Revenge thriller has personal drama elements

Press, 30 August 1988, Page 19

Revenge thriller has personal drama elements

A 12-year-old boy, Gordon Weaver, meets his death on the Piggeries — a bleak wasteland area of Liverpool — in a crime of calculated yet futile viciousness. After prolonged police investigation, the case slides unsolved into neglect. The boy’s grandfather, Doyle, sends for Gordon’s father, Weaver. Weaver is a professional criminal living in Spain, and it takes Doyle a year to trace him. A guilty nerve is exposd immediately, and Weaver is pulled reluctantly back to his native city to find and execute the killers. He is to be the marksman. Based on the novel by Hugh C. Rae, “The Marksman” is a three-part revenge thriller which combines the components of an action thriller with a personal drama of tragic power.

It was dramatised by Ron Hutchinson, whose many credits for television include the acclaimed 8.8. C thriller series “Bird of Prey,” and

Central Television’s “Connie.”

It was produced by Sally Head, who also produced Fay Weldon’s witty and macabre serial “The Life and Loves of a She Devil,” which won the 1986 B.A.F.T.A. award for Best Drama Serial.

Weaver is played by David Threlfall, who recently received great acclaim for his role as Leslie Titmus in “Paradise Postponed.” James Ellis and Rich Griffiths also star.

“One of the great joys in filming “The Marksman” was acting alongside James Ellis and Richard Griffiths,” says Threlfall. “They’re marvellous actors, so good at their craft you can’t fail to learn from them.” Of ‘The Marksman’ Thelfall says, “It is a revenge drama in quite a classical sense. Principally it is to do with paying your dues. Man cannot escape from his destiny.”

“The Marksman” begins screening tonight at 10.15 on One.