SNOW Is about to fall on a freezing night in 1963 as a young girl goes missing on the moors.
Place of Execution is one of the best TV dramas I’ve seen this year.
Adapted from the novel by Stockport-based Val McDermid, it’s set in the same era as the Moors Murders.
But this is a very different story.
At the press launch in London yesterday we watched the first two episodes and interviewed stars Juliet Stevenson, Greg Wise and Lee Ingleby.
And even though I now know how this classy thriller ends, I can’t wait to see the third and final part.
Due on ITV1 later this month, the drama – set in both the past and present – took six years to bring to the screen.
It was made in Newcastle and Northumberland by Coastal Productions, the Tyneside-based company founded by Sandra Jobling and Robson Green.

IT’S aimed at the Harry Potter generation and hopes to cast a spell on family audiences.
New 13-part drama series Merlin updates the story of the sorceror of Arthurian legend for Saturday nights on BBC1.
Set in the mythical city of Camelot, the new twist on an old legend comes to our screens later this month.
But will fans of a certain sitcom recognise one of the older members of cast?
One Foot In The Grave star Richard Wilson plays Gaius, the wise physician who guides young Merlin.
“I knew I could not be a bald 70-year-old who looks like Victor Meldrew,” explains Richard.
“So I knew I had to do something, go for a new image.”
Which is why you’ll see him in a shoulder-length wig.

FIONA Bruce didn’t have time to be nervous about taking over as host of The Antiques Roadshow.
The BBC News at Ten presenter had just filmed her 12th Roadshow when I spoke to her earlier this month.
“It’s like travel with a sense of anticipation, of arriving, and having a good time when I get there,” she told me.
The new BBC1 series starts on Sunday September 7 and contains plenty of surprises.
Show one features Fiona at Bolton Abbey in North Yorkshire, which was actually the sixth programme she filmed.
Having taken over from Michael Aspel, her first Roadshow was at Chester Cathedral and will be seen later in the run.

YOU can never accuse Robson Green of holding back on his views.
Or of worrying about causing possible offence.
The church came in for a bit of a blasting at the launch of a new series of Wire In The Blood.
It came after Robson was asked if he’d learned things about reading human nature from playing clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill.
“Why religious people are like they are,” he told us.
“Church, it’s obvious. It’s controlling. Religion is about control.
“You go into a church and the first thing you see is a man on a cross.

LAST Choir Standing judge Suzi Digby summed it up.
“I wish the people at home could have been sitting where I’m sitting, because I can feel the electricity. It’s unbelievable.”
As luck would have it, I was sat just a few feet behind Suzi in Studio 1 at BBC Television Centre in London on Saturday night.
Watching the show on TV at home gives you some idea of just how special ACM Gospel Choir are.
But hearing them in the studio is something else entirely.
Salford’s Russell Watson’s verdict on their version of Stand By Me?
“ACM – or Absolute Choral Magic.”
While third judge Sharon D Clarke was – again – in tears.
The students from The Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford and musical director Mark De Lisser were almost in a different class on Saturday.

SIMON Cowell doesn’t change.
He still walks into the room, shakes your hand and asks if you’d like a drink.
Despite the multi-millions and enough global fame to turn anyone’s head, Simon hasn’t forgotten good old fashioned English politeness.
At least off screen.
The launch of The X Factor 2008 had plenty of highlights.
Around 150 journalists plus camera crews crowded into a screening room to watch the first episode – on ITV1 at 7.30pm tomorrow night.
That was followed by the usual general Q&A with all four judges.
And then small round table interviews.
Mine began with Simon paired with Cheryl Cole, then presenters Dermot O’Leary and Holly Willoughby and finally Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue.

HARRY Potter star Geraldine Somerville says her children have yet to see her in the films.
The actress makes brief flashback appearances as Harry’s murdered mum Lily Potter.
But her oldest child – son Caspar, aged six – is banned from watching.
“It’s still a bit scary,” she explains.
I met up with Geraldine recently at the launch of new ITV1 thriller The Children, which co-stars Kevin Whately.
Due on screen next month, it’s a disturbing three-part drama about step families and our messy modern lives.
She plays Sue (pictured), the mother of an eight-year-old girl found dead on the patio of her home.

HAD your summer holiday yet? No, me neither.
Once a year I receive a reminder that time for that break in the sun is running out.
It’s the invite to the launch of a new series of The X Factor.
I’ll be going along to that later this week, ahead of the first ITV1 show on Saturday night.
Yes, that’s Saturday August 16, with the fifth series finishing – as usual – at Christmas.
Don’t ever accuse ITV of not squeezing the last drop out of their hit shows.
Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and new girl Cheryl Cole are due to attend this week’s launch.
But they’ve already been talking about the new series.