I enjoyed this dramatisation of a true crime committed in the early 70's, but feel guilty for doing so. I remember the enormous headlines that this series of armed robberies, murders and the kidnapping of a teenage girl received at the time and how shocking they were. Donald Sumpter gives a convincing portrayal as the unpredictable Donald Nielson the ex soldier who rules his home as if he his still in the army. His wife and daughter are clearly afraid of him, although they have no inkling of his evil activities, with his long spells away from home accounted for by carpentry contracts. This drama centres almost entirely on the perpetrator and his activities including the extensive planning he does before he carries out his crimes. So, we get little insight into the long running police investigation where many people were dead before Nielson was finally caught. Maybe that could be another film, or perhaps it has been done already.
