australia with a raft of additional sales already in the pipeline.

The series revisits cases Sutton led and explores everything from the crime itself through to the breakthrough moment when the suspect was identified and arrested. The Real Manhunter takes the viewer on a journey, sometimes harrowing, from the moment the police were called to the scene, visiting key locations, and explaining how Sutton and his team managed to gather enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Along with Sutton’s personal observations, The Real Manhunter features contributions from key members of his murder squad teams, victims’ families, and those directly involved in the cases, and offers a gripping insight into exactly what happens after the most violent of crimes has been committed.

Trevor Drane at Revelation Films said, “Revelation has a reputation for authenticity in its productions which our new series enhances further. With Colin Sutton The Real Manhunter we feature a detective who has brought some of the most notorious criminals of the early 21st century to justice. His case book makes for a series that is in equal measure a fascinating detective story and also the shocking tale of terrible crimes and enabled us to make a series like no other, telling each investigation from inside the murder squad by those who carried them out. This is an exclusive and unique insight into criminal investigation from the perspective of possibly the greatest detective of his age.”

Jonathan Ford, Managing Director, Abacus Media Rights, added, “This is a significant true crime series for us to have secured as this is a genre that is really in demand globally. The stories that Colin tells are enlightening, gripping, and edge-of-the-seat stuff.  But the most frightening aspect of each episode is that it all really happened – we are hearing directly from the man who saw everything and fought to the bitter end to get to the truth and obtain a conviction in each case.”