Place of Execution

What a pity that Robert Hanks' callow review of the first episode is the only external assessment of this gripping thriller. I must confess, though, that when I saw it on TV I couldn't follow it - the simultaneous plots in past and present puzzled me, or perhaps I was 'as tired as a newt'! Anyway,I was sufficiently intrigued to get the DVD,and I'm so glad I did. Juliet Stevenson, too often under cast these days, is at her brilliant best as the dedicated TV reporter, 'crap mother' Catherine Heathcote, investigating the disappearance of 13-year old Alison Carter some 50 years ago. Elizabeth Day is so good as her troubled, overlooked daughter Saha, while Liz Moscrop as Catherine's novelist mother shows how Catherine was comparably overlooked. Catherine befriends George Bennett (the great Philip Jackson), whose eager beaver younger self is played by Lee Ingleby; Tom Maudsley and Dave Hill are both Fine as his loyal if sceptical sergeant. Then there's Greg Wise,supremely arrogant as the man you'd love to hate - but is he a murderer? There are astonishing twists at the end, yet they all make sense: wow!

Alternating timelines - the 'go to' plot device that the people who make TV love - and people who watch TV hate! But in this case, it works well and actually makes sense. Also - it's not too confusing for the viewer!

Some well-known faces from every other TV drama are wheeled out in this above average drama. Some will find their faces reassuring - others (like me) will find them annoying... especially Juliet Stevenson who is just too overexposed to the point where I can no longer see past the face of an actress into the soul of a character.

But that aside, this is still a pretty captivating addition to the library of British commercial television drama... even though the ending is pretty silly and very implausible.

The story is about a documentary maker (Stevenson) who delves back half a century into the mystery of a missing child for which her step-father was hung for murder.

Greg Wise who plays the stepfather is the stand out here. He's another seemingly never out of work actor who shows up several times a year on TV in something or other. But this role is a true masterclass. His expressions of initially evil and eventually fear are worth a thousand words.

There are themes of family skeletons and police evidence tampering played out against a backdrop of domestic friction. The investigator is having a tough time ignoring her daughter as she seems to be a wannabe goth! But she plows on with her important work anyway.

Meanwhile, in another life, a young detective on his first missing persons case, struggles with his colleagues as he is determined to hang a man for murder despite having no body. The court scenes are very intimidating and the hanging is also very dramatic.

So - if you can stomach seeing the same old faces on your TV and you're willing to put up with a rather convoluted final act then it's worth your time.

I love Lee Ingleby who plays George. I first encountered Lee in the production of ' Inspector George Gently' . The rest of the cast is just great. My bone of contention is the photos supposedly representing a13year old girl. The photos looked like a female in her late 20's not a young vulnerable teenager.

I would love to know the background of this choice. it was quite off- putting and lost some of its tension due to this. Why did they use this particular female's photos? Is she the Producer or Director's wife? There has to be a reason as it was the only glitch in an otherwise fine production.

A good story, fine actors and well made. You could predict the reality of the situation midway through the series, but it was nice to have all loose ends tied.

I know Juliet Stevens is supposed to be the star, but I felt like Lee Ingleby was the stand out performer. I have always liked Lee Ingleby from the time I saw him in George Gently. He is a good actor. The rest did a fine job.

I finished reading Val McDermid's excellent thriller, "Place of Execution," a couple of weeks ago, and enjoyed it enough to pickup the DVD of the miniseries of the same name. I have now seen it and cannot praise it highly enough. Despite the complexities of the story, with its twin time lines and intersecting stories, it worked, I thought. Val McDermid co-wrote the screenplay, which I loved. Despite some changes from the book, do doubt made to tighten the story, it works.

"Place of Execution" is morally ambiguous, to say the least, the darkest of dark tales. It asks the question, When must the truth be sacrificed because justice requires it. The question is never answered but that's a good thing. Instead, we are left to ponder.

The arrogant Philip Hawkin is the squire of the remote village of Scardale. Hawkin, well played with malevolently superciliousness by Greg Wise, has a wife and 13 year old stepdaughter, both of whom had lived in the village long before Hawkin came along. In 1963 the stepdaughter, Allison, disappears and the evidence developed by the police sets afoot this stark morality play, the facts of which are not fully revealed until 40 years later. To say more would deprive you of the rich pleasures of seeing the truth revealed a layer at a time. After that, you will be left to decide the justice of the matter.