Creator of The Fall defends himself against ‘rape fantasy’ allegations

Allan Cubitt does not feel that the hit serial killer show is misogynistic.

Cubitt, who writes the drama series that stars Jamie Dornan as a serial killer and Gillian Anderson as the detective on his trail, says he feels hurt at accusations that The Fall promotes violence against women. "I do feel hurt. I was very upset by the implications of what was said - because whose fantasy would it be but mine? Being accused of misogyny when you're not a misogynistic person, and indeed your entire raison d'etre is the reverse of that, feels like an artistic failure," he told the Radio Times. Cubitt points out that across the first 11 episodes of the show, he only showed the death of one female character - Sarah Kay - and that was necessary to establish the character of Paul Spector, played by Dornan. "The other ones are reported, but I only showed the murder of one woman on screen, which I needed to do to show what it was that Paul Spector was about," he added. "I don't expect to be applauded for my restraint, but I do think that compared with a great many other dramas I could mention The Fall has never indulged itself in that way." The Fall, series 3, starts on RTÉ One next Sunday at 9.30pm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MgVL_LOME8