Shoot to Kill (TV 1990)

Director:

Peter Kosminsky

Writer:

Michael Eaton

Stars:

Vass Anderson, Rod Arthur, Ray Ashcroft

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Vass Anderson	...	Magistrate
Rod Arthur	...	Intelligence Officer
Ray Ashcroft	...	Constable Frederick Robinson
Susan Baker	...	Beryl Taylor
Barry Birch	...	Michael Tighe
Laurence Bourne	...	Mr. Harvey
Frank Brennan	...	Special Branch Inspector
Paul Brennen	...	Soldier at Keady sanger
Philip Bretherton	...	Detective Inspector Ron Gaffey
Anton Brookes	...	Roddy Carroll
Richard Butler	...	Chief Constable Colin Sampson
David Calder	...	John Thorburn
Colin Carnegie	...	Ballistics Expert
Peter Cellier	...	MI5 Officer
Tony Clarkin	...	Sergeant William Montgomery

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

northern ireland | based on true story

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 June 1990 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Yorkshire Television (YTV), Zenith Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

222 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Very Unbiased

I had thought right away that because SHOOT TO KILL had the name Peter Kominsky in the credits I`d be watching an entirely biased , speculative infactual docudrama that portrayed Northern Ireland policeman as SS troopers while armed terrorists were going to be shown as being either fiesty freedom fighters or peace loving pacifists . I must say I was surprised

This docudrama revolves around the very real life case of the investigation brought against E4A , the Royal Ulster Constabulary ( RUC ) elite undercover unit who were responsible for shooting dead several republican terrorists engaged in terrorist activities in 1982 . This led to the director of public prosecutions in Britain setting up " The Stalker Inquiry " where Deputy Chief Constable John Stalker ( Played here by Jack Shepard ) of Manchester police force investigated the cases to see if there were any unlawful killings by the RUC .

As I stated at the start of this review as was expecting there to be pro republican bias throughout but there`s none . In fact it`s a refreshing change to see terrorists in Ireland portrayed as terrorists with SHOOT TO KILL opening with a car bombing that murders three police reservists . The teleplay also shows the resentment shown by RUC men that the British state are investigating them when they`re engaged in a conflict against ruthless killers and Stalker is told " In the last year tweleve policemen , twenty eight soldiers and fifty seven innocent civilians have died at the hands of terrorists " , so thanks to the production team for pointing out that the IRA and INLA are not the boy scouts . The only thing the RUC men seen here are guilty of is that they falsified statements when engaged in their dangerous activities , and that they shot a couple of teenage boys who they genuinely thought were IRA members , and if after watching this you left unsatisfied by the conclusions the real life The Stalker Inquiry met the same fate as shown on screen here