true crime 2021 coming soon australia

10 True Crime Shows You’re Going To Obsess Over In 2021

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There’s nothing quite like spending the night in front of the TV, becoming absolutely enthralled in a new true crime show.

Last year’s American Murder: The Family Next Door and Unsolved Mysteries got me through a lot of rather boring times in lockdown. So what’s coming this year for true crime fiends? Ooft. There’s plenty! From Netflix’s newest arrival Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer, to documentaries and mini-series dropping throughout 2021, we’ve got you covered.

10 True Crime Shows You’re Going To Obsess Over In 2021:

1. Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

The first true crime series this year to get pumped about is Netflix’s Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer, which tracks the grisly murders of the Night Stalker, a serial killer who terrorised the city of LA in the ’80s. Richard Ramirez would enter people’s homes and attack them while they were sleeping, and by the time he was arrested in 1985, he had murdered at least 13 people. This is a straight-up horror story, so don’t watch this series too late at night.

You can watch now on Netflix.

2. Alabama Snake

This HBO documentary is super dark, relaying the events that would end in an Alabama preacher being imprisoned and convicted of trying to kill his wife with a snake. Glenn Summerford was a pastor at a snake-handling church in Scottsboro, Alabama and was accused by Darlene Summerford of forcing her hand into a rattlesnake cage. He is currently doing a 129-year sentence in prison.

Alabama Snake is available to stream on Foxtel.

3. Inventing Anna

Inspired by New York Magazine article ‘How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People’ by Jessica Pressler, this miniseries offers a deep dive into Anna Delvey, an elusive party girl who scammed NYC’s elite. From 2013 to 2017, Delvey masqueraded as a German heiress and swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting rich socialites. The series will be produced by Shonda Rhimes, with Ozark‘s Julia Garner cast to play the stylish real-life con artist.

Inventing Anna is expected to premiere on Netflix in late 2021.

4. The Pembrokeshire Murders

This three-part mini-series depicts the hunt for serial killer and Welshman, John Cooper. He killed four people in the ’80s, along with committing dozens of armed robberies, rapes, and sexual assaults. While he evaded arrest for many years, Cooper somehow managed to appear as a contestant on a British game show Bullseye, so he eventually became known as the ‘Bullseye Killer’.

Due to advancements in forensic testing methods and microscope DNA, Cooper was finally arrested and convicted in 2011. In the series, Cooper will be played by Keith Allen, while The Alienist’s Luke Evans is cast as DS Steve Wilkins, the police officer who brought Cooper to justice.

The Pembrokeshire Murders will air on Channel 7 in 2021.

5. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel

This case is straight-up freaky! The new series reexamines the unsolved mystery of Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian woman who went missing on January 31, 2013, while she was staying at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. Two weeks later, her body was found in a water tank on the roof of the hotel.

What makes this story all the more upsetting is that there is eerie footage of Lam just before her death, taken from a surveillance camera in the elevator. It shows the young woman acting rather bizarre, at some point it appears like she’s talking to someone and then hiding from them. Another layer to this disturbing case is that many reckon the hotel is haunted, as it has accommodated the likes of the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez, and Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger. Ooky spooky!

The first four-episode season drops on Netflix on February 10. I’m excited, but also low-key terrified!

6. Tiger

OK this is not strictly a true crime case, but it’s fascinating as hell, and there’s no denying that when Tiger Woods’ affair was exposed in 2009, it almost murdered his career. Tiger charts the rise, fall, and rise again of Wood’s golfing career, while detailing how he found himself embroiled in a global controversy when his affair was exposed on the world stage. This two-part docuseries includes interviews with his mistress, Rachel Uchitel.

Tiger is currently available to stream on Foxtel.

7. Dr. Death

I have been waiting for this for so long! Based on a podcast of the same name, Dr. Death tells the terrifying tale of Christopher Duntsch: a neurosurgeon who committed gross malpractice which resulted in the death and maiming of 33 patients, while working at hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area from 2010 to 2013. In the miniseries, Duntsch will be played by Joshua Jackson, while the surgeons who helped to expose his crimes will be played by Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater.

Dr. Death will hopefully premiere this year in the US, but it’s unconfirmed where the series will stream in Australia.

8. Impeachment: American Crime Story

Another massively anticipated series, Ryan Murphy’s third time focusing on defining moments in US history might be his most fascinating yet. The limited series delves into Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment, which would see Monica Lewinsky become a political scapegoat. The impeachment came about after the President was embroiled in a national sex scandal when his affair with 22-year-old White House intern, Lewinsky, was exposed.

Booksmart’s Beanie Feldstein will play Lewinsky, and unsurprisingly Murphy’s fave lead Sarah Paulson is cast as her work colleague Linda Tripp, who coordinated leaking the affair to the media. In the years following the #MeToo movement, this series couldn’t come at a better time. Thankfully, Lewinsky is onboard to produce the series, so the story will show her perspective as a victim of unprecedented global slut-shaming.

There is no premiere date, but like the previous American Crime Story seasons, Impeachment will hopefully be available to stream on Netflix in Australia at some stage.

9. The Lady and the Dale

If you were low-key obsessed with Elizabeth Holmes’ blood-testing Theranos scam, then this will be right up your ally. The HBO docuseries relays the life and times of Elizabeth Carmichael, a woman in the ’70s who duped the auto industry into investing in a car that didn’t exist. Carmichael claimed to be able to offer a low-mileage, three-wheeled car called the Dale that couldn’t tip over, and would cost less than $2,000. She claimed it would solve the 1970s gas shortage and managed to scam potential customers out of more than $3 million without ever producing a road-worthy model of the car.

The Lady and the Dale is expected to premiere in early 2021 on Foxtel

10. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Ryan Murphy is a busy man this year! Aside from making Season 3 of American Crime Story, he will spearhead a true crime drama based on Jeffrey Dahmer, one of America’s most famous serial killers who murdered 17 men and boys from the 1970s.

The series will be told from the perspective of Dahmer’s victims, focusing on the police investigation into the murders, and how it took so long to finally arrest him in 1991. The Shape of Water’s Richard Jenkins will play Dahmer’s father, while the role of the serial killer has not yet been cast.

The crime drama is hopefully going to drop on Netflix by the end of 2021.