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Hero image for Doubt: The Scott Watson Case

Doubt: The Scott Watson Case

Television (Excerpts) – 2016

This New Zealand TV Award-nominated docudrama explores one of Aotearoa’s most infamous criminal cases. Ben Smart and Olivia Hope were last seen in the Marlborough Sounds early on 1 January 1998. In May 1999 Scott Watson was found guilty of their murders. Alongside extensive dramatic reenactments, Massey University law professor Chris Gallavin examines the role of the media, witness accounts, the investigation and the trial in an attempt to shine light on whether the right person is in jail. This opening excerpt looks at how Hope and Smart's paths first intersected with Watson's.

Public opinion and the media played a huge role in Scott's conviction. It may just be that public opinion and the media are what it takes to get it overturned.
– Vice journalist Frances Morton, in an article on Doubt: The Scott Watson Case, 30 September 2016