A TV show exploring a controversial honeytrap set up to catch the suspect of in the murder of a Colchester schoolgirl has hit the screens.

Deceit, a Channel 4 drama produced by Story Films and written by Emilia di Girolamo, was first shown last week and is available to watch on demand.

The four-part series has been directed by BAFTA award-winning director Niall MacCormick and boasts an assemble cast of familiar faces.

Niamh Algar, Sion Daniel Young, and Harry Treadaway, for example, will star alongside Eddie Marsan, Rochenda Sandall, and Nathaniel Martello-White.

The show is centred on the handling of the investigation into the murder of Colchester schoolgirl Rachel Nickell.

She had attended Great Totham Primary School, before studying Colchester County High School for Girls.

She was at the girls’ grammar school between 1980 and 1985, before leaving to take A-levels at Colchester Institute.

Aged just 23 at the time of her horrific killing, Rachel was stabbed 49 times and sexually assaulted in front of son Alex Hanscombe, then aged two, while walking their dog on Wimbledon Common.

The 1992 attack shocked the country and was one of the UK’s most high-profile cold cases until paranoid schizophrenic Robert Napper, 42, eventually admitted manslaughter.

Before his conviction, Napper also went on to brutally murder Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter Jazmine the year after killing Rachel.

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The series will specifically look into a honeytrap which was set up by police officers in an attempt to catch a suspect they believed to have carried out the murder.

Colin Stagg, who had his life turned upside down after he was suspected of the crime, helped producers and writers with the TV show.

Examining the complicated and toxic sexual politics of the early 1990s and the police’s obsession with the wrong man, Deceit quickly enters a dysfunctional world.

It depicts lead actor Niamh Algar, star of The Virtues and Raised by Wolve, as a female undercover officer, called Lizzie James who is asked to become sexual bait for a suspected killer.

Niamh said she had "enormous admiration" for her character.

She said: "I was only a baby when this event happened, so it was incredibly interesting to me and the way Emilia [di Girolamo, writer] portrayed this character in her writing, I’d never really seen it done before for TV.

"It was so refreshing to read a character who was able to pull off so much, in terms of how she copes with the pressure of her life, how she deals with people. She’s extraordinary at her job, so I felt enormous admiration for this character."

She believes a lot of lessons could be learned from the case.

"Fundamentally, the way women were treated and the lack of support they received," she said.

"And just because someone doesn’t fit into what we see as normal society, you can’t assume they could be responsible for something so awful."

Gazette: Rachel Nickell Rachel Nickell

Writer and executive producer Emilia di Girolamo said Deceit differed from other true-crime dramas.

She said: "It has a unique female point of entry through ‘Lizzie James’, and because we start several months after the crime and focus on the undercover operation rather than on the murder itself or the investigation, that makes it very different.

"Also with the Public Enquiry into Undercover Policing examining the ethics and treatment of those involved within cases it was the perfect time to examine a story that I think few know about, and the treatment of the officer and impact for all involved.

"I’ve also taken a feminist perspective, putting a woman front and centre and looking at the impact of the case on her, how she was used and managed through the modern prism of MeToo. We’re in a time of cultural reappraisal of how we treat women, so it’s a perfect case to look back on with that in mind."

Deceit is continues next Friday on Channel 4.

To watch all episodes visits www.channel4.com/programmes/deceit.