A true crime documentary series looking at the forensic scientist who helped solve the notorious Pembrokeshire murders will come to our screens next month.

Cold Case Forensics will examine the world of Dr Angela Gallop, a key player in the conviction of Pembrokeshire’s Bullseye killer, John William Cooper.

Dr Gallop examined evidence twenty years after the murders. Using techniques not available at the time that Cooper killed Gwenda and John Dixon and Richard and Helen Thomas, she was able to detect tiny traces of blood, textiles and DNA and prove a direct link between Cooper and his victims.

A new three-part true crime documentary on ITV next month will look at DrGallop’s work on three key cases.

“She is the doyenne of her profession,” William Clegg QC, a retired defence lawyer who specialised in serious crime, told the Guardian for a profile piece about her.

“If I had a forensic issue in a case, then it was always the same instructions to the team: phone Angela Gallop.”

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Dr Gallop never intended to spend her career delving into the murky world of murder – she studied botany at the University of Sheffield and biochemistry at Oxford.

But after finding that few people were interested in her doctorate research into sea slugs on the Isle of Wight, she joined the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in 1974.

Four years later, she visited her first crime scene while looking for clues concerning the murder of 18-year-old Helen Rytka, who was later revealed to be a victim of Peter Sutcliffe, aka The Yorkshire Ripper.

Since leaving the FSS in 1986, Gallop has set up her own forensic companies; her expertise has led to her involvement in several high-profile cases, including the mysterious hanging of Italian banker Roberto Calvi in 1991, the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed, the killing of Damilola Taylor and the Pembrokeshire coastal path murders.

The new ITV series discusses her work on a trio of other well-publicised murders – those of Rachel Nickell, Lynette White and Stephen Lawrence.

All three were described as ‘cold’ before she and her team’s involvement. Convictions have since been secured for them all, and the programme reveals the tireless scientific work that enabled that to happen.

Gallup herself makes it sound simple: “Every contact leaves a trace. It’s just whether or not we’re clever enough to find it.”

Cold Case Forensics starts on ITV on February 2 at 9pm with The Murder of Rachel Nickell.