Over five episodes, the docuseries World’s Most Notorious Killers, now streaming on Peacock, travels to England, Austria, Belgium, Australia, and Southeast Asia for its stories, proving that true crime and the scope of violence recognizes no border. Interviewed are victims’ loved ones, authorities who worked the cases, lawyers, journalists, and analysts. Audio of killers’ confessions are heard. And in some cases, like that of Charles Sobhraj, aka “The Serpent” – Netflix made a miniseries about him – World’s Most Notorious Killers includes interviews with the murderer himself.
Opening Shot: “Police began excavating here where information was passed to them by a teenage girl, who told them clues to the disappearance of Heather West were lying beneath the paving stones.”
The Gist: In 1994, the quiet English town of Gloucester was rocked by the terrible truth of what had occurred at 25 Cromwell Street. The three-story row house-style building was the home of Fred and Rosemary West, their children, and a series of lodgers who rented the upstairs rooms. But it was also a torture chamber – “a pleasure dome for Fred and Rose,” in the words of one person interviewed in World’s Most Notorious Killers – and a charnel house for the remains of their numerous victims, a lengthy list that included the murder of their own daughter. It was Heather’s disappearance that first led authorities to visit 25 Cromwell and question Fred West.
The first episode of Most Notorious Killers includes interviews with Gloucester-based journalists who covered the story, biographers of Fred and Rosemary West, and local police like Tony Jay, who helped serve the 1994 search warrant that first brought the couple’s depravity into the open. “We had eight members of the team lifting slabs in different places,” Jay describes. “The first thing you know about when you’re getting close to a body is the smell.” But it soon became apparent, both from evidence at the scene and in police questioning of Fred – the docuseries includes this audio – that more than one person had been murdered, dismembered, and buried at 25 Cromwell.
As it details the investigation, the media frenzy surrounding what was dubbed “The House of Horrors,” the difficulty of identifying the victims, and the resulting court cases for both Fred and Rosemary West, World’s Most Notorious Killers has access to a wealth of news reports, new interviews with people who were there, and more audio of the accused themselves, primary sources that balance its deployment of that true crime favorite, reenactment and dramatization. But it also goes deep into the psyche of these murderers, with insight from the forensic psychologist brought in by authorities to assess Fred West. “I had to remind police that this man’s a psychopath,” Paul Britton says. “It’s simply the wild animal re-experiencing its kill.”
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Wests’ story has received the documentary treatment before, most recently with 2023’s Fred & Rose West: Love & Murder, which is available on streaming platforms like Tubi. And Peacock, not to be outdone in the trenches of true crime streaming content, also features stuff like TikTok Star Murders and Face to Face with Scott Peterson.
Our Take: “It just seemed to get worse and worse.” That quote from former Gloucester police officer Tony Jay hits the first ep of World’s Most Notorious Killers about halfway through, after authorities had already connected Fred and Rosemary West to at least six murders, including the killing of their own daughter and an unborn child sired by Fred. But Jay is totally right – it gets much, much worse. The crimes these people committed, the range at which they occurred, and their stated dismissal of any remorse for their actions: it’s all pretty tough to take in. Which from the standpoint of true crime content is a real boon, if you’re into that sort of thing. There are so many awful facets to the Wests’ story, Notorious Killers could’ve probably focused on them for more than one episode. Even an entire season. That the series didn’t have to, because other terrible international stories exist, is both a positive for true crime fodder – will the momentum of this genre ever flag? – and a terrible commentary on the world in which we live.
Sex and Skin: World’s Most Notorious Killers includes discussions of sexual abuse, violence, and voyeurism related to the story of Fred and Rose West. To that end, it even includes snippets of home video, filmed by the couple, of their BDSM-tinged sexual exploits.
Parting Shot: “There were many opportunities to stop Fred and Rose,” says West biographer Geoffrey Wansell. “They were hiding in plain sight.” But journalist Steve Scott wonders what terrible secrets about even more violence might have yet to be discovered.
Sleeper Star: The true crime genre’s reliance on dramatization is well-known – it’s a necessary, but often overused device. And while World’s Most Notorious Killers uses reenactments, too, it also accesses a trove of primary audio sources, including police questioning of Fred and Rose West, that make their crimes even more chilling.
Most Pilot-y Line: “Fred confessed that he killed Heather in a rage and buried her in the back garden.” Case closed, right? Wrong. The confessions were only the beginning.
Our Call: Stream It. World’s Most Notorious Killers is a strong entry into the thriving arena of true crime, with an international reach for the stories it profiles and a thoroughness to its presentation that doesn’t shy away from the terrible facts of the violence it covers.
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.
