The Jury is a five-part legal drama due to be shown on ITV on consecutive nights starting Monday 7 November 2011. It looks at the lives of the 12 people called to sit on the jury of a complicated murder trial at the Old Bailey.
The star of the show is Julie Walters as defence barrister Emma Watts who is acting for Alan Lane (played by John Lynch), who was convicted five years ago of murdering three women he met on the internet. But new evidence calls his conviction into question. Her opponent in the court of appeal is prosecuting barrister John Mallory, played by Roger Allam.
Added to the mix is mystery woman Tasha Williams (played by Lisa Dillon), who is a regular in the public gallery and is seen following members of the jury. She even starts a relationship with one of them.
As to the rest of the jury, the time can be both convenient – as a teacher having an illicit affair with a pupil discovers – or very inconvenient, as is the case of the business woman who is so busy she sends her assistant disguised as her.
The Actors in The Jury
Award winning English actress Julie Walters has had two Oscar nominations, as best actress for her role as Rita Susan White in the 1983 film Educating Rita and best supporting actress for playing Mrs Wilkinson in 2000’s Billy Elliot. The films were also responsible for two of her six Bafta wins, the other four being for Mo Mowlam in Mo, Beth in Canterbury Tales, Angela Maurer in Murder and Sheila Fitzpatrick in My Beautiful Son. She also has another eight Bafta nominations. Harry Potter fans will recognise her as Molly Weasley.
Though better known as a stage actor, Roger Allam has had TV roles dating back to the early 1990s including as Peter Adams in Between the Lines. Other television parts have included Benjamin Gold in Waking the Dead, Paul Millington in Spooks, Detective Superintendent Mackintosh in Ashes to Ashes, Peter Mannion in The Thick of It and Magister Illyrio Mopatis in Game of Thrones.
John Lynch worked with Julie Walters when he played Gerry Adams in Mo. He was nominated for a Bafta for best newcomer for his role as Cal in the 1984 film Cal. Early TV roles include as Peter Carson in Chimera. More recently he was Sagan in The Passion, Tom Flannery in Silent Witness and Gabriel in The Nativity.
Lisa Dillon’s first TV role was as Litzi Friedman in 2003’s Cambridge Spies but is better known for playing Mary Smith in Cranford. She was also Jane Brown in the 2003 film Bright Young Things and Jane Wilde in the 2004 TV movie Hawking.
The jurors are Paul Brierley (played by Steven Mackintosh), a young man who cares for his elderly mother (played by Anne Reid), Katherine Bulmore (played by Jodhi May), a teacher who has fallen in love with her 17 year old pupil Rashid Jarwar (played by Aqib Khan), Lucy Cartwright (played by Natalie Press), who is illegally standing in for her busy boss Theresa (played by Sarah Alexander), Krystina Bamford (played by Branka Katic), a lonely housewife, senior citizen Jeffery Livingstone (played by Ronald Pickup), who strikes up a friendship with juror Sudanese refugee Tahir Takana (played by Ivanno Jeremiah), Ann Skailes (played by Jo Hartley), who develops an attraction for the defendant, Derek Hatch (played by Rory McCann), who keeps nipping out for a tanning session, Brian Bundy (played by Danny Babbington), who seems to be enjoying it all, and two unnamed jurors played by Steve Morphew and Dona Chitolie.
Also in the show are Meg Wynn Owen as Olivia Livingstone, Iain Mitchell as the high court judge, Shameem Ahmed as a court clerk, Elizabeth Conboy as Anna Knight, Barbara Drennan as Holly Jackson, Paul Bhattacharjee as Rashid’s father, Shobu Kapoor as Rashid’s mother, Rakhee Thakrar as Rashid’s sister, Martin Savage as DI Bevan, Charlotte Weston as Rebecca Cheung, Alex Roe as a school boy, Meera Syal as the head teacher, Sarah Hadland as Tanya Hawkins, and Alistair Stewart, Richard Pallot and Martha Fairlie as newsreaders.
The Team Behind The Jury
Written by Bafta-award-winner Peter Morgan, The Jury was commissioned by ITV’s drama commissioning team of Laura Mackie and Sally Haines. It was executive produced by Kate Bartlett and co-executive produced by Peter Morgan. The producer was Lee Morris and the director Michael Offer.
The Original The Jury
Peter Morgan also wrote the original TV series called The Jury, which aired in 2002 and starred Gerard Butler, Nina Sosanya and Helen McCrory. This was the first series ever to be filmed inside the Old Bailey court.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
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