A Is for Acid

A Is for Acid
Genre	True crime
Written by	Glenn Chandler
Directed by	Harry Bradbeer
Starring	Martin Clunes Keeley Hawes Richard Hope
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
Production
Running time	120 minutes
Release
Original network	ITV1
Original release	9 September 2002

A Is for Acid is a 2002 British television film based on the life of the serial killer John George Haigh, known as the Acid Bath Murderer, because he dissolved the bodies of six people in sulphuric acid. Haigh, hanged in 1949 for his crimes, had wrongly believed that murder could not be proven without the presence of a body. Starring Martin Clunes in the lead role, the film was shot in Scarborough, chosen because its appearance was believed similar to that of London when Haigh lived there during the 1940s. The film was produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network and aired on ITV1 on 9 September 2002. Directed by Harry Bradbeer and written by Glenn Chandler, A Is for Acid also featured among its cast Keeley Hawes and Richard Hope.

John George Haigh is raised in a Yorkshire village by sheltering parents who fellowship with the strict Plymouth Brethren. His father teaches him that their family is different from others, being among "God's elect"; but as an adult John turns to petty crime. He marries Beatrice 'Betty' Hamer, who becomes pregnant with his child. While serving a prison sentence for fraud, Haigh reads about the term corpus delicti, wrongly assuming it means murder cannot be proven without the presence of a body. He subsequently dreams up what he believes to be the perfect murder and experiments by dissolving mice in sulphuric acid. After learning that Betty gave birth to a daughter and moved away, Haigh travels to London upon his release, where he finds employment as an engineer.

After being sacked from his job because of a relationship with his boss's daughter, Gillian Rogers, Haigh sets himself up as an inventor. He bumps into a former employer, Donald McSwan, who has a successful property business. Befriending McSwan and his elderly parents, William and Amy, Haigh offers to help them when Donald is conscripted to fight in the Second World War. Donald agrees to Haigh's suggestion that he run the business and take care of his parents while Donald hides out in Scotland for the duration of the war. Haigh then invites Donald to his workshop where he bludgeons his friend to death and places his body in a vat of acid to dissolve, then forges Donald's signature to take control of his affairs. He keeps up the pretense that Donald is on the run through the rest of the war, but as Britain celebrates V.E. Day, Haigh tells William and Amy that Donald has returned to London and is waiting for them at his workshop. He then kills them both after individually driving them there. With the McSwans' money, Haigh sets himself up at the Onslow Court Hotel in Kensington.

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