Production - Behind the headlines.

IN DENIAL OF MURDERBroadcaster: BBC1Producer: Hat Trick Productions, co-financed by East Midlands Media InvestmentsTX: 29 February and 7 March, 21.00Length: 2 x 60-minutesCommissioning editor: Gareth NeameStephen Downing served 27 years for the brutal murder of Wendy Sewell in a Bakewell cemetery before a campaign waged by local journalist Don Hale led to his release in 2001. Downing's steadfast protestations of his innocence whilst in prison have now given BBC1 the title for a factual drama, but In Denial of Murder is not the simplistic, tub-thumping miscarriage of justice piece you see so much of on TV. Since his conviction was quashed, Downing has once again fallen under suspicion, which gives the two-hour docu-drama an unusually ambiguous feel.In Denial of Murder was developed by Hat Trick Productions head of drama Mark Redhead, who executive produces, and the writer, Neil McKay. The duo have worked together previously, most notably on This Is Personal: the Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, which also boasted the talents of In Denial of Murder director David Richards and executive producer Mike Dormer."Neil's a very compassionate, humane kind of bloke," says Redhead of his writer. "He really enjoys listening to real people talk and he's brilliant at catching their voices and the idiom of real life. He's not the kind of person who imposes a story on the facts."McKay, who has returned time and again to the factual drama genre, wrote ITV1's acclaimed Wall of Silence about the murder of London teenage Jamie Robe, which aired earlier this year. "I really enjoy the research and investigating a story, almost as a journalist would," explains McKay."I'm looking for a story that can yield drama and which has ambiguities and contrasts." Redhead and McKay began the lengthy process of researching the piece in 2001. Over the next couple of years, the pair interviewed the key figures and waded through bundles of legal documents and correspondence. Wendy Sewell's murder and Downing's imprisonment remain raw and sensitive subjects in the local area, but McKay found that people were willing to talk to him. "They could be tense, but they were also glad to be able to speak at length, which is certainly what happened with the widower, David Sewell," says the writer. "He recognised that we were willing to take on board his point of view. He accepted that we wouldn't sanitise it and would be frank about what happened."I feel a huge responsibility. It's especially difficult when the subjects' views may be in conflict with each other. Above all, you have to be sympathetic, without any moralising. It's about trying to convey their experiences."In Denial of Murder tells two stories: Hale's campaign to free Downing and the story of the victim, Wendy Sewell. "Structurally it's interesting to have two central characters, Don Hale and Wendy Sewell, who never meet.The only thing they have in common is the physical space of a town and in particular the graveyard," adds Redhead.The producer, Mary McMurray, says this was a highly unusual way of approaching the subject. "It was the thing that made the programme so interesting and challenging to make. Not least because the stories are not happening in parallel time; we were constantly making time-shifts." In Denial of Murder was shot in and around Bakewell last autumn, using the local knowledge of location manager, Robert Jordan. Over the three decades since Wendy Sewell's murder, Bakewell has grown into an important tourist centre. "It's open seven days a week so we had a great number of shop owners who we had to liaise with," recalls McMurray. As a result, all the street exteriors of 1970s Bakewell had to be shot in a single day. "We closed the street down on the Saturday, dressed the street that night and then the following morning we moved in and shot from early in the morning until noon, went away and came back again at 17.00." The programme-makers kept set-building to a minimum, relying mostly on Peak district locations. The only substantial set was the offices of Hale's newspaper, The Matlock Mercury, which were recreated in a warehouse by production designer Phil Roberson, who worked with McMurray on ITV's Bodyguards."The great thing about Phil is that his sets don't shout at you. He gets the look right," she says. For the homes of the main characters, the crew used local houses, though to remain as discreet as possible these were a few miles from Bakewell.The drama was completed on time in just five and a half weeks, despite the many short scenes that had to be shot by Richards. "David is a very organised director," says McMurray. "It was extremely well-scheduled.I direct more than I produce and I know it can be nerve-wracking. We were lucky because the weather was extraordinary. In Derbyshire we could well have seen nothing but a veil of mist."Looking back McMurray says the biggest challenge was to ensure that the story and characters were treated with the utmost respect. "Because we were going into the very area where the murder happened we had to make sure the script was faithful. We also had to make sure that we cast it well. We weren't trying to cast lookalikes, but all the time you're trying to cast someone who can do that character justice," she recalls. In the event, Stephen Tompkinson was cast as Hale and Caroline Katz as Wendy Sewell.While shooting, the crew worked as discreetly as possible. "We were very careful about how we filmed around the local people," says McMurray. "We spent a lot of time building bridges and in fact the local community was very welcoming. Nevertheless, we were constantly aware it was a very sensitive subject."In Denial of Murder resolutely refuses to judge its characters. It isn't an exercise in "naming the guilty men", maintains Redhead, rather it's a story about the grey areas that lie behind the stark newspaper headlines that declared on Downing's innocence or guilt and caricatured Wendy Sewell as the "Bakewell Tart". "Whole lives are simplified into headlines and the truth behind is infinitely more complex. One doesn't have to condemn or approve of anybody to find their story illuminating and moving."PRODUCTION CREDITSWriter: Neil McKayProducer: Mary McMurrayDirector: David RichardsExecutive producers: Mark Redhead, Mike DormerLine producer: John C. WilcoxDirector of photography: Lawrence JonesProduction designer: Phil RobersonHair and make-up: David MyersEditor: Catherine Creed.