Heath Ledger was Hollywood’s rising star. Richly talented with rugged good looks his first Oscar nomination came in mid twenties for his role as a sexually repressed ranch hand in Brokeback Mountain. Two years later Ledger’s versatility saw him deliver one of the big screen’s most unforgettable performances as Batman’s psychopathic nemesis The Joker. But at 3.36pm on 22 January 2008 Ledger was pronounced dead in the bedroom of his New York apartment. He was just 28 years old. His body was taken for autopsy. But the results were inconclusive and the intensely private actor’s sudden, unexplained death sparked speculation and rumour. Heath Ledger appeared to be in the prime of his life, a hugely talented actor with a glittering future ahead of him. The medical examiner concluded he died from an overdose but was it a tragic accident or had the actor taken his own life? Using the evidence of his post-mortem exam, together with the testimony of friends and colleagues, Dr Jason Payne James investigates the final hours of Heath Ledger.