The Innocence Project

{{Short description|2006 British television series}} {{for-multi|the non-profit legal organization|Innocence Project}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use British English|date=October 2016}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | alt_name = | genre = Legal drama | creator = Oliver Brown<ref name="BBC051006">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/10_october/05/innocence.shtml "The Innocence Project Starts Thursday 9 November at 8.00pm on BBC ONE"] ''BBC.co.uk'' (Press Office), 5 October 2006 (Retrieved: 18 July 2009)</ref> | developer = | writer = Stephen Brady Ed McCardie Paul Logue Abigail Harvey | director = Bill Anderson Peter Hoar Morag Mackinnon | creative_director = | presenter = | starring = Lloyd Owen Christine Bottomley Ruth Bradley Stephen Graham Oliver James Luke Treadaway Shelley Conn | judges = | voices = | narrator = | theme_music_composer = | open_theme = | end_theme = | composer = Tim Phillips | country = United Kingdom | language = English | num_series = 1 | num_episodes = 8<ref name="BBC160506">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/05_may/16/project.shtml "The Innocence Project — new drama for BBC ONE follows a group of ambitious law students"] ''BBC.co.uk'' (Press Office), 16 May 2006 (Retrieved: 18 July 2009)</ref> | list_episodes = | executive_producer = Paul Abbott Hilary Bevan-Jones | producer = Kirstie MacDonald | editor = Charles Alexander Fiona Colbeck | location = | cinematography = Ian Adrian | camera = | runtime = 60 minutes | company = Tightrope Pictures BBC Northern Ireland | channel = BBC One | first_aired = {{start date|2006|11|9|df=y}} | last_aired = {{end date|2007|2|7|df=y}} | related = }}

'''''The Innocence Project''''' is a television drama series created by BBC Northern Ireland and first broadcast on BBC One on 9 November 2006. The series follows the work of Professor Jon Ford (Lloyd Owen), who sets up ''The Innocence Project'', peopled entirely by a hand-picked group of law students. They take on cases pro bono that no one else will handle, or those that have been forgotten or given up on, working for clients that would otherwise have no hope, and who have possibly been wrongly convicted. The series is based on a British version of the Innocence Project, a non-profit legal clinic in the United States.<ref name="Times230407">{{cite news|author=Smallman, Etan| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/student/student_life/article1685105.ece | archive-url=https://archive.today/20081007213839/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/student/student_life/article1685105.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=7 October 2008 |title=The Innocence Squad|work=The Times|date= 23 April 2007|accessdate=18 July 2009}}</ref>

''The Innocence Project'' fared particularly poorly for a BBC primetime drama, and received a number of negative reviews. In an unusual move for the BBC, the series was pulled from the schedules mid-run, and the final three episodes were not broadcast until over a month later.<ref name="Obs031206">{{cite news|author=Dowell, Ben| url= https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/dec/03/bbc.broadcasting |title=Innocence lost on BBC1 viewers|work= The Observer|date= 3 December 2006|access-date= 18 July 2009}}</ref> The BBC subsequently confirmed that the series would not be renewed. Notably, the series has also never been issued on DVD.

==Foundation== The first and best-known Innocence organization is based at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University. It directly serves defendants who can conclusively be proven innocent by DNA testing of evidence done ''after'' their convictions.<ref name="project">{{cite web|url=http://www.innocenceproject.org/about/|title=About Us|accessdate=12 December 2006|publisher=Innocence Project}}</ref> The clinic was founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld. In addition to working on behalf of those who may have been wrongfully convicted of crimes throughout the United States, the Innocence Project performs research and advocacy related to the causes of wrongful convictions. ''The Innocence Project'' is a member of the recently formed Innocence Network, which brings together a number of innocence organizations from across the United States.<ref name="network">{{cite web|url=http://www.innocencenetwork.org/|title=Mission Statement|accessdate=12 December 2006|publisher=Innocence Network}}</ref>

As of 2012, 292 defendants previously convicted of serious crimes in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing. Almost all of these convictions involved some form of sexual assault and approximately 25% involved murder.<ref name="case">{{cite web|url=http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/ |title=Case Profiles |accessdate=12 December 2006 |publisher=Innocence Project |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209062754/http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/ |archivedate=9 December 2006 }}</ref> Dr. Michael Naughton, founder and director of the Innocence Network UK (INUK), set up the first innocence project in Britain at the University of Bristol in January 2005. Additionally, INUK has actively assisted in setting up over 30 innocence projects in British universities and referred approximately 90 cases to member innocence projects for further investigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.innocencenetwork.org.uk/ |website=innocencenetwork.org.uk|title=Innocence Network UK}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bris.ac.uk/law/aboutus/law-activities/innocenceproject/index.html|website= University of Bristol Law School | title=University of Bristol Innocence Project}}</ref>

==Cast== * Lloyd Owen – Professor Jon Ford * Christine Bottomley – Sarah Shawcross * Ruth Bradley – Beth McNair * Stephen Graham – Andrew Lucas * Oliver James – Nick Benitz * Luke Treadaway – Adam Solomons * Shelley Conn – Dr. Eve Walker * Andrea Lowe – Philippa Lucas * Ruta Gedmintas – Mary Jarvis * Thomas Turgoose – Darren "Dizzy" Littlewood * Charlotte Emmerson – Lizzie Ford

