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Colin Firth and Toni Collette star (Picture: Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The Staircase follows the fascinating true-crime story of author Michael Peterson who was convicted of killing his wife, Kathleen when she was discovered dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs in his mansion.

In December 2001, successful novelist Peterson called 911 to report that his wife Kathleen had fallen down a set of stairs under the influence of alcohol and Valium in his sprawling North Carolina mansion in Forest Hill, Durham, and died.

The authorities disbelieved Peterson’s account of events, concluding that Kathleen had been bludgeoned to death by Peterson using a blow-poke, that had mysteriously gone missing from the family mansion’s fireplace.

A French team created an initial mini-series called The Staircase documenting Peterson’s trial, which was directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, and was released in 2004.

In 2012-2013, Lestrade returned to film Peterson and his family, covering the following developments in the case, which were released in a two-hour special.

Three extra episodes were then made for Netflix, and the whole 13-episode series was released on the streaming site as one series.

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Michael Peterson was imprisoned for the murder of his wife Kathleen (Picture: Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Colin Firth stars in the dramatisation as Michael Peterson (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Warner Bros.)

Now, executive producers Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn have written an eight-part dramatisation that will be released on Sky, Now and HBO – and here’s everything we know about it.

When is The Staircase released?

The former home of novelist Michael Peterson ? the home where Kathleen Peterson died in 2001 and the home featured in the Netflix documentary series ?The Staircase? ? is once again up for sale. The 9,372-square-foot house on a sprawling 3.4-acre lot in the heart of Durham is listed for sale at $1.9 million. That?s in line with the tax value of the home, listed by the Durham County Tax Administration at $1,937,733. Tax records show that the current owner is Biond Fury, a clairvoyant and medium from New York. The five-bedroom mansion, built in 1940, has become a point of interest for true-crime devotees and viewers of the popular Netflix documentary series ?The Staircase.? A large portion of the first eight episodes of ?The Staircase? were set at the Peterson home. Michael Peterson told police he was sitting by the pool at 1810 Cedar St. on the night of Dec. 9, 2001, and when he went inside around 2:30 a.m., he found his wife at the bottom of a back staircase, where she bled to death. The Staircase
Michael Peterson was imprisoned for the murder of his wife Kathleen (Picture: Netflix)

The Staircase will be released exclusively on NOW and Sky on May 5, and it will be available to watch in all Sky markets, including the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria & Switzerland.

It will also be released on HBO Max in the United States.

Who is in the cast of The Staircase?

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Toni Collette stars alongside Colin as Kathleen Peterson (Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

The Staircase boasts a stellar cast and will star Bafta and Oscar winner Colin Firth as Michael Peterson, alongside Toni Collette as Kathleen Peterson.

Sophie Turner also stars as Michael’s adopted daughter Margaret Ratliff, Patrick Schwarzenegger stars as Todd Peterson, Odessa Young takes on the role of Martha Ratliff and Olivia DeJonge as Caitlin Atwater. Dane DeHaan takes on Peterson’s other son, Clayton.

Other big names include Juliette Binoche as Sophie Brunet, Rosemarie DeWitt as Candance Zamperini, Tim Guinee as Bill Peterson, Vincent Vermignon as Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, and Parker Posey as Freda Black.

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Sophie Turner also appears in the series as Michael’s adopted daughter Margaret Ratliff (Picture: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images For Louis Vuitton)

What is the plot of The Staircase?

The Staircase is an eight-part TV mini-series that follows the dramatisation of the trial of Michael Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his wife Kathleen in 2001 and subsequently went to prison.

The show depicts the death of Kathleen, who was discovered in a pool of her own blood at the bottom of the family mansion’s stairs.

After a three-month trial, Peterson was found guilty of murdering his wife, and in 2003, he was sentenced to life in prison.

However, thanks to the aforementioned documentary made by the French team, and Peterson maintaining his innocence through multiple trials, new theories began to circulate regards the actual cause of Kathleen’s death.

A new trial was granted when it was revealed that one of the key witnesses for the prosecution had lied under oath.

Ultimately, Peterson served 89 months in prison but was allowed to walk free in 2017 after entering a plea deal that allowed him to maintain his innocence but acknowledge that the prosecutors have enough evidence for the conviction, with the official verdict labelling him guilty (known as an Alford plea).

The show presents viewers with a wide range of twists and turns, as well as attempting to piece together exactly what happened to Kathleen.

Is there a trailer for The Staircase and how can I watch it?

Yes, there’s a trailer for The Staircase, and you can watch it on YouTube.

In the official HBO Max trailer, viewers are given a taster of things to come and, a feeling for the actors and roles that will be portrayed.

The Staircase is released on Sky and NOW on May 5.


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