The Execution of Gary Glitter

What if the death penalty were reintroduced in England? It was abolished forty years ago, but an opinion poll in 2009 found that 54 percent of the British remain in favor of it. Rob Coldstream's mockumentary goes through the motions in a specific case – that of former Glamrock star Gary Glitter (née Paul Francis Gadd), who was jailed in Vietnam for child abuse from 2005 to 2008. In this made-for-television movie, Glitter returns home and finds out to his surprise that he has to stand trial again. The potential sentence: death by hanging. The trial becomes a tribunal against the aging rocker, who does admit to his guilt, but refuses to accept that he is turned into a monster. As highly speculative as it is gripping, this drama features a particularly compelling Hilton McRae in the title role: his performance neither elevates Gadd to martyrdom nor denounces him as inhuman.