AN ITV drama is to tell the astonishing true story of an obsessive stalker whose hate campaign was ended in Poole.
The real-life nightmare of Dr Jan Falkowski and his fiancée, Poole accountant Deborah Pemberton, will be played out in U Be Dead.
The title of the show refers to a text sent by obsessed Maria Marchese, who subjected the couple to four-year campaign of hate and death threats.
She was jailed for nine years in 2007 and ITV set to work painstakingly recreating the incredible story for the small screen the following year.
Three days of filming took place at the Salterns Harbourside Hotel, Lilliput, with many of the venue’s staff used as extras.
The hotel proved integral to the climax of the story.
Dr Falkowski and his fiancée organised a fake wedding at the venue in order to smoke out their stalker.
Louise Barber, the hotel’s food and beverage manager, said: “The doctor used to come in when it was a yacht club, so they wanted to film here for authenticity.
“It is an amazing story and all the actors were absolutely brilliant when they were down here filming.”
Other scenes were shot at Sandbanks and Cobbs Quay in Hamworthy.
The role of Dr Falkowski is played by David Morrissey, while Tara Fitzgerald was handed the part of Miss Pemberton, who visited the set when filming took place in Poole.
Marchese, from East London, met Dr Falkowski when he treated her partner in the late 1990s. She went on to break into the couple’s houseboat and turn on all the gas taps, before Miss Pemberton was told she would “burn in her wedding dress”.
The case took a twist when Marchese accused Dr Falkowski of rape.
But he was exonerated by forensic evidence just before he was about to stand trial and a term for perverting the course of justice was added to Marchese’s sentence.
The two-hour drama will be broadcast at 9pm on Sunday.
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