Product Description

Starring Juliet Stevenson (Truly, Madly, Deeply and Bend it Like Beckham) and Lee Ingleby (TheLast Region) and based on the novel by award-winning author Val McDermid, Place of Execution is a taut psychological thriller that explores, exposes and explodes the borderline between reality and illusion in a multi-layered narrative that turns expectations on their heads. A modern day story with flashbacks to the tragic events of the past. On a freezing December night in 1963, the worst kind of fear strikes the secluded Derbyshire hamlet of Scardale. Thirteen-year-old Alison Carter has vanished without a trace. Against all their instincts, the self sufficient villagers are reluctantly forced to ask the outside world for help. For newly-promoted Detective Inspector George Bennett, its the first chance to show his bosses what hes made of. But in spite of his dogged efforts, her disappearance remains a mystery until he uncovers a piece of evidence that turns the investigation on its head and leads him to the gruesome answer and the apparently incontrovertible evidence of Alisons violent death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3949 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-03-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 139 minutes

Synopsis
Juliet Stevenson stars in this tense psychological thriller, based on the acclaimed novel by Val McDermid. The story flits between the unsolved case of a missing 13 year old girl in 1963, and the modern day repercussions for all involved.

Customer Reviews

Beautifully executed.
Place of Execution was one of the more superior of ITV1's Monday night dramas, screened in two parts during the 2008 Autumn schedule.

Based on the book by 'Wire in The Blood' writer Val McDiermid, Place of Execution is basically a decade-straddling whodunnit.

It's a mystery, which the viewer watches two separate casts of actors - one set in the present and one set in the 1960's - attempt to solve.

The action begins in 2008 as Juliet Stevenson's feisty TV reporter battles silence and secrets, to research a documentary about a 13 year old girl who went missing from a small Northern village in 1964.

The girl was presumed murdered, although no body was ever recovered. A murder for which the girl's stepfather was convicted and sent to the gallows protesting his innocence.

Stevenson's dogged detection turns up possible police corruption, lies and cover ups, as The Inspector who originally secured the stepfather's conviction in the 1960's pulls out of the documentary and suffers a heart attack. It's about then she begins to wonder if a terrible injustice was perpertrated and an innocent man was hanged.

As is the way of these things, Stevenson's reporter risks losing her job and jeopadising her already strained relationship with her own daughter, in a bid to finally find the truth.

What sets Place of Execution apart from other dramas of this ilk, is its taut script and top notch cast.

Truly Madly deeply actress Juliet Stevenson is Truly marvelous as the tenacious and dedicated Catherine, desperate to solve the puzzle, whilst discovering disturbing home truths of her own. It's not until nearly the last scene that we, the viewers - in an interesting, if somewhat unecessary final twist - find out exactly why this story is of so much personal significance to her.

Lee Ingleby - most recently seen in Crooked House and opposite Martin Shaw as (that other 60's copper) George Gently's impetuous sidekick DC Bacchus - Convinces absolutely as the quiet, yet resolute Inspector George Bennett. Ingleby Imbues the young Bennett with a dignified stillness that allows the plot to unfold nicely around him.

Surely one of the most talented young British character actors around, his performance as Bennett is compelling. Ingleby manages to convey the horror at the human cost of the crimes he is witnessing, without losing that sense of calm authority and humanity you imagine coppers in the 1960's would have had.

Philip Jackson - Poirot's Inspector Japp - also turns in a beautifully understated performance as the older, retired Bennett in 2008. Tired and tortured by the thought that he may have sent an innocent man to the gallows, both Ingelby's and Jackson's Bennetts span the decades seamlessly.

Greg Wise puts in quite a chilling turn as minor aristo Philip Hawkin (the stepfather hanged for murder). Neither as Lord of the manor, nor when swinging from the gallows does the icy expression of utter contempt or belief in his own superiority, seem to falter.

As well as being a straight-forward whoddunnit, with its cleverly written story, A Place of Execution is also interesting as a slice of Social history. It's still amazing to think that in the Britain of only 40 years ago, men were being hanged for murder.

The story also affords us a glimpse of a 1960's Britain on the cusp of a class revolution. At a time when working class boys like the Beatles were smashing through barriers - the social structure of Britain was very much in flux. The characters of George Bennett and Philip Hawkin in a small way, exemplify that.

For a fairly young, not Oxbridge educated policeman like the fictional George Bennett to successfully secure the death penalty of a member of the landed gentry in the 1960's was pretty exeptional. You'd be hard pressed to prosecute an aristo in today's society, let alone then!

In conclusion, A Place of Execution can easily be enjoyed by fans of McDiermid's work as yet another satisfying mystery - in a similar vein to Wire in the Blood, but without the gore and the irritating Robson Green.

The last word though, surely belongs to Stevenson's tireless reporter, Catherine and her thoughts on the differences between truth and justice.

Just because something is true, does it make it just? A Place of Execution may not give you all the answers, but it'll certainly make you consider the questions.

Great show, bad captions
This is a wonderful series, with superb acting and a gripping plot. We are Juliet Stevenson fans, but all the cast was excellent. However, two of us have hearing problems and need to refer to the captions, which are terrible, as was the case, by the way, with the BBC production of Little Dorrit. The relationship between captions and what is actually being said is coincidental; gaps occur in which no caption appears at all; the captions often flash by too fast to be read. I think this is to some extent a problem of UK television, and it really should be addressed.

Good story and acting - atrocious sound track
This is an entertaining and quite interesting story. However, it was totally spoilt for me by the overbearing sound track.
This is a story of a girls' disappearance in the early 1960s and the consequent prosecution of her step father. This story follows a contemporary reporter following the story up. If the plot looks boring it is not - however, if I added any more details it would give the story away. Although slow to start, it should hold your attention.
So why the three stars? Well the first episode is really just a sound track with little dialogue - the soundtrack never ceases. In episode two the story livens up and time is set aside for actual dialogue and real scenes and although the background music is not continuous, it is louder and still as irrelevant and distracting. Episode three has the climax to the story and despite the music almost driving the viewer to go to subtitles, the story is very good. Although it seems modern technique to put in all these sound effects, they actually detracted from the quality of this series. Although it could have been about a third shorter in time, I would have given it five stars but for the atrocious and intrusive sound track.