BBC documentary series investigating the disappearance of Lord Lucan following the murder of his nanny

The BBC is airing a documentary series exploring the mysterious disappearance of Lord Lucan following the murder of his children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, almost 50 years ago.

The three-part series follows Ms Rivett's son, Hampshire builder Neil Berriman, who has been preoccupied with the case since he discovered, aged 40, the identity of his mother, who was given up for adoption as a baby.

Ms Rivett's body was discovered in the basement of 46 Lower Belgrave Street in central London in November 1974, along with the main suspect, the Eton-educated John Bingham, the seventh Earl of Lucan.

Despite decades of manhunt, no body was found in the search for Lord Lucan.

Lord Lucan was officially declared dead by the Supreme Court in 1999, but there have been reported sightings in Australia, Ireland, Africa and New Zealand and even claims that he fled to India and lived a life as a hippie known as “Jungly Barry”.

On the night of the peers' disappearance, the nanny's attacker also turned on Lord Bingham's mother, Lady Lucan, beating her severely before she managed to escape and raise the alarm at a nearby pub, the Plumbers Arms.

Lord Lucan's car was found abandoned and soaked in blood in Newhaven, East Sussex, and a year later an inquest jury declared him a murderer.

Mr Berriman met police officers and corresponded with Lord Lucan's wife Veronica before her death in 2017.

In the series, he gains the assistance of a former BBC investigative journalist, Glen Campbell, and the two plot what appears to be Lord Lucan's likely escape from his homeland into a life of exile in Africa.

According to Mr. Berriman's website, Mr. Campbell contacted him after finding a secret Scotland Yard intelligence file from 2002 that said the police had credible intelligence information. Lord Lucan is alive and lived abroad in the late 1990s.

In the series, the two men uncover compelling information suggesting that Lord Lucan's powerful friends helped give the aristocrat a new life in Mozambique under the pseudonym John Crawford.

On a research trip to South Africa, Mr. Campbell secures an interview with Lord Lucan's expatriate brother Hugh, who points them on a trail that leads to eastern religion, Buddhist retreats and ultimately the east and west coasts of Australia.

In 2016, Lord Lucan's son Lord George Bingham inherited his title as eighth Earl after applying for a death certificate under the Presumption of Death Act, which came into force in 2014, 42 years after his father's disappearance.

Clare Sillery, head of documentary commissioning, said: “The disappearance of Lord Lucan following the murder of Sandra Rivett is a mystery that has baffled police and fascinated the press for half a century.”

“Although there have been many programs following Lord Lucan and his possible fate, Sandra's story has rarely been told.

“By following Neil’s deeply personal quest for justice for his mother, we gain a unique perspective that shows how an ordinary man goes up against the British establishment in search of the fugitive lord.”

Lucan will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer this autumn.