The Executioners

This is the story of The Private Executioners…a unique history of British capital punishment, seen through the eyes of those who dispensed it. Though the hangman’s duties were grim, their experiences encompassed pathos, passion and even…

The story of the French ‘bourreau’ is perhaps the most remarkable in the history of judicial executions. Nowhere were executioners more shunned than in France. Since they were carrying out the King’s work, by divine right, they were seen…

In Britain it was the rope. In France; the guillotine. But in its short history the United States of America has experimented with a bewildering array of execution methods….And continues to do so. This programme examines the history of…