Chinese Murder Mystery
(eVideo)

eVideo

Undetermined

Title from title frames.

In Process Record.

Originally produced by True Vision Productions in 2012.

In November 2011, public school educated Neil Percival Heywood, reportedly died of alcohol poisoning in the Lucky Holiday Hotel, in a remote Chinese city. His death, virtually unnoticed at the time, has gone on to shake China's Communist Party to the core. For the first time on television, Dispatches exposes a tale of sexual intrigue, betrayal and corruption. The film sheds new light on the real story of Heywood's life, his relationship with the one of the most powerful families in China and the mystery behind his death. Within months of Neil Heywood's memorial in southwest London, his grieving family learned that secretive Communist Party investigators in China believed that the Old Harrovian had been slipped cyanide by the wife of one of the country's leading political figures after Heywood had tried to blackmail her. She was convicted for the murder and her husband drummed out of the Party. However, a year-long investigation by Dispatches can now reveal how an Englishman abroad became ensnared in a deadly political dogfight, Heywood's death turning the spotlight onto one of the world's most secretive regimes. Awards Monte Carlo TV Festival - in 2013 "A proper and thorough investigation, an extraordinary story told better here than it has been before." - Sam Wollaston - The Guardian. "Dispatches restores a sense of just how dangerously murky politics in China can be. Gripping for all the right reasons." - Tom Sutcliffe - The Indpendent. "Startling revelations give the full background of high-level political infighting in China's ruling Communist Party, and leave Gu's conviction in grave doubt." - The Mail on Sunday. "A story that reaches right into the heart of China's political machine" - Lara Prendergast - The Sunday Telegraph.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

In English