Sister to adapt du Plantier mystery podcast

Chernobyl producer Sister is set to turn a true crime podcast about the unsolved murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier in 1996 into a TV drama series.

Jane Featherstone

West Cork, an original podcast from Amazon-owned platform Audible, was created by journalist Sam Bungey and documentarian Jennifer Forde.

The case it is based on is widely known in Ireland, a dragged-out national fiasco and long source of morbid public fascination, according to Sister.

Du Plantier’s body was found in 1996 near her holiday home close to the West Cork town of Schull, on Ireland’s idyllic southern coast.

Decades later, no-one has been properly held responsible, but the aggrieved inhabitants of West Cork are convinced they know who did it and that he still lives among them, Sister added.

Bungey and Forde lived as part of the community during the course of their investigation, which the podcast follows.

Sisters’ chief creative executive Kate Fenske and joint creative director Naomi de Pear will executive produce with director of development Alice Tyler, alongside Bungey, Forde and Audible.

United Talent Agency negotiated the deal on behalf of Bungey and Forde, as well as Audible, for the project and represents West Cork.

In addition to West Cork, Sister is also developing other adaptations, including The Jungle Prince, Ellen Barry’s story and podcast for The New York Times, for Amazon; James McBride’s Deacon King Kong; con-man thriller The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies for the BBC; Helena Merriman’s BBC Radio 4 podcast Tunnel 29; and a Bee Gees biopic directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Sister is led by former Shine chief Elisabeth Murdoch, former 20th Century Fox Film chair Stacey Snider and former Kudos boss Jane Featherstone.