Monday, 19 October 2009, 9:00PM - 10:00PM

Only children can visit Murderland, only children feel the real terror at its heart. And when they return they aren’t children anymore. 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.

It’s 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.

Six weeks of principal photography began today on the ITV1 drama, Murderland.

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 will be 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.

Still haunted by her Mother’s murder, the adult Carrie cannot move on from the terrible unexplained events that occurred when she was a child and make a new life, until she uncovers the truth.

Murderland is a knife edge thriller of revenge, redemption and rough justice, where three different perspectives eventually piece together the truth. As the investigation unfolds, Carrie’s yearning to discover who murdered her mother becomes obsessive bringing her closer to Hain. In the end Carrie holds the key to the killer, the past may be better laid to rest when those you trust have the most to hide, and chillingly are now the people from whom you may have most to fear.

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.