FERRIS
Synopsis Genre: Crime, based on a true story.
Bafta winning Ray Burdis explores the life of organized crime in the UK with his gritty, adaptation of Reg McKay’s best-selling book, ‘Vendetta’, the true-life account of gangland mobster and MI5 target Paul Ferris. Set in London, Glasgow and Manchester, the story details the fall of Ferris, a Glaswegian kid who grew up idolizing and working for ‘The Godfather; Arthur Thompson in his impoverished Blackhill neighbourhood. Having been betrayed by Thompson Ferris fought his way to the top of the tree to take the title ‘Godfather’ for himself. Running Glasgow with an Iron fist The tale unfolds two stories through a series of flashbacks from 1998 to 1992 as Paul Ferris serves twelve years in prison for gunrunning.
This is the hard and shocking story of life in the London prison, Belmarsh. We explore the brutal regime that actively encouraged a power struggle between the ‘tough’; new inmate and the ‘old hands’;. Paul fights to survive in the tough jungle of the penal system as we witness his run-ins with the ruthless Jamaican Yardie gangs and the IRA.
The second tale is set in 1992, Ferris finds himself the target of the Police and was set up by them and arrested him for the murder. It begins with Paul Ferris being found not guilty. He proved that the Police fabricated evidence against him and lied in court. The Strathclyde Chief of Police was furious and vows to bring Ferris down by any means possible and calls for help from his old friend Dame Stella Rimington, Director General of MI5.
Ferris is put under tremendous pressure by the authorities, his every move watched. He realises that it’s only a matter of time that he will be arrested and put away for a long time or killed, not by an underworld bullet but one from the Authorities. An insider warns him, that some of the police are plotting his demise. Forced to leave Glasgow Ferris heads to Manchester to his old friend Paul Massey, who is boss of the city’s underworld. We follow Ferris through a series of events as Massey offers him a slice of his domain. It’s not for Ferris; he misses his family and genuinely wants to go straight it’s the only way forward for him.
Unaware he is being tracked by MI5, Paul Ferris makes a trip to London to meet up with the head of the most notorious gang in the UK. They offer to take him in but Paul explains he is cashing in his chips, going straight for the sake of his wife and kids.
MI5 are watching… Paul gets an offer he can’t refuse, ‘You can’t take the gangster from a gangster’… ‘It’s to tempting… too easy’… MI5 are watching… ‘One last job’!
Bafta winning Ray Burdis explores the life of organized crime in the UK with his gritty, adaptation of Reg McKay’s best-selling book, ‘Vendetta’, the true-life account of gangland mobster and MI5 target Paul Ferris. Set in London, Glasgow and Manchester, the story details the fall of Ferris, a Glaswegian kid who grew up idolizing and working for ‘The Godfather; Arthur Thompson in his impoverished Blackhill neighbourhood. Having been betrayed by Thompson Ferris fought his way to the top of the tree to take the title ‘Godfather’ for himself. Running Glasgow with an Iron fist The tale unfolds two stories through a series of flashbacks from 1998 to 1992 as Paul Ferris serves twelve years in prison for gunrunning.
This is the hard and shocking story of life in the London prison, Belmarsh. We explore the brutal regime that actively encouraged a power struggle between the ‘tough’; new inmate and the ‘old hands’;. Paul fights to survive in the tough jungle of the penal system as we witness his run-ins with the ruthless Jamaican Yardie gangs and the IRA.
The second tale is set in 1992, Ferris finds himself the target of the Police and was set up by them and arrested him for the murder. It begins with Paul Ferris being found not guilty. He proved that the Police fabricated evidence against him and lied in court. The Strathclyde Chief of Police was furious and vows to bring Ferris down by any means possible and calls for help from his old friend Dame Stella Rimington, Director General of MI5.
Ferris is put under tremendous pressure by the authorities, his every move watched. He realises that it’s only a matter of time that he will be arrested and put away for a long time or killed, not by an underworld bullet but one from the Authorities. An insider warns him, that some of the police are plotting his demise. Forced to leave Glasgow Ferris heads to Manchester to his old friend Paul Massey, who is boss of the city’s underworld. We follow Ferris through a series of events as Massey offers him a slice of his domain. It’s not for Ferris; he misses his family and genuinely wants to go straight it’s the only way forward for him.
Unaware he is being tracked by MI5, Paul Ferris makes a trip to London to meet up with the head of the most notorious gang in the UK. They offer to take him in but Paul explains he is cashing in his chips, going straight for the sake of his wife and kids.
MI5 are watching… Paul gets an offer he can’t refuse, ‘You can’t take the gangster from a gangster’… ‘It’s to tempting… too easy’… MI5 are watching… ‘One last job’!
