Olivia Colman will star in the new TV series that brings to life the bizarre suburban killings of a married couple, which were committed by their daughter-in-law and son-in-law.
The Sky Atlantic series Landscapers premieres tonight. The story follows Susan Colman (Harry Potter star David Thewlis) and Christopher Edwards (“Sugar Edwards”), who killed her parents Patricia Wycherley (William and Patricia Wycherley) in May 1998.
For the 15 years, Patricia and William’s bodies lay buried in the garden of their home in a housing estate in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
The couple appeared to be alive to the rest of the world. Neighbors and family members told them they moved to Ireland for the “good air” in the letters and Christmas cards written by Susan and Christopher.
Meanwhile the killers were slowly stealing £280,000 from the dead couple by siphoning off their pensions and benefits and selling their home.
They eventually gave up on their elaborate web of lies and surrendered themselves to the police. In 2014, they were each sentenced to life imprisonment.
The grisly tale will be brought to life in the four-part Sky drama Landscapers, written by Colman’s husband Ed Sinclair.
The Landscapers is a new series that will air tonight on Sky Atlantic. The story follows Susan Edwards (played here by Olivia Colman), and Christopher (Harry Potter actor David Thewlis), the murderers who killed Patricia Wycherley (pictured).
Killers Christopher (left) and Susan Edwards (right) stole £280,000 from the dead couple by siphoning off their pensions and benefits and selling their home
The show – described as ‘blackly comic’ – is said to draw viewers into ‘the surreal fantasy world that Susan and Christopher created by casting themselves as their Hollywood heroes in stories of their own invention’.
Ed, 50 years old, fell in love the Edwards case after reading an article in the newspaper.
Olivia portrays Susan, an ex-bibliothecan who now lives in a fantasyland world inspired by the films she loves. Her longing to be rescued from the tumultuous life she lives with her strict parents has led her to seek out a knight in shining armor.
David Thewlis is the unassuming hero Christopher Edwards. Edwards is a credit control officer at a copywriting agency and met Susan through a dating site.
They shared a joint passion for signed photographs and memorabilia from Hollywood greats (not a cheap hobby when some items can cost as much as £20,000) and they soon married.
Susan Wycherley was murdered by her parents Bill Wycherley (1998) on May Bank Holiday. They were killed twice at their semi detached home in Mansfield in Nottinghamshire.
We don’t know the exact circumstances of who was shot, and no one heard it.
The only two photographs police found of Mr Wycherley after discovery of the bodies. Since then, photographs of Patricia Wycherley’s wife have never been made public.
Patricia and William lay in their garden in Mansfield for fifteen years.
Neighbors and family members were informed that Wycherleys went on a tour through Ireland or had moved to the beach. Pictured is the Mansfield home
The type of revolver police believe was used for the killings of William Wycherley (second world war commando colt.38 calibre)
Susan and Christopher informed their families that Susan’s parents were traveling in Ireland in 2011
One, however, did see Christopher digging a hole up to his waist in the back garden in the middle of the night – but didn’t think that was suspicious. They saw new earth mounds and shrubs the next morning, which led them to believe that he was landscaping his garden.
As soon as the banks opened the next day, Susan emptied her parents’ savings accounts of £40,000, before opening a joint savings account for her and her then deceased mother.,
She spent the next 15 years diverting £173,767 in pension and benefit payments to the account, banking another £66,000 from the sale of the house in Mansfield and making applications for loans and credit cards in Mrs Wycherley’s name.
The total amount diverted into the joint account was said at trial to be £245,705, although this was later revised upwards to £286,285.
Susan and Christopher regularly travelled from their home in Dagenham, east London to the Wycherley property to maintain the garden, with Mr Edwards posing as a nephew.
They told the Wycherleys neighbours, relatives and few close friends that the Wycherleys had gone to Ireland, the seaside, or even Australia.
This story was relayed in a series of letters and cards purporting to be from the Wycherleys, sent in a bid to trick relatives, doctors and financial institutions into believing they were alive.
Susan and Christopher were worried someone might suspect them of something. The Department for Work and Pensions wrote to Bill asking for an assessment and asserting that only a letter could suffice. They fled to France and began their four-part series. Colman, Thewlis and Thewlis appear as their characters in this series.
Christopher sent an email to the British police, stating that they would be returning home soon and that the net was closing in. Colman, Thewlis, and Susan as Christopher
In one letter, the couple had posed as Mr Wycherley to decline an appointment at a chest clinic: ‘(I’m) feeling better, and I will be visiting with relatives over the next months: for that reason it is not convenient to make an appointment.’.
One relative said that there was “good air” in Ireland, and Susan wrote to another saying her parents loved their trips, with the addition of “it’s great to see them with such zest”.
No one suspected a thing and in 2005 they felt secure enough to sell the house, pocketing another £66,000.
They were worried about someone suspecting something, so the Department for Work and Pensions wrote to Bill asking for a meeting and insisting that only a written request would suffice. They fled to France and began their four-part series.
By 2013 they had spent all of the £245,000 they had stolen, mainly on film memorabilia which they didn’t want to part with. Christopher called Elizabeth, his stepmother. They couldn’t afford food and lived in poverty with their photos of the long-deceased acting stars.
When his wife woke up, she discovered her mother had killed her father while staying with them, he claimed. Edward claimed that Mrs Wycherley had then boasted to him she’d slept with her son-in law and Susan had killed her.
Elizabeth called the police after hearing this horrifying tale.
Rob Griffin, Detective Chief Inspector later stated that it was hard to believe what she had said could have occurred. However, we did not take it lightly and began the investigation.
“In the days following, we began to realize that maybe it was true. That was confirmed when the excavations in the garden revealed that Patricia and William had been there.
Christopher sent an email to the British police, stating that they would be returning home for him and his family as the net was closing in.
The couple were captured and, despite Susan’s claim that she shot her mother because Pat had shot Bill, both were convicted of murder and were sentenced to 25 year sentences.