News & Events

Sky Original documentary Death of a Showjumper will launch on Sky and NOW on Sunday 7 September. 

The three-part series details the shocking death of Katie Simpson, a promising young showjumper, which devastated the horse community in Northern Ireland, exposing hypocrisy, secrets and violence under the surface of a seemingly perfect and privileged world.

When Katie died unexpectedly in 2020, the majority of the horse community accepted that she had taken her own life, but local journalist Tanya Fowles questioned the official conclusion. Katie’s death triggered a memory of an old case she covered, a case with too many similarities to Katie’s. At the centre of her suspicions was Katie’s sister’s partner, an influential champion showjumper, jockey and horse trainer, Jonathan Creswell.

Now, in this new documentary series told by Katie’s family and friends, the investigators, and Jonathan Creswell’s circle, it is revealed how a secret investigation ended in a high stakes murder trial with an ending that no one expected. Featuring their personal accounts of the events that led up to Katie’s death and after it, the series gives unparalleled insight into a disturbing story of violence and coercive control within a tight knit sporting community.

The series is a Walk On Air and Sky Studios production in association with Northern Ireland Screen, commissioned for Sky Documentaries. The Executive Producers are Rachel Hooper and Jonathan Smith for Walk On Air, Vesna Cudic for Sky Studios and Bruce Fletcher for Sky. The series is directed by Niamh Kennedy, the series producer is Natalie Maynes.