Today there in the world there are over 50 countries which still enforce the death penalty, individuals who break the law can face a firing squad in China, lethal injection in the United States and hanging in Singapore. The death penalty was abolished in the United Kingdom initially for murder in 1965 remained for other crimes such as treason right up until 1998. For centuries the state carried out executions and these were used as a form of deterrent against crime and retribution against those who broke societies rules.

This film sets about examining the archive in order to trace the roots of this extraordinary story of the ultimate sanction.