There is only so much you can condense into 48 minutes of onscreen time, however 'Beyond Grief' is a penetrating television docu-drama of very real events that occurred in the fall of 1965 and following year(s).
Britain was stunned in the year of '65 when disturbing reports were coming through about the arrests of a young couple involved in the deaths of several children-soon to become known as 'The Moors Murders'-the killers were Ian Brady & Myra Hindley.
The story is centered on the distress of Mrs Downey and her partner Mr Alan West upon finding their 10 year old daughter Lesley, who vanished from a Boxing Day fairground in the early, but already dark evening of 1964.
I won't go into details here of the case, most of which is well enough known already. Actress Kathryn Aponowicz plays her part here as Mrs Downey with distressing realism, in the frantic search for her missing daughter, there are moments too when the brutal insensitivity of the police are shown, with her home almost ransacked by searching officers.
It was to be another ten months before Ann Downey & her partner were to learn the awful truth about what happened to their 10 year old daughter-who suffered terribly at the hands of Brady & Myra. Mrs Ann Downey had the awful task of identifying her daughters body at Uppermill Mortuary, which is sensitively shown, but awfully chilling, it was necessary for the prosecution to have the girl positively identified by her mother.
Unfortunately for all concerned, Ann Downey had also the terrible ordeal of identifying photographs taken of Lesley as well as hearing her voice & distress on a spool of audio tape found at her murderer's house.
I remember the original SKY screening and it was very distressing.
A very good production shot in black & white which conveys that time frame of 1965-later in the film it changes to colour as the years advance to 1971. Very good too, the period clothing of mid 60s Britain.
All in all a very good production.
Britain was stunned in the year of '65 when disturbing reports were coming through about the arrests of a young couple involved in the deaths of several children-soon to become known as 'The Moors Murders'-the killers were Ian Brady & Myra Hindley.
The story is centered on the distress of Mrs Downey and her partner Mr Alan West upon finding their 10 year old daughter Lesley, who vanished from a Boxing Day fairground in the early, but already dark evening of 1964.
I won't go into details here of the case, most of which is well enough known already. Actress Kathryn Aponowicz plays her part here as Mrs Downey with distressing realism, in the frantic search for her missing daughter, there are moments too when the brutal insensitivity of the police are shown, with her home almost ransacked by searching officers.
It was to be another ten months before Ann Downey & her partner were to learn the awful truth about what happened to their 10 year old daughter-who suffered terribly at the hands of Brady & Myra. Mrs Ann Downey had the awful task of identifying her daughters body at Uppermill Mortuary, which is sensitively shown, but awfully chilling, it was necessary for the prosecution to have the girl positively identified by her mother.
Unfortunately for all concerned, Ann Downey had also the terrible ordeal of identifying photographs taken of Lesley as well as hearing her voice & distress on a spool of audio tape found at her murderer's house.
I remember the original SKY screening and it was very distressing.
A very good production shot in black & white which conveys that time frame of 1965-later in the film it changes to colour as the years advance to 1971. Very good too, the period clothing of mid 60s Britain.
All in all a very good production.
