Jane Carter Woodrow
criminologist · scriptwriter · author · playwright · Media Appearances
Television & Theatre
Jane is a screenwriter of drama and factual drama including and has written episodes of The Bill (ITV), Coronation Street (ITV), In Suspicious Circumstances (ITV), and the film, The Thieving Headmistress (BBC2). She also regularly appears as an expert on crime documentaries including, in 2023, Fred West: The Glasgow Girls a 3-part crime documentary on Sky documentaries, Born To Kill (Channel 5), Crimes that Shook Britain (Crime and Investigation), Ten Steps to Murder (2020), The Young Life of Rose West (2020/1), consultant and expert appearance on Channel 5's Rose: Making of a Monster (2021), and many others. She also comments on homicide on ITV and SKY news.
This TV documentary series, in which Jane appears, tells the story of Fred West's time in Glasgow in the early 1960s and reveals for the first time the lives and experiences of his first victims: 1st wife Rena Costello, her friend Anne McFall and Rena's little daughter Charmaine.
Begins airing 19th February Sky Documentaries.
WHACK-A-MOLE Audio version
Likened to a female BREAKING BAD set in the fens, this black comedy thriller is about three generations of women, one of whom, Rachel, works as a music teacher whilst also struggling to care for her elderly mother and disabled daughter. When the answer to her prayers appears in the form of a windfall, she is left with a moral dilemma.
Starring Michelle Collins, with Nitin Ganatra (Masood, EastEnders) Linda Marlow (Sylvie Carter, EastEnders) and poem intro by JLS's Oritsé Williams, this digital recording will be debut streamed at the Cambridge Junction w/c 20th September. Other venues TBA.
VOICES
This monologues project has evolved from the play reading groups and many interviews I have conducted with participants who live in supported housing, and with former and current service users living in the community, who have kindly helped me.
LIFER
Dusting off the shadows of the past as she contemplates the possibility of parole after decades in prison, Mel reflects on her life and heinous crimes that brought her there while holding fast to her principles. Jane's full-length one woman play, LIFER, stars Michelle Collins, with an introduction by poet Lady Unchained. It is Arts Council England funded.
Listen to an excerpt >>
SUMMAT'S HAPPENED
'Fantastic! The actors were superb and the characters and script brilliant.'
Jane's new full-length stage play of 2023 tells the story of 17-year-old Neil Jackson from Leeds, whose mum Emily became the second victim of serial killer the Yorkshire Ripper. Always very close to his mum since an earlier tragedy, Neil takes us through his personal journey of survival as the Ripper continues his killing spree.
'A tragedy yet with humour and healing at the heart of it, wonderfully told.'
Directed by Andrew Pritchard and starring James Jack Bentham and Francesca Larkin, Neil and Jane are happy to answer questions at the end of some sessions.
Arts Council Funded.
Jane has a PhD in Criminology from Cambridge University, a Master of Philosophy from Cambridge University, and a first degree in Modern History from London University. She has been a research fellow and associate for a number of years, researching into women and crime. She has written TV soaps and crime drama for ITV and BBC, and regularly appears in TV documentaries as an expert consultant on serial killers as well as on ITV news. Jane also writes crime drama for the stage.
