Murderland
Production Notes
“Only children can visit Murderland, only children feel the
real terror at its heart. And when they return they aren’t
children any more.”
***The information contained herein is strictly embargoed from all
press use, non commercial publication, or syndication until 14.30
Wednesday 7th October, 2009***
Murderland
Contents
Foreword from David Pirie
Press release
Cast List
Synopsis
Robbie Coltrane Interview
Amanda Hale Interview
Bel Powley Interview
Sharon Small Interview
A foreword from the writer of Murderland - David Pirie
As with all scripts, ‘Murderland’ had many starting points. The above quote about how
the proximity to murder can affect children and adolescents, ending their childhood, was
one. Another was the Roxette song ‘Joyride’ from the 90s, which had always haunted
me with its slightly eerie lyrics
“It all begins where it ends / And we’re all magic friends”
And there was an image that stayed with me, the image of a wedding dress abandoned
in a toilet stall. The abandoned dress made the cut, the toilet stall and the song didn’t.
But even more important than the above were two sets of discussions. One with the
producers notably Kate Croft which led directly to the script and continued throughout
development, and through production. The other, with Robbie Coltrane, has been
ongoing for years. Both of us shared a passion for film noir and had often talked of the
sort of things we wanted to see on TV. But Robbie was always more critical of
Hitchcock than I was, feeling the man’s flaw was that he dealt in obsession and not in
love. In ‘Murderland’ we wanted to have both.
The story subsequently took shape in three parts with three perspectives, each episode
having a singular point-of-view which meant that the same scene often appeared
slightly differently and with a different emphasis. This was one of the challenges,
making that work dramatically, delivering new and pleasing information and dramatic
reveals each time.
At the heart of it was Carrie Walsh a thirteen year old girl who comes close to
witnessing the murder of her mother and subsequently puts her faith in the detective
investigating the case, the troubled, conflicted Douglas Hain. Carrie is experiencing the
heightened crime-obsessed state, familiar to psychologists, that has been chronicled so
brilliantly by James Ellroy in his autobiographical book ‘My Dark Places’. And, as with
Ellroy, years later the grown up Carrie finds she simply cannot go on until she has
discovered more of the truth. But, as almost all definitions of film noir point out, the truth
is so often shrouded in moral and sexual ambiguity. And the grown up Carrie has no
idea at all of how far she will have to go to reach it….
MURDERLAND
Press Release
ONE MURDER - TWO TIMEFRAMES - THREE PERSPECTIVES
ROBBIE COLTRANE (Harry Potter, Cracker) leads the cast as detective Douglas Hain.
Written by acclaimed writer David Pirie (Murder Rooms, Woman in White), directed by
Catherine Morshead (Ashes to Ashes, Viva Blackpool) produced by
Touchpaper
Scotland, part of the RDF Media Group, and commissioned by ITV1, the 3 x 60 min
drama was filmed on location around London.
Coltrane will star alongside, SHARON SMALL (Mistresses, The Inspector Lynley
Mysteries), LUCY COHU (The Queen's Sister, Becoming Jane), AMANDA HALE
(Persuasion), NICHOLAS GLEAVES (Foyle’s War, Robin Hood), DAVID WESTHEAD
(Criminal Justice), ANDREW TIERNAN (Survivors), DAVID GYASI (Law & Order) and
BEL POWLEY (M.I. High)
Murderland is an emotional and passionate thriller that tells a traumatic murder story
through the eyes of three central characters: Carrie the daughter of the murdered
woman, Douglas Hain, the detective in charge of the investigation and Sally the murder
victim. Murderland is a knife edge thriller of revenge, redemption and rough justice,
where three different perspectives eventually enable us to see the truth.
Murderland has been commissioned by Director of ITV Commissioning, Laura Mackie
and Controller of Drama Commissioning, Sally Haynes.
“Following the success of ITV1’s Monday night thriller season, we’re delighted to
commission Murderland. It’s also a great coup to have Robbie Coltrane return to ITV1
Drama in the role of DI Douglas Hain,” said Laura.
Murderland is produced by Kate Croft and Dave Edwards for Touchpaper, Scotland.
“Robbie Coltrane heads a marvellous cast and combining the talents of David Pirie and
Catherine Morshead on this project is a delicious prospect. Murderland promises to be
as much a why-dunit as a whodunit. As much a love story as a murder story,” says Kate
Croft.
RDF Rights, part of the RDF Media Group, hold all international rights to the new series.
