The Plymouth Shootings
On 12 August 2021, a 22-year-old man named Jake Davison shot and killed five people in a quiet cul-de-sac in Plymouth before turning the gun on himself. It was the worst mass shooting on British soil in over a decade and the first of the digital age.
But how did a seemingly normal kid from a small town on the south coast of England turn into one of Britain’s most lethal killers?
In the months leading up to the shootings, Davison uploaded a series of videos and posts on internet forums, which chart his deteriorating state of mind and alienation from those around him.
This digital legacy, alongside interviews with people who knew him, those close to the victims, and others connected to the case, gives some insight in to why this tragic event happened.
The documentary explores Davison’s connection to the ‘Incel’ movement; a deeply misogynistic ideology that is growing at an alarming rate and has been linked to violent extremism.
The programme also raises questions about how ‘troubled kids’ are supported and monitored and will expose a series of missed opportunities and a catalogue of failures that allowed a dangerous individual to remain in possession of a legal firearm.
Firecracker Films
Firecracker is responsible for some of the highest rating and most talked about factual television programmes of the last decade.
From the BAFTA-nominated international smash hit Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, to the visually arresting Daredevils series, Firecracker has produced some of the most ground-breaking, popular factual programmes on television today.
Whatever the platform, Firecracker prides itself on telling authentic human stories and offering new and often never-before-seen perspectives, coupled with its trademark bold and stylish approach to film making, to create talked about content that is loved by audiences around the globe.
Firecracker’s unique story-telling has seen the company work with a wide range of broadcasters both in the UK and the US, including the BBC, Channel 4, W, ABC, Discovery, TLC and National Geographic.
Other credits include Born in the Wrong Body, Daredevils, Repo Man, Sex Testers, Baby Ballroom and Dr Christian Will See You Now and single documentaries such as Susan Boyle: Unlikely Superstar, Secrets of the Living Dolls, The Man With The Ten Stone Testicles, The Brit Who Tried To Kill Trump and Jamie: Drag Queen At Sixteen – the documentary which inspired the hit West End musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.