The Beauty Queen and the Catfish
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What’s that saying - you’re never more than six feet from a podcast? The Beauty Queen and the Catfish isn’t a podcast, but it sounds like it could be. Either that or a new eight-part series on Netflix. From Tiger King to beauty queen.
Instead, this three-parter returns to the traditional format of a factual documentary, featuring on-camera interviews, dramatic reconstructions, all that good old-fashioned stuff. It benefits enormously from that decision, feeling more like a human interest story than a true crime yarn.
At the centre of events is David Graham, a doctor at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock - or at least that is what he told Abbie Draper, whose grandad was being treated for a stroke. "Dr David" contacted Ms Draper, the former beauty queen of the title, on social media with a friend request. You might think that this would immediately raise suspicions. Likewise, a profile photo that made ER-era George Clooney look like Shrek.
With his busy job and packed social life, Dr David looked and sounded too good to be true, and he was. Ms Draper is one of six women to tell their story here, all of whom at some point smelled a rat. But it was Ms Draper who first turned “Wagatha Christie” and began digging deeper. Others then joined her quest, with the result that - well, you can see for yourself when the programme airs again on BBC3 and BBC1 tonight (Monday), or on iPlayer.
Filmed and directed by Alana McVerry, the story is well worth retelling if only to explore anew how so many were duped for so long. The women interviewed are capable individuals who saw the red flags popping up all over the place - some sooner than others - yet still gave this person the benefit of the doubt. Is the modern dating scene so bleak that people are willing to put themselves through such ordeals?
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Perhaps the saddest thing is the sheer amount of time wasted by these women. Hours they will never get back, particularly so in the case of Ms Draper and her grandfather.
Of the six, Ms Draper is the “star” and the makers, STV Studios Factual, make the most of her pithy observations and insight. Added to the mix are a couple of experts, one in cybersecurity, and the Sun reporter who first covered the case. It is a comprehensive, detailed job - occasionally excessively so.
The Beauty Queen and the Catfish suffers from the bagginess common to podcasts and streaming series. While the 15-year timeline doesn’t help, the three 45-minute films could easily have been reduced to one. Even Panorama has to tell a story in half an hour.
That said, it is worth giving the makers some slack because of the interviews they secured with “Dr David’s” mother and sister. Wisely held to the end, these give rise to more questions, only some of which are answered in this compelling and cautionary tale. Like that other saying has it, what a time to be alive.
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