So you’ve made it through The Serial Killer’s Wife and you’re scratching your head about the ending – don’t worry, we’ve got it all explained here.
Spoilers! The closing scenes saw the disappearance of Tom and the death of his best friend… but what happened to protagonist Beth Fairchild, and DI Aline Edgeworth’s rocky investigation?
What is The Serial Killer’s Wife about?
The suspenseful series depicts the plot of Alice Hunter’s best-selling thriller novel, starring a line-up of familiar faces. This includes Annabel Scholey as Beth Fairchild, Raindogs Jack Farthing as her GP husband, Luke Treadaway as best friend Adam Plummer and Coronation Street’s Angela Griffin as DI Aline Edgeworth.
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Based in a wealthy coastal community in England, Beth Fairchild’s life is turned upside down after her strait-laced husband is arrested for murder. In a bid to prove his innocence, Beth lies to the police and embarks a journey of twists, turns and dark discoveries. She ultimately discovers Tom’s sordid secrets, including violent fetishes, affairs, pornography and links to an illegal sex club.
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The gripping plot ultimately sees Tom going on the run and an unlikely union forming between Beth and Adam, prior to his death.
Who is Ollie Turner?
Ollie Turner is the partner of Beth’s colleague, Libby, who works as a baker at their family-run cafe. Whilst Tom is kept in police custody, Beth got to work tidying up their home after the police began searching it for any incriminating evidence. Beth could be seen clearing up Tom’s office, before discovering a USB stick disguised as a pen. On the stick, Beth finds countless videos of Tom’s secret sexual encounters with countless women, including Katy Asquith – his colleague who he was accused of murdering.
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At the beginning of the show, a distressed Ollie Turner was spotted disposing of Katy’s belongings, implying that he was in fact the one behind her death. Beth was later informed of Ollie’s link to Katy, by Libby, who explained that they went to school together and that he had been acting strangely since her death hit the headlines.
Beth then spotted that Libby was wearing the exact same earrings that Katy was photographed sporting on the front cover of their local newspaper. She stated that she found them before Ollie could gift them to her. Connecting the dots, Beth reported Ollie to the police – in hopes to cover up her husband’s own false alibi.
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Later on in the show, a panicked Ollie took Beth hostage at knife-point, moments before being accidentally killed by the police. Ollie claimed he was innocent till the end and confessed to finding Katy dead, after going to meet her to sell her drugs. He claimed that he also spotted Tom jogging nearby Katy’s body. He only stated this to Beth, before being killed by a fatal head injury when tasered by a police officer.
What are Dr. Tom Fairchild’s secrets?
Dr. Tom and Beth have a string of their own secrets. The couple even lied to their family and friends about the way they met. Uncovered by the discovery of Tom’s secret second phone, Beth unravelled Tom’s violent affairs, as well as a hoard of pornography and an obvious sex addiction. Amidst this, it was also revealed that Beth and Tom met at an illegal sex club, despite their story of meeting at a bar, when Tom ‘tripped over’ Beth’s foot.
Beth later made another jaw-dropping discovery: footage of Adam’s wife, Marnie, having a fatal allergic reaction – whilst the person behind the camera failed to save her. It was later found that Tom was even having an affair with Marnie. Adam later found out that his daughter, Jess, isn’t biologically his. Jess is actually the daughter of Tom and Marnie.
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Who is the real serial killer?
It was shockingly found that Tom isn’t really the serial killer, although he is closely linked to the crimes. It turned out that Adam is the murderer. In the finale of the four-part series, it was shown that a year later (after Tom disappeared on the run) Adam and Beth tied the knot. Tom later made a surprise appearance. He informed Beth that the video of Marnie’s death had been uploaded onto his phone just days after his arrest, while Adam was supposedly fixing the secret second phone.
Adam had framed Tom, in a deranged act of jealousy. The unsuspecting friend had found out about Tom and his wife’s affair and later, who Jess’ true father was. When Marnie suffered a severe allergic reaction, Adam failed to save her life with an epi-pen, choosing to watch her die as he filmed it.
What does Beth do in the end?
Beth confirmed that Adam is the real serial killer. She found the original video footage of Marnie’s death on Adam’s laptop and several photographs of the bodies of his other victims, as well as snaps of Tom and Adam together. This detail implied that they in fact carried out the murders together.
In an unbelievable twist, Beth lured Tom to a private meeting place. This is where she finally had him arrested. Beth later confronted Adam on a supposedly romantic walk. She admitted that she had figured out Adam’s dark secret. But she didn’t call the police. She pushed him off a cliff to his death instead.
Beth didn’t go to the police about Adam. However, it was alluded to that another series could be on the cards. In the drama’s final scenes, Jules (the ex-wife of Tom’s lawyer Maxwell) told Tom that she had found a loophole. This information could fight for his freedom.
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