Press contact: Tim West, Publicity Manager on 0207 157 3040 Tim.West@itv.com
Press Contact for RDF: Alice Robertson, Group Head of Publicity on 0207 013 4368 /
alice.robertson@rdfmedia.com
Murderland
Cast List
Robbie Coltrane – DI Douglas Hain
Carol Walsh – Amanda Hale
Carrie Walsh – Bel Powley
Sally Walsh – Lucy Cohu
Dr Laura Maitland – Sharon Small
Oliver – Nicholas Gleaves
Rachel – Lorraine Ashbourne
Tony Philips – David Westhead
Whitaker – Andrew Tiernan
Jess – Yasmin Page
Will – David Gyasi
McGrath – Steven Robertson
DC Hart – Mali Harries
Connor Mackie – Paul Thornley
Crawford – Guy Henry
Tobias – Michael Bertenshaw
Murderland
Synopsis
ONE MURDER - TWO TIMEFRAMES - THREE PERSPECTIVES
A knife-edge three part emotional noirish thriller - set in 1994 and present day - told
from three points-of-view:-
Carrie, (Bel Powley) the daughter of the murdered woman, whose life has been
changed forever and whose memories may hold the key to the killer’s identity. And her
adult self, Carol, (Amanda Hale) a woman determined to find out who her mother really
was and what happened to her.
DI Douglas Hain, (Robbie Coltrane) the detective in charge of the investigation, who
involved with the case more than he can reveal to anyone. Like Carrie, Hain is haunted
by the murder so when adult Carol turns up on his doorstep he feels forced to help her,
regardless of the cost and his own motives.
Sally, (Lucy Cohu) the murder victim whose hopes and dreams of carving out a better
life for herself and her daughter are smashed to pieces one fateful night in 1994. And
whose life – and death - we will piece together through flashback, from different
perspectives, unravelling the truth about her and the real reason she died.
Murderland is a drama that asks the question – can you ever move on from terrible
events that befall you as a child, and grow up and make a new life? Or will you be
forever haunted, unable to really live as an adult until you know the truth? When the
event is the murder of your mother while you were only 13 and the murderer was never
caught, a state of obsession can overtake you – you enter Murderland. To return from
there is an arduous journey lasting well into your adult life. So that finally the grown-up
Carol’s desire to find the terrifying truth is stronger than her ability to forget, even if it
puts her life and the lives of others in danger.
Murderland is a drama about the life - and death of one woman and how her murder
obsesses those she leaves behind - Carrie and Douglas Hain, a man and a child, who
forged a strange and unconventional bond through grief and through Carrie’s obsessive
desire to find the killer so that some 15 years later, they both still feel haunted by the
murdered woman.
Murderland is a taut thriller in the film noir tradition: full of moral and sexual ambiguity,
especially surrounding the victim. But contained within the three episodes a love story.
Love lost and found, trust destroyed and rebuilt, and the endless questions that linger
over what might have been.
Through three perspectives the drama will eventually piece together the truth. And in
the process it will show how widely the recollection of events can vary from person to
person, sometimes painfully so. And how memories may be trapped by grief and shock,
becoming too painful to retrieve.
On June 21st 1994 Sally Walsh, a woman who worked in a massage parlour on the
fringes of the sex industry is found murdered in the small kitchen of her house in an
unremarkable street in North West London. Her 13 year old daughter Carrie was out
but returned to find her home a crime scene. Despite numerous suspects, no one was
ever charged with the murder.
EPISODE ONE. Present Day. Carol (Carrie grown up) is now a beautiful woman, about
to get married. But feeling the absence of her mother at such a milestone in her life
makes Carol wants to reconnect to her mother the only way she knows how. And a
highly charged review of the police files triggers a series of unsettling memories.
Murderland remains buried deep inside her and many questions remain unanswered.
Carol finds she has opened a Pandora’s Box and flees her wedding to trace detective
Douglas Hain, who has long since retired. Somehow Carol is going to face her past
once and for all.
Meanwhile we see her memories of 1994, and the terrifying events surrounding her
mother’s murder. From the last happy moments Carrie spent as an innocent teenager,
to the full horror of the murder and aftermath as her family life and childhood is lost. In
the course of the investigation that follows Carrie adopts what many see as an
unhealthy obsession with the case and its investigating officer DI Douglas Hain
(Coltrane). We understand the case only from Carrie’s perspective whilst getting hints
of all that is hidden from her. Until in a horrifying conclusion Carrie suddenly grasps
how much she has failed to understand how close she is to becoming the next victim.
EPISODE TWO Present Day. Carol confronts a startled Hain. Will she believe Hain’s
version of events she now forces him to reveal?
For in Episode Two we now see the full picture of 1994 through detective Gordon Hain’s
adult perspective. Taking us into all the detail of a murder case riven by conflict, tension
and dark secrets. Where Hain increasingly struggles with conflicting emotions
surrounding the murdered woman and her vulnerable daughter.
