In 2015, skydiver Victoria Cilliers suffered serious injuries when both her primary and reserve parachutes mysteriously failed on an otherwise routine jump. The subsequent police investigation revealed that her serially unfaithful husband Emile was behind the attempted murder.

The story went stratospheric, with sensational headlines to match (who could forget the fascination with “boobaholic” Emile’s sex “obsession”?) Since then, the case has been subject to several true crime treatments: first in Netflix’s 2018 The Parachute Murder Plot, then 2020’s podcast No Strings Attached, and as of tonight, Channel 4’s The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot.

As we heard about the creeping horror of Emile’s behaviour, and the inner conflict his coercive control spurred in Victoria, it was clear why theirs is a story that’s been told again and again. Suburban, superficially idyllic — the Cilliers tap into our fascination with relationships that look perfect but hide dark secrets behind closed doors.

While our appetite for true crime shows no signs of letting up, in 2024 we’re finally starting to question the ethics of raking over horrifying incidents – often the murders of women – for our slack-jawed entertainment. Programmes need to find fresh angles to bypass our newfound moral scruples, and considering the case’s extensive publicity, The Fall was under more pressure than most to innovate. Here, a twist on the genre’s overplayed convention of reconstructing the action with actors offered a compelling new perspective.

Cameras were focused on the faces of the detectives who investigated the attempted murder at the time – DI Paul Franklin and Detective Constable Maddy Hennah – as they watched themselves, played by actors, conduct interviews with the Cilliers, also played by actors. It was all very meta – no effort was made to hide the cameras and lighting rigs and we watched production staff briefing the performers. “We’re going [to] shoot this whole scene on your face,” said a producer to MyAnna Buring, who played Victoria. “I’m going to now say some of the things that the detective said to Victoria,” he continued, reading from original transcripts.

Presented as a means for ensuring accuracy, what was really compelling about Hennah and Franklin’s presence on set was how it forced me to confront my own role as a voyeuristic observer of the traumatic event – an uncomfortable feeling to sit with. Part of the appeal of true crime documentary is in occupying someone else’s headspace at one of the most deviant or devastating moments in their life. Watching the actors get into character – setting their expressions to harrowed resignation or sneering derision – reflected our own process of empathising with Victoria or condemning Emile.

Sometimes the conceit was stretched too far. At one point, the actor playing Victoria stood up from her police interview to demonstrate what happened before the jump, moving to a different part of the set and putting on her skydiving kit, thereby travelling back in time and arguably undermining the re-enactment ruse.

I also wish there had been more commentary from Franklin and Hennah on the unique experience of watching themselves, as well as the nuts and bolts of the case itself. Still, there’s plenty of time for such evolution – there are two more episodes to come, and the next will feature an interview with the real Victoria Cilliers.

By now, we already know the Cilliers’s murder plot very well, but The Fall proves that intrigue is in “how” a story is told as much as “what” happened. In stretching beyond its genre’s reliance on titillating gore, this was more brave – and more disarming – than other programmes in the true crime stable.

The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot continues tomorrow at 9pm on Channel 4. All episodes are streaming now.