In 1992, a two-year-old child witnessed the horrific rape and murder of his mother, when the two were out for a walk in the park. At an age when he could not understand or articulate his trauma, Â Alex Hanscombe had to suffer what no child should.
The three-part limited series The Witness, on Netflix, written by showrunner Rob Williams and directed by Alex Winckler, shows a vulnerable facet to the regular true crime police procedural. The violence is not gruesomely portrayed, what it slits open is a tragedy Alex and his father Andre (Jordan Bolger) have to endure, when Rachel is killed. The police are sympathetic and as efficient as a murder with no DNA, no fingerprints and just a child as witness. The media are portrayed as sensation-mongering, racist vultures—since Andre is black, he bears the brunt of racist mockery. One of the hordes of journalists parked outside his house makes monkey sounds to insult the grieving man. The child is just collateral damage or tabloid fodder.
The show is not so much about the investigation, as about the devastation of the family left to pick up the shreds of their lives. To protect Alex, Andre simply packs up and leaves the country. Meanwhile, media pressure forces the cops to adopt desperate measures and arrest an innocent man. The real culprit escapes because of police botching up the investigation and not reading the clues offered correctly. When there is another more brutal murder, they are forced to admit their mistake.
Because of the bewilderment of the child and the helplessness of the father, The Witness is a gruelling watch about coping with tragedy and trying to heal. The cops desperately need the two-year-old to speak, to draw, or to recognize something that can lock away a monster. The early scenes between Jordan Bolger and child actor Jahsaiah Williams are so moving because of their restraint. There is no melodrama, no meltdowns. Alex is an  ordinary child who is easily distracted by toys, and unaware of what is expected of him as a sole witness.
PThe series adapts Alex’s memoir, Letting Go;  the historic case is deeply embedded in the British public consciousness, not only for the ferocity of the attack but because of the heartrending sight the first responders came across—the toddler clinging to his mother’s body, trying to get her to get up. The series cuts between two distinct eras: the immediate harrowing aftermath of the murder, and a decade later in the early 2000s, when an older André and a teenage Alex (Max Fincham) are living like fugitives in Spain. Andre’s over protectiveness brings out a kind of rebellion in Alex as he grows older with the memories buried in his psyche. Netflix has also released a companion documentary titled The Murder of Rachel Nickell, in which the real characters speak to the camera. Nobody really heals completely  from the mental wounds inflicted by such a tragedy, but even learning to live with it is a measure of recovery.
Cast: Jordan Bolger, Max Fincham, Jahsaiah Williams, Eleanor Williams and others