News

< All News

ITV commissions new documentary from Fremantle’s Naked on mystery of Melissa Caddick

A new ITV documentary will delve into the life of Australian millionairess Melissa Caddick who went for a morning run in Sydney in November 2020 and never returned home.

Three months later, surfers on a beach 250 miles south of Sydney made a grisly discovery - a washed up trainer containing human remains.

The story gripped Australia - on the surface she was a successful businesswoman who had everything she ever dreamed of including a family, luxury penthouse and designer wardrobe. But what transpired was that Melissa, a financial advisor, had cheated 74 victims, including her friends and family, out of $AUD23 million.

The Melissa Caddick Story
(working title), produced by Naked (a Fremantle label), will explore the extraordinary disappearance of this committed fraudster, which has spawned countless competing theories amongst web sleuthing communities and generated thousands of news articles. It will seek to aid and narrate the story of Melissa’s victims, as well as bring them some true closure in this modern-day tale of deceit, mystery and the still missing millions of dollars. The commission comes after the success of ITV commission Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile and The Killer Nanny… Did She Do It? as Naked build on their reputation as a key player in the premium factual market.

Fatima Salaria, Managing Director of Naked and The Melissa Caddick Story Executive Producer says, “At the heart of this missing persons case is a handful of victims and many, many missing millions. Potentially finding out what happened to Melissa and drawing attention to her case globally, it could bring an important chance for closure for so many of the people involved.”

Jo Clinton-Davis, ITV Controller of Factual, said: “We have had demonstrable success coupling the real story to dramas based on true events. The real story of Melissa Caddick is inherently full of drama and intrigue and with a sharp focus on the victims as well as unpicking each strand of the mystery we are sure this will be a compelling and extraordinary feature documentary."

The Melissa Caddick Story
(1 x 90), was commissioned by Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Factual, ITV. The Executive Producers will be Fatima Salaria and Fiona Caldwell for Naked (a Fremantle label).

Fremantle will distribute the series internationally.

The Melissa Caddick Story
will be shown on ITV and ITVX.