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The Rumour (review)

  • mwoldridge02
  • Sep 26
  • 1 min read

Published by Mason Oldridge, 26 September 2025


All Creatures Great and Small star Rachel Shenton leads on this latest Channel 5 drama.

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Joanna inadvertently spreads a rumour in her new town that a child killer is living there under a new identity and starts an obsessive campaign to find out who it is due to a childhood trauma.


Unfortunately, while the premise sounds promising, the series is slow paced and not a lot happens in the first three episodes.


However, after making several false accusations, Joanna is horrified to eventually discover that her mother is Sally McGowan. She also learns that parts of her and her mother’s life have been fabricated in order to protect them, including the fire that traumatised her as a child never happened. The next discovery that Rachel is the murderer falls a little flat as this was predictable given her role as Joanna’s only friend, though the reveal that Rachel was Robbie Harris’ sister is a nice touch that ties the past and the present together and the fire provides a dramatic finale.


Despite Debbie confirming that both Sally and Rachel perished in the fire, the final scene reveals that Bea survived and is living in another country with Liz. While it provides a more chilling ending, it feels like a miscarriage of justice. Sally only received 10 years imprisonment for her sadistic killing and doesn’t deserve to live a free life, especially when Rachel doesn’t survive after a lifetime of grief and her daughter is now orphaned.


Overall, the takeaway of the series is an entertaining albeit unfair ending but an impatient slog to get there.


6/10

I, Mason Oldridge, do not own any images featured on this site

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