Following in the footsteps of his father and uncle before him, Albert joins the "family business" in 1934. He rises through the ranks to become the most feared and respected executioner in the country, hanging over 450 people before his sudden resignation in 1956. Living a double life as a master craftsman hangman, and as a grocery deliveryman and loyal husband, Pierrepoint's obsession to become the "Number One" executioner in the country results in him exececuting some of Britain's most infamous murderers and Nazi war criminals. But this also shatters Pierrepoint's jealously guarded anonymity turning him into a minor celebrity. As his two lives collide, and 1950's public opinion turns against capital punishment, Pierrepoint troubled by his notoriety is ready to give it all up, but fate has other plans in store for him.