Scottish actor Billy Connolly and Ken Stott head an all-star British cast in 'The Debt Collector', a dark psychological thriller set in Edinburgh. Gripping, powerful, disturbing and compared by the critics to such classics of the genre as 'Get Carter' and 'The Long Good Friday', Anthony Neilson's impressive directorial debut was released on video on May 22, 2000.

Synopsis

Edinburgh 1979: In the pool-hall that serves as his base of operations, loan shark Nickie Dryden (Billy Connolly) confronts one of his many debtors over an outstanding payment. Just as events are about to turn extremely nasty, the debtor reveals himself as Gary Keltie (Ken Stott), an undercover policeman. He arrests Dryden for murder.

Edinburgh, 1997: Dryden seems to have paid his debt to society. He has served his sentence in one of Britain's toughest prisons. He is happily married to Val (Francesca Annis), an affluent writer and journalist, and is hailed as a talented sculptor by the art world.

But one man is unwilling and unable to accept this rehabilitation. Keltie, the policeman responsible for Dryden's conviction, embarks on a campaign to ensure that his violent crimes are neither forgotten nor forgiven. Keltie's first act is to violently gatecrash the opening night of Dryden's exhibition; the second is to confront Val and tell her about the horrifying 'policy' that Nickie used to such devastating effect in his former profession.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, a disturbed teenager named Flipper (Iain Robertson) and his adolescent gang confront a young couple and start using Nickie Dryden's 'policy'. For Flipper, Nickie Dryden is a hero.

As Dryden and Keltie continue to clash, so Flipper is goaded by his admiration for Dryden into committing ever more violent acts. And it is these acts which are the catalyst for the final bloody and explosive confrontation between the policeman who has stepped outside the law and the ex-criminal who cannot ignore his past.

Cast and Production Credits

In 1998 Billy Connolly was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his starring role in the feature film 'Mrs Brown'. While he is best known as one of the world's most successful comedians, Connolly has always pursued a parallel acting career, starring recently in the ensemble comedy 'Still Crazy' and contributing the voice and personality of the dog in the excellent children's film 'Paws'. His television appearances include starring roles in Down Among The Big Boys, his own US sitcom Billy and the title role in Deacon Brodie.

Scottish born actor Ken Stott has been seen most recently on the big screen in 'The Boxer' and 'Plunkett and Macleane'. Other film credits include 'Shallow Grave', 'Being Human' and 'Fever Pitch'. Stott also received overwhelming critical acclaim for his performance in ITV's recent and controversial series The Vice.

Francesca Annis began her acting career in films such as 'Dune' and 'Krull', but most recently she has concentrated more on television drama, appearing in Between the Lines, Dalziel and Pascoe and Reckless. Her recent stage credits include the role of Gertrude in the Almeida Theatre's lauded production of Hamlet, also starring Ralph Fiennes and Tara Fitzgerald.

In 1995, Iain Robertson starred in Gillies MacKinnon's award-winning feature 'Small Faces' and was awarded a Scottish BAFTA for his performance. He recently appeared in 'Plunkett and Macleane' and can currently be seen opposite Richard E. Grant in Mick Davis' 'The Match'.

'The Debt Collector' marks the feature film debut as director and writer for Anthony Neilson. In 1997 his play The Censor attracted controversy with its frank exploration of sexual self-censorship, and was described by the Daily Telegraph as "one of the most haunting, original and courageous plays of the year." Neilson's work for television includes episodes of Cracker, Bible John and In Suspicious Circumstances.

Contributed by FilmFour Press Office e-mail: mediacomms@msn.com

Links:

Famous Scot Billy Connolly on the Gathering of the Clans