There is a hum of excitement in Te Anau.

This evening (November 1), a new Kiwi drama series titled Black Hands, which depicts the months leading up to the Bain family murders, will air on TVNZ. 

And in the lead role, portraying a young David Bain, is 22-year-old actor and former Southlander Richard Crouchley. 

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Mr Crouchley was raised in Te Anau, where his family still resides, and was a prominent face in Fiordland stage productions as he grew up.

He always loved the arts and after graduating from Fiordland College in 2016 he successfully auditioned for one of the most prestigious drama schools in the country; Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, in Wellington. 

When still in his final year of study in 2019, he landed a ‘dream role’ of playing a young David Bain. 

The Bain family murders gripped the country in 1994 and the case has captivated New Zealanders ever since. All six family members, except David Bain, were found dead in their Dunedin home on a cold winter’s morning on June 20, 1994. 

The evidence largely pointed to two suspects – David or his father Robin Bain, who had been shot dead in what appeared to be a murder-suicide. 

The "Black Hands" cast. PHOTO: Geoffrey Short / Supplied

‘Did he do it? Or didn’t he?’ was the question on everyone’s minds, and some still ask the question today.

In May 1995, 22-year-old David Bain was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum non-parole period of 16 years, for the murder of his family. In 2007 his case was successfully appealed to the Privy Council and, at a subsequent retrial, he was acquitted on all charges.

The new drama series, which is based on journalist Martin Van Beynen's 2017 podcast of the same name, delves into the lives of the troubled family members in the 15 months before the murders. However, unlike the podcast, the dramatisation will focus on the dynamics of the family and depict the years leading up to the murders through the eyes of the victims and the accused.

Senior tutor of Screen Strategy at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School Vaughan Slinn said for Mr Crouchley to land the role of David Bain, barely fresh out of drama school was a huge achievement.

“It’s a remarkable achievement to walk straight into such a big role with such huge responsibility, everyone knows who David Bain is so there’s a lot of pressure that came with that,” he said.

Senior tutor of Screen Strategy at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School Vaughan Slinn. PHOTO: Supplied

He said he believes Mr Crouchley has plenty the skill and talent to play such a complex and well-known role. 

“I think that Richard is incredibly intelligent, and I think he’s [an] incredibly sensitive and intuitive actor… I think he will really hold the qualities authentically of what it is to be a young southern man, obviously with his links there.”

“I know he has been fascinated by the David Bain story for many years and it was really a role – funnily enough – that he’s always been interested in playing.”

Mr Slinn said that no matter what Mr Crouchley thought personally about David Bain, he couldn’t judge David Bain’s character. He instead had to completely empathise with him.

“It was always interesting [because] you know as an actor you need to make a choice about his guilt or not in order to play [the role]…. and come up with [your] own conclusions.”

“Every character like that, you’re the hero in your own story, so I think [Richard] had to work out how can he connect with this character on a deep level, and how can he really honour his experience and do it as truthfully and authentically as possible.”

Richard Crouchley in the Fiordland College production "Man of Steel". PHOTO: Fiordland College

Mr Slinn said that Mr Crouchley went to extra lengths to impress the casting panel for Black Hands in his audition.

“One of the things he did was that he found out was that David was an amazing singer – or fancied himself as a singer – so he actually improvised this whole in-character piece of opera as David Bain, and when he showed me that it was incredibly haunting.”

“He sung it very well,” he said.

Mr Slinn said as a drama student at Toi Whakaari, Mr Crouchley was always a stand-out student who he always knew would go far. 

“He’s been nothing but a dream to work with… a dream student I must say.”

“There’s not many people I’ve come across that can hold the sensitivity and strangeness that Richard can hold as an actor, it’s a very beautiful quality that he has that allows him to play in comedy really strongly but also in drama, as we’re going to see in [Black Hands].”

Black Hands is Mr Crouchley’s first lead role in a major TV series but not his television debut, having earned accolades for his supporting role as Steven Grimstone in the six-part drama series Head High, which screened on TV3 in July and is still available to view on demand.

Richard Crouchley as Steven Grimstone in "Head High". PHOTO: Kristina Hard / Supplied

Back in Richard’s hometown of Te Anau, Fiordland College principal Lynlee Smith, said the staff and community were just so proud of being able to see him on TV again from tonight. 

“We’re very excited, he’s a very talented young man.”

“We are very proud of him and we keep watching… we’re all hanging [in] here waiting for the series to start and watching all the shorts to see what’s coming and waiting for Sunday night.”

She said anyone who was playing the role of David would have a challenging task ahead of them, given the prominence of the character, but it was a challenge that Mr Crouchley was up for.

“I think that Richard will do the role total justice.”

“In his reference at the end of the year I said that he was going to be one of New Zealand’s future leaders and he will be… he’s showing that.”

A young Richard Crouchley (right) in his first acting role aged four in a Fiordland Players pantomime. He played Bob the Builder and fellow young actor Blake Kemper (left) played The Fat Controller. 

She said Richard had always demonstrated leadership and the ability to go the extra mile. 

In 2016 he was the deputy head boy of Fiordland College and was very “proactive in promoting cultural activities” at the school.

Ms Smith said in 2015 he directed and choreographed the school’s entry into Stage Challenge, which won first place in the Southland division. 

Richard Crouchley in Fiordland College's regional winning Stage Challenge, which is directed and choreographed. PHOTO: Fiordland College

He was always looking for what more he could do with the arts, she said. 

The series Black Hands is produced by Warner Bros with help from NZ on Air, which has contributed up to $5.2 million for the project. 

In a media release, Warner Bros producer Robin Scholes says the series was abut paying homage to the family members who died, rather than pointing blame. 

“When you begin to read about the Bain family the emphasis is on who murdered them, as opposed to who they were. We want to remember a loving, talented family, who had a lot to look forward to when their lives were taken,” she says.

The cast includes: Joel Tobeck as Robin Bain, Luanne Gordon as Margaret Cullen, Richard Crouchley as David Bain, Lucy Currey as Arawa Bain, Amelia Elliott as Laniet Bain and Angus Stevens as Stephen Bain.

It is directed by Kiwi director David Stubbs.

• Black Hands premieres tonight on TVNZ 1 at 8.30pm. View the trailer HERE.

*Contractual obligations meant Richard Crouchley and his family were unable to be interviewed by The Southland App for this article.