In
Denial of Murder - synopses
Part
1
The
parents of Stephen Downing visit Don Hale, the editor of the Matlock
Mercury. They explain to him that their son, Stephen, has been in
prison for more than 20 years for the murder of Wendy Sewell in
Bakewell cemetery in 1973. The Downings insist their son is innocent;
it is a miscarriage of justice they say, that their son is still
behind bars.
Don
begins campaigning on Stephen's behalf, meeting scepticism and obstruction
at every turn. His concern for Stephen's mental state grows and
just when it seems that all his efforts are doomed, he makes a crucial
breakthrough. A former police officer provides him with dramatic
new information that implicates another man. Suddenly, a former
lover of Wendy's appears to be in the frame for her murder.
Wendy
Sewell is unhappily married. Attempts to solve the problems within
her marriage fail and she forms a relationship with a younger man,
John Marshall. Eventually, she leaves her husband, David Sewell,
and elopes with her lover to Scotland. Realising her mistake, and
discovering that David wants her to come home, she returns to Bakewell,
only to discover that she is pregnant - and that David will not
have her back.
Part
2
Don
Hale's breakthrough proves to be disappointingly short-lived. He
is unable to get hard evidence against the men who he now believes
conspired to murder Wendy Sewell.
But
he persists with his campaign, which begins to attract national
attention, and eventually he succeeds - Stephen Downing is released.
Stephen
returns home to Bakewell and Don attempts to get to know properly
a man who he has only seen before on fleeting prison visits.
Meanwhile,
the police re-investigate Wendy's murder. When the results of this
re-investigation are announced leaving Downing as the only remaining
suspect, Don, who has by now been showered with awards, is left
angry, disappointed, and pondering the transitory nature of fame.
Wendy
Sewell has her baby, naming him Thomas, but she still wants to save
her marriage. She has to make a heartbreaking choice: keep her marriage
or give up her child. Her painful decision is to put her child,
Thomas, up for adoption.
She
returns to David, setting up a new home with him in a beautiful
farmhouse outside Bakewell. But, before long the same old strains
in the marriage recur, and she starts another relationship with
a builder who has come to restore the farmhouse.
When
David finds out about her latest infidelity she brings the relationship
to a painful end. Lost, unhappy, but still seeking happiness she
starts a small business in Bakewell. Then one lunchtime, she takes
a walk in the town cemetery…
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