Bacup, Rossendale, Lancashire on 11 August 2007, and Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were set upon by a pack of feral thugs - their crime was to be different, to dress differently from their attackers. The attack left both Sophie and Robert in comas, Sophie would never wake up, murdered for being different. This BBC film tells the story.Back in the dead part of 1970s Great Britain, I was a Punk Rocker, something that to many was akin to being the Devil's spawn. So much so a car swerved to try and hit me one day as I crossed the road, the ignorance and intolerance back then still manifests itself today, quite often with tragic and hateful consequence. Upon watching Murdered for Being Different, the impact of the overwhelming sadness is only rivalled by the revulsion at those responsible for Sophie's death. The film is a valid and highly worthy production, picking up on the burgeoning love between Sophie and Robert, and then taking us to that fateful early August 11th morning. We observe the immediate aftermath and subsequent investigation into the incident, the effects of such on family and a key witness to what had unfolded. The pic is guilty of cutting corners, we really should have had more on the attackers post the attack, on how they reacted in the run up to their arrest (media tells us they were unrepentant scum), while a tactful omission of Sophie's mother in the play is noted with respect but still leaves a hole.But ultimately complaints are churlish, for this makes its mark. It's very well produced, the performances very tight, with Abigail Lawrie as Sophie doing her proud and Reiss Jarvis superb as the conflicted key witness Michael Gorman. Soundtrack is pin sharp, right up to the finale which is played out to the haunting grace of Placebo covering Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill. A distressing viewing experience but one that all should be privy to, point made and hopefully a jolt to the system of any human being with the potential for hate crime in their black hearts. 9/10

I first heard about the murder of Sophie Lancaster on the news - and remembered being horrified by the very notion that someone could be brutally murdered simply for the way they dressed. The present time of the film, after the attack, is layered with minuscule to longer flashbacks of both Sophie and Rob's life together and the night of the attack. Sophie was well into Harry Potter and Rob was good at painting, using Sophie's back to portray wings. The use of the songs throughout the film were brilliantly segued into the score - and the last one heard was a cover of Running up that Hill, by Kate Bush."If only I could make a deal God, then I'd get him to swap our places."It's a really heartbreaking, well acted, tragic story of a beautiful life being so cruelly and senselessly cut short.

I was so impressed by the acting - especially the young actors and especially Reiss Jarvis playing Michael Gorman: he was a naturally brilliant actor and seemed to play the role effortlessly - every glance and shrug perfect. This is someone to watch. All the other young actors were excellent as well.The weaving of the storyline was very powerfully and creatively done. It wasn't patronising, but could have done with a bit more time to expand some of the storyline/viewpoints.It is not often that I watch a film about a topic as challenging as this and see a masterful combination of skills across the board.The directing/editing and writing were also so good.

A wonderful BBC Drama based on tragic true events. It conveys the problems of our modern society, whilst presenting the idea of fighting for who you are; however, I do believe what would make this even better is to show some of the perspectives from Sophie's parents, but presides from that, this is definitely worth a watch.