Netflix fans have rejoiced after the streamer added ITV’s The Pembrokeshire Murders to its roster of shows.

The Pembrokeshire Murders sees Luke Evans play Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins – who in 2006 led a review of two brutal unsolved double murder cases from two decades earlier.

It is based on the 2012 book by Steve Wilkins – written by the same police officer Luke Evans plays in the show – real-life Welsh killer John Cooper.

Re-released on Netflix this week, the three-part series has a whopping Rotten Tomatoes sore of 82% and was hailed by viewers as ‘one of the best true crime series ever’.

It first aired in January 2021 and also stars Coronation Street actor Charles Dale, Line of Duty’s Owen Teale, and Gavin and Stacey’s Steven Meo.

Siblings Richard and Helen Thomas were found dead at their farmhouse in Wales in 1985, and the bodies of Peter and Gwenda Dixon were found by the Pembrokeshire coastal path four years later, but the killer John Cooper was not brought to justice until 2011.

Netflix fans have rejoiced after the streamer added ITV’s The Pembrokeshire Murders to its roster of shows

The Pembrokeshire Murders sees Luke Evans play Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins – who in 2006 led a review of two brutal unsolved double murder cases from two decades earlier (Pictured is Keith Allen as John Cooper)

The series – which first aired on ITV in 2021 – shows DS Steve Wilkins building up evidence against Cooper.

DS Wilkins’ evidence includes blood from one of the victims discovered in the hem of the serial killer’s shorts after it had been sewn up to hide the stain.

Viewers also see DS Wilkins unearth footage of Cooper on the game show Bullseye, showing him looking remarkably similar to a police sketch of the killer from a witness’ description following the Dixons’ deaths.

In an earlier police interrogation, Cooper claimed the sketch of the murderer, created in 1989, looked nothing like him at that time. 

But the series shows DS Wilkins pause the Bullseye episode in the exact place where Cooper’s side profile matched that of an artist’s impression of the murderer from a witness description in the Eighties.

‘Pause it there please, rewind a bit. There,’ Luke Evans’ character says. ‘It may not prove he killed the Dixons but it proves what he looked like four weeks before.’

The real life detectives, led by DS Wilkins, were able to nail Cooper for the murders through advancements in DNA testing, as well as linking him to the area where the crimes were committed after comments he made on Bullseye.

When the series finale of The Pembrokeshire Murders aired almost four years ago, viewers hailed it ‘TV at its best’ after seeing Cooper take to the stand as the evidence mounted against him for his crimes. 

It is based on the 2012 book by Steve Wilkins – written by the same police officer Luke Evans plays in the show – real-life Welsh killer John Cooper

Re-released on Netflix this week, the three-part series has a whopping Rotten Tomatoes sore of 82% and was hailed by viewers as ‘one of the best true crime series ever’

In a chilling court scene, viewers watched as the jury revealed whether they found Cooper guilty or not guilty.

On the show, the murderer brags about his extensive geographical knowledge of the Pembrokeshire coastline upon which the Dixons were later killed.

Cooper’s long history of crimes already included 30 robberies and a violent assault – for which he was arrested and sentenced to 14 years in 1998 for burglary and robbery before being released in 2009.

Using advanced developments in DNA and scientific evidence, detectives were able to link the gun used in a robbery he was convicted of to the murder weapon in the Dixon’s case.

Several items belonging to both sets of victims were also found in his possession.

Although Cooper denied his guilt, he was arrested and convicted of two double murders and jailed for life in May 2011 for the two double murders.

After an eight-week trial the serial killer was also convicted of separate offences of rape, sexual assault, and attempted robbery – he will never be released.

A diagnosed psychopath, Cooper – who was married to late wife Patricia and had two children – was a prolific thief before he turned killer.

DS Wilkins unearthed footage of Cooper on the game show Bullseye (pictured), showing him looking remarkably similar to a police sketch of the killer from a witness’ description following the Dixons’ deaths

Richard and Helen Thomas were found murdered at their home, Scoveston Manor, near Milford Haven, in December 1985. They had been killed in an ‘execution style’, with both suffering shotgun wounds.

Police speculated that there may have been an altercation between the two but soon decided a third party was involved. Cooper sprinkled paraffin around the house and set it alight.

It was speculated that Cooper, a local in the area, was jealous of the millionaire farmers and targeted them at the secluded stately home.

Cooper shot Peter and Gwenda Dixon in the face with a sawn-off shotgun as they enjoyed a coastal walk on the final day of their Welsh summer holiday on the Pembrokeshire coast, in June 1989.

He hid their bodies in nearby bushes. Cooper also stole money from them, using their bank cards to withdraw £300.