"Based on a True Story"

31 March 2026

4 mins 25s

Who makes the cut?

A bunch of familiar faces star in a wry send-up of true crime documentaries for Missing People. Rosie Cavaliero (Diane in 'The Power of Parker') plays the stressed-out lead writer of a show desperate for new material. It has to be juicy, addictive, and disturbing—otherwise, what's the point? This where one writer (Anna Crilly of 'Lead Balloon' fame) hits a brick wall.

She pitches the story of a young girl who leaves for school one morning and never turns up. That's not enough for the lead writer, not by a long shot. It's sad when a child disappears, but is it exciting? Other suggestions are dismissed because they're not sexy or relatable enough ("Audiences won't sympathise with a druggie gang member" "Nobody said he was in a gang"). No matter how it's framed, every story about a missing person is rejected.

The writer played by Paterson Joseph ('Peep Show', 'They Will Kill You') has a nose for tawdry subject matter, but nothing smells like success... unlike the pizzas that get delivered. It's hungry, tactless work, after all, so director Rachel Stubbings leaves them to tuck in. As the camera passes the boom operator, reality sets in.

Everything viewers heard about each missing person is true, with friends and family members holding the same photos that were tossed aside by the writers. This ghoulish programme may look down on those who disappeared without a trace, but the advertised charity does not. It cares about people, not ratings, and vows to treat each case with the respect it deserves.

UK

Charities