The new BBC horror-thriller Wolf premiered last night. Brains were quickly boggled by the dark and unnerving energy around the storyline, but there was one element of the plot that was more confusing than any other.
In fact, it was the most searched term for the series on Google Trends (weirdly spiking at 4.20am this morning) as viewers wondered: what is a Donkey Pitch?
Just to rewind a little bit: Wolf is an adaptation of Mo Hayder’s acclaimed Jack Caffery series, and the new thriller is named after the seventh book in that series. In the case, DI Caffery (played by Ukweli Roach) is still grappling with the loss of his little brother in the ‘90s but becomes connected with a different crime when a wealthy family is taken hostage by two men. While we’re still not sure what connects the two at the beginning of the series, it will be revealed as the six-parter continues.
But from the very first episode, the main characters discuss a murder case from five years ago called the Donkey Pitch Murders. Everyone keeps talking about it, and viewers are none the wiser. So we ask again: what is a Donkey Pitch?
We contacted Megan Gallagher, the writer of the series, for an explanation. "The 'Donkey Pitch' is from WOLF, the book by Mo Hayder. She had a fantastic knack for coming up with unique-sounding, highly-memorable names (like Minnet Kable!), and to me, the 'Donkey Pitch' is one of those names," she wrote over email.
"Its referenced throughout the book, but a good explanation comes early on, in a chapter entitled 'The Donkey Pitch' where its referred to as 'a piece of unchartered woodland called The Donkey Pitch because someone had once, years ago, kept donkeys there.' At the top of episode 2, which airs tonight, audiences will meet characters Sophie and Hugo who talk about the Donkey Pitch name a bit."
Wolf continues on BBC One tonight, and the full series is available now on iPlayer.
