Category: TV Drama; Northern Ireland; 91Èȱ¬ ONE
Date: 16.05.2006
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Filming begins this week on The Innocence Project, a major new eight-part drama
series from Tightrope Pictures for 91Èȱ¬ Northern Ireland.
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This original and
vibrant series follows a group of ambitious law students and will transmit on
91Èȱ¬ ONE in Autumn 2006.
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The Innocence Project is about the law - but not about lawyers or the police.
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It's about failures in the process and cracks in the system. It's about young
people with fire in their bellies and a healthy disregard for authority.
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Jane Tranter, 91Èȱ¬'s Controller, Drama Commissioning, says: "It's great to be
working with the creative powerhouse of Hilary Bevan Jones and Paul Abbott, and
to have the attention of Tightrope focussed on smart pre-watershed drama on 91Èȱ¬
ONE.
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"Oliver Brown is an extraordinary and bright new writing talent, and his
first major drama series is packed full of engaging characters and stonking
stories."
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Champion of the underdog and a brilliant teacher, Professor Jon Ford (Lloyd
Owen, Miss Potter - film for release 2006, Monarch Of The Glen) sets up The
Innocence Project, peopled entirely by a hand-picked group of law students.
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His
passion for his subject ignites something new and exciting in his students.
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They
take on cases pro bono that nobody else wants to know about, cases that people
have forgotten, cases that others have given up on.
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They take on 'clients' with
no hope - who have possibly been wrongly convicted. Fact - sometimes the English
justice system fails.
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Smart and with an infectious enthusiasm, Ford's team is made up of fresh faced
19-year-old uni students who choose to make a difference while still going
through the serious business of growing up.
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Their job is part investigator,
part lawyer - and all before they're out of full time education.
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The cast of
exciting, young new talent includes:
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Luke Treadaway (Brothers Of The Head - film
for release 2006) who only graduates from LAMDA this summer - as the idealistic
Adam;
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Irish newcomer Ruth Bradley as Beth - brilliant, driven and passionate;
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Oliver James (What A Girl Wants) as Nick - a charmer who always gets what he
wants;
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Christine Bottomley (The Street) as Sarah - a mine of useless information
but who knows what's what socially, sexually and intellectually;
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and Stephen
Graham (Goal, Gangs Of New York) as Andrew - a competitive and persistent mature
student on sabbatical from the police.
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The Innocence Project films on location in Salford.
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The Innocence Project is created and lead written by Oliver Brown (Waking the
Dead, Bon Voyage), directed by Bill Anderson (Lewis, The Lakes) and produced by
Kirstie Macdonald (Outlaws).
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The series was commissioned for 91Èȱ¬ Northern
Ireland (Murphy's Law, The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard) by Patrick Spence and Kate
Evans, and executive produced by Hilary Bevan Jones and Paul Abbott (Tightrope
Pictures - The Girl in the Café, Dad, To The Ends Of The Earth and All In The
Game).
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A Tightrope Pictures production for 91Èȱ¬ Northern Ireland.
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