World's Most Evil Killers
Tubi / Sky Mix, 2017 — anthology series profiling history's most notorious serial killers
Quick facts
What Is the Series About?
*World's Most Evil Killers* is a British true crime anthology series that premiered on June 29, 2017 on Sky Mix (formerly Pick) in the United Kingdom. Narrated by veteran broadcaster Fred Dinenage, the series dedicates each episode to a single notorious serial killer or murderer, examining their backgrounds, crimes, capture, and — where applicable — trial and punishment. With 10 seasons spanning multiple years, the show has become one of the more prolific entries in the British true crime television genre, covering killers as varied as Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez, Cary Stayner, Leonard Lake, Dorothea Puente, Fred and Rose West, and Ed Gein.
The series is currently available to stream for free on Tubi, Plex, The Roku Channel, and Samsung TV Plus, making it one of the more widely accessible true crime anthology series on ad-supported streaming platforms. It holds a 7.2/10 rating on IMDb based on 427 votes, reflecting a loyal if niche audience.
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The Cases
Because World's Most Evil Killers is an anthology series, there is no single perpetrator or case at its center. Instead, the show draws from decades of American and British criminal history, focusing on cases that achieved widespread notoriety. Below are profiles of three of the most prominently featured killers.
Jeffrey Dahmer — The Milwaukee Cannibal
Born on May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer became one of the most disturbing serial killers in American history. Between 1978 and 1991, Dahmer murdered at least 17 young men, targeting victims in Chicago and Milwaukee. His crimes involved rape, murder, necrophilia, and cannibalism. Victims included Steven Holm, age 14, and Anthony Sears, age 26.
Dahmer was arrested on July 22, 1991, after a surviving victim escaped and alerted Milwaukee police. Officers searching his apartment found gruesome evidence of his crimes, including human remains stored in his refrigerator. He was convicted in February 1992 and sentenced to 16 life terms in Wisconsin plus one additional life sentence in Illinois. Dahmer died on November 10, 1994, beaten to death by a fellow inmate at Columbia Correctional Institution.
Richard Ramirez — The Night Stalker
Born on April 29, 1961, in El Paso, Texas, Richard Gregory Ramirez terrorized California with a series of home-invasion murders, rapes, and burglaries between 1984 and 1985. He is formally linked to 14 murders; victims included Vincent Zazzara, age 72. Ramirez was arrested on September 18, 1985, after being recognized and physically subdued by residents in East Los Angeles.
Convicted in 1989 and formally sentenced in 1992, Ramirez received 13 death sentences in California. He spent more than two decades on death row at San Quentin State Prison before dying on June 7, 2013, from complications related to hepatitis B, never having been executed.
Leonard Lake — Crimes in the California Hills
Born on May 9, 1950, in San Francisco, California, Leonard Arthur Lake committed a series of torture killings and kidnappings alongside accomplice Charles Ng between 1983 and 1985. Operating from a remote property in Calaveras County, California, the pair are suspected of killing at least 11 people. Lake was arrested on June 11, 1985, after a routine shoplifting stop exposed his identity. He swallowed a cyanide capsule shortly after his arrest and died before any trial could take place. Charles Ng was eventually extradited, tried, and sentenced to death in 1999.
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Production
The series was directed by Lloyd Thompson and Nick Mavroidakis, and produced for the British television market. According to Sky's official listing, the show originally aired on Sky Mix, a free-to-air channel in the UK. The format is straightforward: each episode runs roughly 45–60 minutes and combines archival footage, crime scene photography, dramatic reconstruction, and expert commentary, all tied together by Dinenage's authoritative narration.
Season 1, released in 2017, consisted of 12 episodes. Season 2, released in 2018, comprised 10 episodes. The series has continued well beyond those initial runs, accumulating 10 seasons in total and a broad catalogue of featured killers drawn primarily from American and British criminal history.
The production leans heavily on archival news footage, court photography, and on-screen text rather than original investigative journalism. No notable access to law enforcement files, surviving victims, or prosecutors is claimed in the series' promotional materials, which distinguishes it from more heavily resourced documentary productions.
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Reception
World's Most Evil Killers holds a 7.2/10 on [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8888656/) from 427 votes — a respectable score for a low-budget British anthology series, suggesting that its core audience finds value in its straightforward, episodic format. Viewers who rate it favorably tend to appreciate its accessibility and the breadth of killers covered.
However, critical reception has been considerably less generous. According to Wikipedia's entry on the series, the show has been described as "purely sensationalist" and "exploitative", offering "no real documentary merit". Critics characterize it as a "tabloid-style spectacle" that prioritizes shock value and macabre imagery over any serious sociological or psychological analysis of the killers it profiles.
These criticisms are not uncommon in the true crime genre, particularly for anthology series produced on modest budgets and aimed at broad streaming audiences. The show does not appear to engage meaningfully with victims' families, surviving witnesses, or academic criminologists — a standard that more prestige-oriented true crime productions have increasingly been held to. In this respect, World's Most Evil Killers represents the older, more tabloid-inflected tradition of true crime television rather than the investigative documentary model exemplified by series like Making a Murderer or The Jinx.
Nevertheless, its consistent presence across multiple free streaming platforms — including Tubi, Plex, and Peacock — demonstrates that there remains a substantial audience for this type of straightforward, case-by-case true crime programming.
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The Cases Today
All of the killers most prominently featured in the series are deceased. Jeffrey Dahmer died in 1994; Richard Ramirez in 2013; Leonard Lake in 1985. Ed Gein, whose crimes in the 1950s inspired numerous horror films and whose episode is among the most historically significant in the series, died in 1984 while confined to a psychiatric institution.
Charles Ng, Leonard Lake's accomplice, remains on death row in California as of the most recent available reporting. Dorothea Puente, the Sacramento boarding house operator who poisoned elderly tenants and buried them in her backyard — another subject featured in the series — died in prison in 2011.
The crimes documented in World's Most Evil Killers belong to a now-closed chapter of criminal history, but they continue to generate public and academic interest. Several of the cases, particularly Dahmer's, have been revisited in more recent, higher-profile productions — most notably Netflix's Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022) — reflecting an ongoing cultural fascination with the killers this series was among the first to profile in anthology format for a streaming audience.
