The trouble is that to find anything new or challenging here one would have to be considerably younger than Glitter's victims. In this way, the filmmakers argue, they hoped to raise questions about the death penalty and prompt public debate. Set in a parallel Britain, yet styled as docudrama (and screening at Sheffield Doc/fest), The Execution Of Gary Glitter is a strange hybrid creation, asking what would have happened if, prior to the former pop star's fall from grace, Britain had reintroduced the death penalty? It presents itself as a documentary looking back at events with news footage, interviews with (real) politicians and journalists, and, strangely, film of the fictional Glitter talking privately with his lawyer (something whose publication would likely present a much bigger political challenge to legalise than capital punishment itself, but whose judicial connotations are entirely overlooked).
In this case, it is used for something quite different. Whatever the case, docudrama has generally been used to explore events that have already taken place. Perhaps a dramatic element can help us to connect with events at an emotional as well as an intellectual level, giving us a more complete understanding. Its detractors claim that it encourages viewers to buy into a very specific, imaginary interpretation of events, but others point out that material presented as straight fact inevitably contains some bias, too. "There are many, many more victims of Gadd and I would urge those people now to come forward and speak to the police.The phenomenon of docudrama, on the increase in recent years, challenges the way we approach factual subjects. "Every single place where he has been as an adult male, I'm sure he has offended. "He is a predatory paedophile and there will be many, many more (victims) above and beyond those people who have come forward and given evidence in this trial. Speaking after Glitter, who was prosecuted under his real name of Paul Gadd, was found guilty of six offences at London's Southwark Crown Court, Mr Williams-Thomas said: "He is a dangerous man. Glitter was the first person arrested by Yewtree detectives in 2012. His revelations about the former Radio 1 DJ led to the launch of Operation Yewtree by the Metropolitan Police in 2012 to investigate historical sex abuse allegations.
Glitter's conviction for a string of child sex offences has led to calls for any further victims to come forward and contact the police.ĭocumentary-maker Mark Williams-Thomas, who first exposed the abuse carried out by Jimmy Savile, branded Glitter "a dangerous man" and a "predatory paedophile". He was detained in 2012 over child sex accusations. In 2006, he was convicted of sexually molesting two girls and served nearly three years in prison.Ī previous charge of rape, for which Glitter could have faced execution by firing squad if convicted, was dropped for lack of evidence, according to the singer's lawyer.Īfter his release, Glitter was deported back to the UK and placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life. The former glam rock star relocated to Vietnam. No official reason was given but there were rumours of suspected child abuse. Glitter moved from Cuba to Cambodia and lived there for a period until, in 2002, he was expelled permanently.
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