Accused (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Accused is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 television anthology series. Written and created by Jimmy McGovern
Jimmy McGovern
Jimmy McGovern is a BAFTA award-winning English television scriptwriter from Liverpool.-Early career:McGovern started his career working on Channel 4's soap opera Brookside in 1982, tackling many social issues such as unemployment.-Successes:...

, it stars Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...

, Benjamin Smith
Benjamin Smith (actor)
Benjamin Smith is a British actor best known for playing Damien Trotter in Only Fools and Horses from 2001 to 2003. He has also appeared in Holby City, Goodnight Mister Tom and Second Sight. In 2008, he played Tegs on EastEnders and Donny on Skins...

, Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every...

, Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis
Andrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...

, Marc Warren
Marc Warren
Marc Warren is an English actor, known for his British television roles as Danny Blue in Hustle, Dougie Raymond in The Vice and Dominic Foy in State of Play.-Career:...

 and Naomie Harris
Naomie Harris
Naomie Melanie Harris is an English screen actress. She is best known for her starring role as Selena in 28 Days Later, as well as her supporting turn as Tia Dalma/Calypso in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films...

 as the accused in each episode. Filming for the series took place around Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 between May and August 2010 and began airing on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 on 15 November 2010. The series was a RSJ Films production for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

.

The series follows previous drama series by McGovern, including anthology series The Street
The Street (TV series)
The Street is a British television drama series created by Jimmy McGovern and produced by Granada Television for the BBC. The series follows the lives of various residents of an unnamed street in Manchester and features an all-star cast including Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks, Bob...

 and Moving On
Moving On (TV series)
Moving On is a British television series consisting of standalone contemporary dramas first shown on daytime BBC One. Although originally broadcast in an early-afternoon slot, less than a month after the initial airing the first series was repeated to an evening audience...

. Each of the six dramas follow a different character as they await their verdict in court, and tells the story behind how they find themselves accused. A second series of four episodes has been commissioned for broadcast sometime in 2012.

Prior to broadcast, the second episode faced calls for it to be withdrawn by the head of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 for its depiction of soldiers. The first two episodes gained a generally positive reception from critics.

Production

The series was commissioned by Jay Hunt
Jay Hunt (BBC)
Jay Hunt , is a United Kingdom-based television executive, appointed to the new post of Chief Creative Officer, Channel 4. She is a former controller of BBC One.-Early life:...

 and Ben Stephenson
Ben Stephenson
Ben Stephenson is an English television executive, who has been controller of drama commissioning at the BBC since September 2008.-Early life:Stephenson attended The Hewett School in Norwich before studying at Manchester University.-Television:...

, controllers of BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 and Drama Commissioning respectively, and announced in May 2010. Each episode will revolve around a different character as they make their way to the dock in court to hear whether they've been found guilty of a crime. As they walk, the events that led up to them being accused of the crime plays out and leaves the viewers questioning whether each of the people are really guilty or not. McGovern said of the series:
McGovern was the lead writer for the series, with co-writers Alice Nutter
Alice Nutter (writer)
-Early life:She was born Anne Nutter in Burnley, Lancashire and attended Towneley High School.-Writing:Nutter is currently a scriptwriter for theatre, radio and TV. Her theatre work includes Foxes at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Where's Vietnam? for Red Ladder theatre company at West...

, Danny Brocklehurst
Danny Brocklehurst
Danny Brocklehurst is a BAFTA and International Emmy -winning English screenwriter. Brocklehurst worked as a journalist for several years before becoming a full-time screenwriter.He has written acclaimed television drama...

 and Esther Wilson for episodes three, four and five respectively. The series was directed by David Blair (episodes 1, 2, 5 and 6) and Richard Laxton (episodes 3 and 4), and produced by RSJ Films, a company founded by Jimmy McGovern, Sita Williams and Roxy Spencer. RSJ Films is also known for making award-winning BBC series The Street
The Street (TV series)
The Street is a British television drama series created by Jimmy McGovern and produced by Granada Television for the BBC. The series follows the lives of various residents of an unnamed street in Manchester and features an all-star cast including Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks, Bob...

. Filming for the series took place around Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 between May and August 2010.

A number of the cast were announced along with the series: Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...

 and Pooky Quesnel
Pooky Quesnel
Joanna Quesnel, known professionally as Pooky Quesnel, is an English actress, screenwriter and singer.-Background:Quesnel was raised in Eccles, Lancashire, along with her six siblings. She read English at Oxford University before spending a year at drama school...

 feature in "Willy's Story"; and Mackenzie Crook
Mackenzie Crook
Paul Mackenzie Crook is a British actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Gareth Keenan in The Office and Ragetti in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.-Life and career:...