==Episodes== {{Episode table |background=#FF623B |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |viewers= |country=UK |episodes= {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |Title = Beyond Reasonable Doubt |DirectedBy = Bill Anderson |WrittenBy = Oliver Brown |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2006|11|9|df=y}} |Viewers = |ShortSummary = A convicted killer, Luke Talbot, has always proclaimed his innocence and the team start to review the case against him, which appears uncertain. While still going through the serious business of growing up at university, the students search for new evidence which could set him free. Nick also finds himself on the wrong side of the criminal justice system – which could mean the end of his legal career before it even starts. |LineColor = FF623B }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |Title = The Science Doesn't Lie |DirectedBy = Morag Mackinnon |WrittenBy = Stephen Brady |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2006|11|16|df=y}} |Viewers = |ShortSummary = Beth tries to convince an apparently unenthusiastic Ford about the merits of a case in which the infallibility of fingerprint evidence comes under scrutiny. Vulnerable Martin Toal retracted a confession of murder, even though his fingerprints were found at the crime scene. Beth believes the system has let Toal down. Adam is mentoring a young boy, Dizzy, but trying to overturn his ASBO is loaded with difficulty. With her mother putting extra pressure on her, Beth finds herself with more on her plate than she can handle. |LineColor = FF623B }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |Title = No Body |DirectedBy = Bill Anderson |WrittenBy = Ed McCardie |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2006|11|23|df=y}} |Viewers = |ShortSummary = Adam tries to understand how a murder conviction can be beyond reasonable doubt – when there is no body. John McKenna had been convicted of murdering his common-law wife, but her body was never found. Meanwhile, Ford makes Nick struggle with a case that is over 300 years old – an attempt to prove the innocence of a woman who was executed as a witch. Sarah is caught off-guard when her boyfriend from home, Craig, turns up with an unexpected proposal. |LineColor = FF623B }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 4 |Title = The Joint Enterprise Review |DirectedBy = Morag Mackinnon |WrittenBy = Oliver Brown |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2006|11|30|df=y}} |Viewers = |ShortSummary = The students tackle the complex ramifications of a joint trial: co-defendants who were tried together and both convicted of murder. But they hit a wall when they attempt to analyse upon what evidence the jury ultimately based their guilty verdict. Beth is appalled by the injustice and wants to approach the jury. But Ford lays down the law – such an approach would be illegal. Meanwhile, Sarah and Nick get sidetracked by a case involving an adult website and the question of just what obscenity means in this day and age. |LineColor = FF623B }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 5 |Title = Trapped |DirectedBy = Peter Hoar |WrittenBy = Stephen Brady |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2006|12|7|df=y}} |Viewers = |ShortSummary = An old face appears from Ford's past, asking for help, but Ford is not so sure he wants to get involved. The students attempt to help a convicted drug dealer get her sentence reduced. Rhiannon Hayes was convicted of selling drugs to an undercover policeman – but were the police more than just a willing buyer? Adam is forced to question his idealistic viewpoint when he fears Dizzy might have betrayed him. |LineColor = FF623B }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 6 |Title = A Good Samaritan |DirectedBy = Peter Hoar |WrittenBy = Abigail Harvey |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2007|1|24|df=y}} |Viewers = |ShortSummary = A convicted murderer claims that, rather than killing the victim, all he actually did was try to help. The students put expert evidence under the microscope. When Sarah and Beth get involved in a case the Crown Prosecution Service passed over, Beth finds herself working for the other side with PC Todd, with unexpected rewards. Ford can't seem to shift the piles of work on his desk but has a good reason for taking so much on. |LineColor = FF623B }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 7 |Title = Grey Area |DirectedBy = Bill Anderson |WrittenBy = Paul Logue |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2007|1|31|df=y}} |Viewers = |ShortSummary = The students are put to the test by the different claims and counter-claims in a rape case. Rape is a notoriously difficult offence to get a conviction for and they wonder if it's something they should even be looking at. Ford is stumped when Sarah and Andrew want to discuss how to prove that a retired police dog was an unreliable witness. |LineColor = FF623B }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 8 |Title = The Lack of Murder |DirectedBy = Bill Anderson |WrittenBy = Oliver Brown |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2007|2|7|df=y}} |Viewers = |ShortSummary = The team struggles to prove that a murder case was, in fact, a suicide. Adam gets involved in the mechanics, while the others investigate the victim's state of mind. Ford may know more about the drugs which might have contributed to the victim's death than he is letting on. So he finds himself with several difficult decisions to make – both personally and professionally. |LineColor = FF623B }} }}

==See also== *The Innocence Project, which refers to a number of non-profit legal clinics in the United States *''In Justice'', an American TV series with a similar premise

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{BBC programme}} *{{IMDb title|0815057}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070907015704/http://www.tightropepictures.com/the_innocence_project.html The Innocence Project] ''TightropePictures.com'' *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070122135939/http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/drama/innocenceproject/index.shtml The Innocence Project] ''BBC.co.uk''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Innocence Project, The}} Category:2006 British television series debuts Category:2007 British television series endings Category:2000s British drama television series Category:BBC television dramas Category:British crime drama television series Category:2000s British legal television series Category:Television shows set in Manchester Category:Wrongful convictions Category:English-language British television shows Category:2000s British crime television series Category:Innocence Project