''The Innocence Project'' is a

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

series created by

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...

and first broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on 9 November 2006. The series follows the work of Professor Jon Ford (

Lloyd Owen Marcus Richard Lloyd Owen (born 14 April 1966) is a British actor. Despite being born in London, he considers himself Welsh due to both his parents being from Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part o ...

), who sets up ''The Innocence Project'', peopled entirely by a hand-picked group of law students. They take on cases

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

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 Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and other forms of post-conviction relief, as well as advocates for criminal justice reform to prevent futur ...

, a non-profit legal clinic in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. ''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. 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 Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

. It directly serves

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...

s who can conclusively be proven innocent by

DNA testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

of evidence done ''after'' their convictions. The clinic was founded in 1992 by

Barry Scheck Barry Charles Scheck (born September 19, 1949) is an American attorney and legal scholar. He received national media attention while serving on O. J. Simpson's defense team, collectively dubbed the "Dream Team (law), Dream Team", helping to win ...

and

Peter Neufeld Peter J. Neufeld (born July 17, 1950) is an American attorney. He is best known as the co-founder, with Barry Scheck, of the Innocence Project, and for his role on the defense team of O. J. Simpson in his murder trial. Early life and education ...

. In addition to working on behalf of those who may have been wrongfully convicted of crimes throughout the

, the Innocence Project performs research and advocacy related to the causes of

wrongful conviction A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent ...

s. ''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. 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 Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

and approximately 25% involved

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

. 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 The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

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.

Cast

— Professor Jon Ford * Christine Bottomley — Sarah Shawcross *

Ruth Bradley Ruth Bradley is an Irish actress. She is best known for playing Emily Merchant in '' Primeval'' (2011) and Karen Voss in ''Humans'' (2015–18). She has also had recurring roles in ''Legend'' (6 episodes, 2006), '' The Innocence Project'' (8 e ...

— Beth McNair *

Stephen Graham Stephen Graham (born 3 August 1973) is an English actor and film producer. He began his career in 1990, with early notable roles in '' Snatch'' (2000) and ''Gangs of New York'' (2002), before his breakthrough role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne ...

— Andrew Lucas * Oliver James — Nick Benitz *

Luke Treadaway Luke Antony Newman Treadaway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 September 1984) is a British actor. He won an Olivier Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance as Christopher in t ...

— Adam Solomons *

Shelley Conn Shelley Deborah Conn (born 21 September 1976) is an English actress. She portrayed Lady Mary Sharma in the second season of ''Bridgerton'', Isabella in the film '' Love Sarah'', Dr Elizabeth Shannon in the Spielberg series '' Terra Nova'', Beelz ...

— Dr. Eve Walker * Andrea Lowe — Philippa Lucas * Ruta Gedmintas — Mary Jarvis *

Thomas Turgoose Thomas Aiden Turgoose (born 11 February 1992) is an English actor, best known for his role as Shaun Fields in the film ''This Is England'' (2006), a role he reprises in the ''This Is England'' TV series '' This Is England '86'' (2010), ''This Is ...

— Darren "Dizzy" Littlewood * Charlotte Emmerson — Lizzie Ford

Episodes

References

External links

* *
The Innocence Project
''TightropePictures.com''
The Innocence Project
''BBC.co.uk'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Innocence Project, The 2006 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series BBC television dramas British crime drama television series 2000s British legal television series Television shows set in Manchester Wrongful convictions British English-language television shows 2000s British crime television series

Foundation

Cast

Episodes

See also

References

External links