, Robert Pugh
Robert Pugh
Robert Pugh is a Welsh film and television actor.Pugh was born in Cilfynydd and graduated from Rose Bruford College in 1976. In 2007, he co-starred alongside Genevieve O'Reilly and Geraldine James in ITV1 drama The Time of Your Life, where he played a parent whose 36-year-old daughter was...

, Benjamin Smith
Benjamin Smith (actor)
Benjamin Smith is a British actor best known for playing Damien Trotter in Only Fools and Horses from 2001 to 2003. He has also appeared in Holby City, Goodnight Mister Tom and Second Sight. In 2008, he played Tegs on EastEnders and Donny on Skins...

 and Ben Batt feature in "The Soldier Story" (changed to "Frankie's Story"). It was announced in June that Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every...

 and Peter Capaldi
Peter Capaldi
Peter Dougan Capaldi is an Academy Award and BAFTA award winning Scottish actor and film director. In 1995, his short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film...

 had been cast to star in "Helen's Story", and Andy Serkis would play in "Liam's Story". In July Naomie Harris
Naomie Harris
Naomie Melanie Harris is an English screen actress. She is best known for her starring role as Selena in 28 Days Later, as well as her supporting turn as Tia Dalma/Calypso in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films...

 was cast in "Alison's Story", and in August Marc Warren
Marc Warren
Marc Warren is an English actor, known for his British television roles as Danny Blue in Hustle, Dougie Raymond in The Vice and Dominic Foy in State of Play.-Career:...

 was cast in "Kenny's Story".

On 24 February 2011, it was announced by BBC Drama Controller Ben Stephenson that Accused has been renewed for a second series of four episodes, to be broadcast sometime in 2012. Despite the relatively low viewing figures from the first series, the second was commissioned in the hopes that it would have the potential to find a broader audience.

Episodes

# Title Director Writer Original airdate UK viewers
(million)


Reception

Prior to the broadcast of "Frankie's Story", it had been criticised for failing soldiers and being offensive. After reviewing the episode for the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...

, Colonel Tim Collins said that the drama "fails the soldiers on the front line" and "abjectly fails the responsibility test". After passing the DVD to the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

, Chief of the General Staff
Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)
Chief of the General Staff has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board...

 General Sir Peter Wall
Peter Wall (British Army officer)
General Sir Peter Anthony Wall, KCB, CBE, ADC Gen. is a senior British Army officer, currently the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army....

 wrote to BBC Director-General
Director-General of the BBC
The Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC.The position was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC and is now appointed by the BBC Trust....

 Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson
Mark John Thompson is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4...

 asking for the episode to not be broadcast, saying it was "deeply offensive to all those serving", "distasteful", "misleading and inaccurate". Responding to the criticism, the BBC said that they had made it clear that the drama was a piece of fiction, and McGovern said: "I was interested in exploring how soldiers have to be at a certain mindset to kill. It is not my intention to slur British soldiers, for whom I have the greatest respect. At the heart of the drama is my belief in the sanctity of life."

Reviewing the first episode, Lucy Mangan for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 said that "It was – as ever with the writer of The Street, Cracker
Cracker (UK TV series)
Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV and created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. The series is centered on a criminal psychologist , Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane. Set in Manchester, it consists of three series which were...

 and Hillsborough – a compelling dissection of the fragility of ordinary lives, but you did long for just a little light and shade." The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

s Brian Viner praised the actors, including Eccleston, and the story for being about a plumber living "in an ordinary house in an unremarkable Northern town" and not about "a detective, or a doctor, barrister, architect or spy". In The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...

, Damien Love also praised Eccleston's "brilliant" and "electrifying" performance, and said "It’s a strange, spiky programme, never perfect, but supremely watchable".

The controversial second episode was reviewed by Pete Naughton for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

, who said "McGovern tried and largely succeeded to do was to paint a compelling picture of the brutality that can arise when men under high levels of stress turn on one another" and that "it seemed clear early on that this was a drama about institutionalised bullying whose characters happened to be soldiers, rather than an attempt at a journalistic-style exposé of bullying within the Army". In The Guardian, John Crace found it "compelling": "McGovern remains one of the best TV writers in the business and if he does tend to get carried away with torturing his own characters, you can forgive him because of the pace and economy with which he delivers the story." Asking if it was good enough, Brian Viner for The Independent praised the acting and Crook's performance, and said: "McGovern's manifold skills shone through, too. ... However, I thought "Willy's Story" last week a finer piece of drama, character-led where this was issue-led, leaving too many questions unresolved."

Although critically successful the show was not a ratings success. The show opened with 5.39 million viewers but ended with 3.19 million viewers.
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