EPISODE THREE is largely set in Present Day and is the culmination of Carol’s
obsessive drive to find out the truth. A quest which puts Hain in a terrible dilemma as he
has powerful reasons for not wanting Carol to dig any deeper into the murder.
And in Episode Three we explore the final perspective on events, namely the murdered
woman herself, Sally Walsh (Lucy Cohu). And the truth when finally pieced together is
more shocking than Carol ever imagined.
Will Carol ever be able to leave Murderland?
ROBBIE COLTRANE IS DI DOUGLAS HAIN
David Pirie and I talked about the idea for Murderland some years ago and making
television we’d like to watch - it was as simple as that really.
We talked about what gripped us and what has particularly gripped us about film noir
and Hitchcock and all those things. It’s the idea of characters who are in some sort of
conflict and appear to be one thing but may in fact be something else, characters who
confuse the audience in one sense and then treat them in another. The story throws up
enormous moral conflicts.
As soon as you have somebody who has been murdered everything becomes very
serious. Any kind of wishy washy notions about what is right and wrong comes into very
tight focus for everybody involved, particularly in this case for Carrie and then later as
she grows up. Carol is an unresolved personality because of what happened to her as
there wasn’t enough closure on her mother’s death and no-one has ever been convicted
of the killing. In a way all the damage that child psychologist Dr Maitland predicted has
come true, although the interesting thing is that Maitland is right theoretically, but is
wrong about absolutely everything emotionally.
There definitely seems to be a need in people to have closure in their lives which allows
them to continue their story with optimism and normality. I saw a programme recently
about the Second World War and the narrator was saying how important it was for the
children and grand children of the deceased to know exactly where their old grandpa
had popped his clogs. The whole business of burying somebody is important because
people need to do it. This is the problem with Carol. I think it’s wonderful how Amanda
Hale plays her in Murderland. It’s as if Carol has had Carrie’s cheeky joy taken out of
her. I think she plays this so cleverly. There is an astonishing amount of talent involved
in this production. Everybody is totally attached to the scripts and we have these
conversations around the table where everybody talked about their character. Everyone
really thought about the role they are playing.
There are still a lot of things I want to do with my life. I’m very driven and being
ambitious is always looked down on in Britain I feel. People feel you want more then
you deserve. I certainly have a lot of things I still want to do. I want to make things as
that’s always been in my blood and that’s why I went to art school. My children are like
that, they both make things all the time. I think most people want to make things. I
watched an extraordinary programme about very early paintings in France and even
when we were just sitting around the fire hoping for a buffalo to pass people were
painting on walls. I think it’s a very deep thing, wanting to make things and most people
are like that.
I would love to be in a cowboy picture. I’ve been offered a lot of really nice stuff. I’m
trying to raise money for one of my projects and would like to get a Hollywood star to do
another. One is about Laurel and Hardy touring Britain in the late 40’s; it’s a lovely
piece. Raising money for single dramas is very, very difficult at the moment thanks to
the current climate. We are all very grateful that Murderland has been produced. I hope
everyone enjoys the drama as an awful lot of care, love and attention has gone into
making it.”
AMANDA HALE IS CAROL WALSH
“At the beginning of the drama Carol thinks she’s found out who has murdered her
mother. This becomes the main driving force in re-building her life. However, as
Murderland unfolds we realise the story is more about a journey of discovery for Carol.
She has to make a choice whether to carry on with her life as it is or go back and try
and find out who murdered her mother. She’s reached a milestone in her life and is
about to get married, but can’t fully commit until all her unanswered questions are finally
answered.
She is finding it hard to move on. Her memorises are tortured because she either
paints her mother as a villain or can’t comprehend who her mother really was. Through
the film she finds a way to live with her mother’s memory and finally it becomes part of
her everyday life instead of being a huge burden.
I wasn’t aware of the term Murderland before I read the script. I did quite a lot of
research for the role and read James Ellroy’s book which focuses on the murder of his
mother and his journey in finding out who did it. Reading this book, coupled with the
research I carried out about bereavement and people who have lost parents in a violent
way rather than through an illness, really helped me build Carol’s character.
Robbie Coltrane is so much fun. He’s such a generous, cheeky, humble guy who
creates a really great atmosphere on set. When you arrive on set it’s like watching a
great stand up comedian on stage. You just sit back in your seat and get ready to laugh
- he is great. Filming was full on and he never complained. He is always very aware of
other people and very considerate in his approach to work.
