26 October 2007
Director: Adrian Shergold
Cast: Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan, Cavan Clerkin, Christopher Fulford
Rating: 15
Length: 95 minutes
Country: UK

Pierrepoint is the gripping and dramatic true-life story of Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's most notorious hangman. Following in the footsteps of his father and uncle before him, Albert joins the 'family business' in 1934.

Living a secret life as a master hangman, as well as a humble grocery deliveryman and loyal husband, Pierrepoint's reputation as the most highly regarded executioner in the land results in him executing some of Britain's most infamous murderers including Derek Bentley and Ruth Ellis, and also the Nazi war criminals convicted at the Nuremberg Trails. But the media coverage from these shatters Pierrepoint's closely guarded anonymity turning him into a minor celebrity.

As his two lives collide, and public opinion turns against capital punishment, Pierrepoint troubled by his notoriety is ready to give it all up, but fate has other plans in store for him.

See also

The Last Hangman: A 1994 interview with Syd Dernley, the last of the British Hangmen. A man who enjoyed his work - a little too much, perhaps.