Code of a Killer

Based on the extraordinary true story of Alec Jeffreys' discovery of DNA fingerprinting and its first use by Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker in catching a double murderer.

Code of a Killer (2015) is a British dramatized true-events miniseries created for ITV1 and presented as a two-part, 90-minute limited series. John Simm plays geneticist Alec Jeffreys, whose discovery of DNA fingerprinting becomes the engine of the story, while David Threlfall plays Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker, who sees in that untested method a way to catch a double murderer. Anna Madeley plays Sue Jeffreys, grounding the scientist's home life amid the pressure of his work. The drama moves through laboratory experiments, doubts about the reliability of the new technique, and the slow, methodical pursuit of a suspect through the mid-1980s British justice system. Its atmosphere is restrained and grounded, with a tense, earnest tone that foregrounds the stakes of getting evidence right. Fans of Making a Murderer, Mindhunter and Chernobyl will find resonance in its blend of real events, procedural rigor and period detail. The story is set in 1980s England, rooted in the era's policing and scientific culture, and it plays as a docudrama about how one discovery reshaped criminal investigation.

Audiences rate this docudrama positively for its dramatization of the discovery of DNA fingerprinting and the tense police investigation behind it.

• Making a Murderershared true crime police investigation tone, procedural grounding in real forensic science
• Mindhuntershared british true events dramatization of a scientific breakthrough within a criminal investigation
• Chernobyl (2019)shared british dramatized real events, 1980s period setting, grounded procedural tone

Release Date

2015-04-06

Episode runtime

90 min

Rating

7.6 / 10 (62)

What is Code of a Killer about?

A two-part British dramatization of how Alec Jeffreys' DNA fingerprinting breakthrough helped a detective catch a double murderer.

What is Code of a Killer like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Code of a Killer as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Code of a Killer violent?

Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Code of a Killer as mild.

What did critics think of Code of a Killer?

Audiences rate this docudrama positively for its dramatization of the discovery of DNA fingerprinting and the tense police investigation behind it.

Which shows are like Code of a Killer?

Shows with a similar feel include Making a Murderer, Mindhunter, and Chernobyl (2019).

How long is Code of a Killer?

Code of a Killer: 1 season, 2 episodes.

Is Code of a Killer still running?

No, Code of a Killer has ended.

Where can I watch Code of a Killer?

In United States, Code of a Killer streams on Acorn TV, AcornTV Amazon Channel, Acorn TV Apple TV channel.