Now filming's finished, I’m currently performing at the National Theatre until January. It’s
a production called “Our Class” which is set in Poland during the Second World War
and is about a class of Polish and Jewish children. It follows them through their
lives and as they grow up. Their country is torn apart by invading armies, first Soviet
and then Nazi and internal grievances deepen as fervent nationalism develops. Friends
betray each other and violence escalates, until these ordinary people carry out an
extraordinary and monstrous act that darkly resonates to this day. It’s written by a Polish
playwright who is brilliant. After going from Murderland to “Our Class”, two very intense
productions, I think I may need to do a slapstick comedy afterwards, just to rebalance
things!”
BEL POWLEY IS CARRIE WALSH
“In Murderland I play Carrie Walsh. One night Carrie arrives home to discover her
mother brutally raped and murdered. Carrie is only 13 years old and has no family
nearby. She is quite a shy and insecure person and has a best friend called Jess who is
more daring and wild. Jess drags her to a party but Carrie just follows her around. It is
after the party when Carrie returns home that she finds her mother dead.
She becomes obsessed with what happened to her mother. She doesn’t give herself
time to grieve and throws all her emotion into her obsession. She thinks she is some
sort of Miss Marple!
Carrie becomes obsessed with Robbie Coltrane’s character, Detective Inspector Hain.,
as past secrets come out.
It was great working with Robbie. At first I was scared because he’s so well-known, but I
knew that having done Harry Potter, he must be good at acting with young people. He
was amazing and we got on really well. Although Murderland is quite serious, off
camera we were happy and telling jokes all the time. Robbie Coltrane is hilarious!
It’s a dark subject matter and at first I didn’t realise how much that would affect the
filming. It was intense and quite draining because I had quite a big part full of emotion;
the main things Carrie does throughout are cry and run. I got very used to crying on
demand!
It was a great experience for me as a young actress. I really liked playing Carrie. There
isn’t really one scene where she is happy, and although she’s depressed that makes
her more interesting to play.
‘Murderland’ is the physiological term used to explain Carrie’s behaviour. Even though it
might not be a real term I think it is something real, especially for someone like my
character, who is just 13 when it happens.
When I got the part in Murderland I was doing a play at the Royal Court called Tusk
Tusk. I was playing a young 13 year old girl who had just lost her mother. I brought my
experience of that role to Carrie’s character.
After filming Murderland I went onto film Victoria Wood’s Christmas Special. It was a
nice contrast to Murderland and really good fun. I have just completed my AS levels so
now I’m going to take a few months off to concentrate on my A levels!”
SHARON SMALL IS LAURA MAITLAND
“I play Doctor Laura Maitland, a child psychologist. I’m brought in to protect Carrie
during the course of the investigation to make sure her rights are taken care of - I have
a duty to care for her. Maitland comes in right at the beginning when the murder has
been committed and obviously Carrie is extremely traumatised at this point.
She immediately comes into conflict with Robbie’s character because he’s not very
respectful of her job, and he’s more interested in finding the killer (because the first 24
hours are crucial) than thinking about Carrie’s fragile state of mind. Maitland is there
constantly on at Hain like a hawk, always stepping in to make sure he doesn’t keep
pushing Carrie, and of course he does.
For research purposes I went to a friend who is trained in Psychology and she helped
me immensely because, it’s all about not alienating the person you are questioning. It’s
very easy to isolate someone with words alone. So the research I did with her helped
with the language and we tweaked quite a few of the ways I questioned Carrie.
Also the fact it was set during the early 90’s also meant that the way psychiatrists
practiced was far more clinical and a lot less touchy feely and at times Maitland comes
across almost cold and callous as she deals with Carrie. I think I learnt how to question
and be neutral and not to add fire to the flames.
It was never my intention to come on really warm and fluffy in any way, but I tried to
make her very neutral with a degree of care about her.
As we were filming quite a dark subject matter we obviously had some fairly intense
scenes; the atmosphere off camera was certainly more light hearted. Robbie definitely
elevated everyone’s spirits by cracking jokes all the time. He’s a very funny man and he
was making all sorts of jokes right up to the point where the director shouted ‘action’!
There were times when we’d be filming a terribly serious scene and the cameras would
start recording and I’d still be laughing thanks to Robbie!
I’m currently in a play called ‘Life is a Dream’ at The Donmar. It’s a new translation of an
old Spanish play set in the 17th Centenary. I think it’s a beautiful play, as it’s like an
adult fairytale. It’s got a great cast which includes Dominic West. I was quite nervous
about starting it as I haven’t been on stage for a while but I’m also very excited.
The good thing about performing theatre is you get instant feed back because you’re
performing to the audience. Filming is much more sporadic and your concentration span
is really up and down all day as you only tend to really concentrate for the moments
you’re on camera. When I first started, I use to concentrate for the whole day, not
anymore though!”