Brian Hayes, series director of The Nobody Zone: Interview with an Irish Serial Killer, gives some background to the remarkable tape recording of serial killer Kieran Kelly, which is at the core of the new RTÉ One docu-series adapted from the hit podcast, starting Monday, 6th November at 9:35 pm - watch a preview of The Nobody Zone above, and watch the show now via RTÉ Player.
When suspected serial killer Kieran Kelly was arrested in London on 4 August 1983, UK police were only just getting used to the new requirement to make audio recordings of suspects questioned in custody. Up to then, records were entirely note-based for the police. So when we discovered that one tape from the Kelly's police interview had survived, it was a total revelation.
The recording (now over 40 years old) was digitally restored and brought to life by our RTÉ colleagues who made the award winning podcast series about Kieran Kelly in 2020. The way police questioned Kelly in 1983 and his answers in particular, has a disarming frankness that would be unheard of in any comparable police investigation today. Kelly relates his extraordinary confession to police as if he’s totally unaware that he’s being recorded.
Kelly was a homeless alcoholic, originally from Ireland and certainly didn’t fit the typical profile of a serial killer. His account of multiple murders (up to 11 at least, according to Kelly himself) carried out in the vicinity of the Northern Line of London’s Underground, is both matter-of-fact and chilling.
The interview starts off with some friendly banter from the two police officers - " Do you want a cup of tea … cup of coffee?", but Kelly quickly tries to exert his control - " Who’s in charge here?", he says.
From early on, the police have doubts about Kelly's real motivation for the admissions.
Kelly’s voice on tape reveals reflects his upbringing in Dublin, mixed with a twang of London-Irish from his 30 year exile working on building sites and from the early 70’s on, living rough and drinking in London parks and churchyards.
Mainly, it’s a unique insight into the mind of a self-confessed killer who managed to remain undetected for so long simply because his victims were other homeless, forgotten men like himself.
For the documentary series, editor Tony Hudson has blended the original audio from the tape with a re-enacted transcript of the interview, played by actors Ned Dennehy (as Kelly) and David Ryan and Killian Donnelly (as the police officers). The actors use the technique of "lip-synching", a painstaking line-by-line way of combining the original audio with their own characterisations in the roles. Skilfully done, this brings the voices from 40 years past, to real life on screen.
The tape itself runs 84 minutes in total and it’s the final interview police were able to make with Kieran Kelly. The reason for the abrupt end to Kelly’s co-operation is evident in the concluding minutes of the audio and is revealed in Episode Two of the TV series.
It’s a surprising conclusion to a truly incomparable one-off story.
The Nobody Zone: Interview with an Irish Serial Killer, RTÉ One, Monday, 6th November at 9:35 pm - listen to the original podcast sertes here, and catch up afterward via RTÉ Player.
