Executed
(ITV, 9pm)

IT’S half a century since Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans became the last two men to be hanged in Britain, and this documentary looks back on the sorry tales of those who paid the ultimate penalty having been found guilty.

14 years before Allen and Evans were executed, Londoner Timothy Evans of Notting Hill was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife Beryl and baby daughter Geraldine. Maureen Westlake, Evans’ sister, is still tortured by the pain of injustice to this day.

Serial killer John Christie lived in the basement flat of the Evans’ home at 10 Rillington Place. Evans was in a highly emotional state following the deaths of his wife and daughter. An impressionable man, he would admit to anything, and made a false statement admitting to both murders after being coerced by the police.

Evans retracted his confession and protested his innocence. Maureen, who saw him in prison with her sister, Eileen, recalls the meeting: “ I kept crying, and he said to Eileen ‘What does she keep crying for?’ and she said, ‘You know what she’s crying [about], Tim.

Beryl and the baby,’ and he said, ‘I didn’t do it, Eileen,’, he said, ‘Christie did it’.

And the last time I saw him, he did look like a ten-year-old. His face was all pale. Waved and he said, ‘cheerio’.”

Evans was eventually granted a Royal Pardon in 1966,16 years after being executed.

Christie’s crimes had been uncovered, but Timothy’s conviction for murdering his daughter was not expunged, a matter which still plagues Maureen: “I feel that I have gone as far as I can,” she explains. “But I think I am going to go to my grave still thinking that this government have still not cleared him properly.

And I still say it’s the government that killed that murdered Tim. Not killed him. Murdered him.”

The controversial case of 19-year old Derek Bentley is reinvestigated. In 1953, he was hanged for the murder of a policeman, despite the fact he did not fire the fatal shot and had a mental age of 11.

It was claimed he had uttered the words “Let him have it” to incite his partner in crime Christopher Craig to shoot.

The show also features a profile of Ruth Ellis, the 28-year-old who was executed in 1955 for the shooting of her lover David Blakely. She became the last woman to be hanged in Britain, and her story was adapted for the 1985 movie Dance with a Stranger.

Love Your Garden
(ITV, 8pm)

FOR the last in the current series, Alan Titchmarsh and the team come to the aid of Luke Simpson, who was in the Royal Engineers when he was injured in an explosion three years ago, and has had to rebuild his life and health with the support of his wife Jackie.

During their work on the garden, Titchmarsh gives a master class on that essential plant, the rose. Frances Tophill explains the key design elements for a cottage-style garden; Katie Rushworth reveals how to make the most out of cut flowers, and David Domoney gives tips on how to maintain the perfect lawn.

In the Club
(BBC1, 9pm)

THIS week, Diane (Jill Halfpenny) has a hard time accepting the reality of what Rick has done while he is on the run from the police.

She feels Roanna (Hermione Norris) is the only person she can trust and hopes for some much-needed support.

However, it seems the stress of the situation may have induced her. Meanwhile, Dev (Sacha Dhawan) and Jasmin (Tay Atwal) have a houseguest in the form of Diane’s husband Rick (Will Mellor).

However, the newlyweds are stunned to find out what’s really going on when the police arrive.