I FOUGHT THE LAW: FILMING BEGINS AND FURTHER CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR ITV DRAMA STARRING SHERIDAN SMITH
Filming is underway on new ITV and Hera Pictures drama I Fought The Law, starring Sheridan Smith in the lead role. The series portrays the heart-breaking, real-life story of mother, Ann Ming, and her fight to change the Double Jeopardy Law and see her daughter’s murderer brought to justice.
Written by screenwriter Jamie Crichton (All Creatures Great and Small, The Last Kingdom, Grantchester) and based on Ann Ming’s book For The Love of Julie, the series recounts how tenacious mother of three, Ann Ming, battled for 15 years so that her daughter’s murderer could finally face justice, having been controversially acquitted following two mistrials.
The cast also includes Daniel York Loh (Scarborough) as Charlie Ming and Enzo Cilenti (The Crown) as DS Mark Braithwaite.
The series will also feature Marlowe Chan-Reeves (Doctor Who), Olivia Ng (Phoenix Rise), Jake Davies (Grace), Victoria Wyant, Kent Riley (Mr Bates vs. The Post Office), Jack James Ryan (Passenger, Vera), Andrew Lancel (Unforgotten) and Rufus Jones (Hijack).
I Fought The Law tells how Ann and her family dealt with Julie’s disappearance in Billingham, Cleveland in November 1989 after working her late shift at a local pizza parlour.
Mother to three-year-old, Kevin, Julie was incredibly close to her parents, Ann and Charlie, and was only 22 when she died. Tragically, Ann found Julie’s body concealed in the bathroom of her modest terraced house in January 1990, 80 days after it was hidden behind the bath panel by her killer. This was in spite of extensive searches of the property by police forensics teams in the days after her disappearance, who failed to detect her body.
Dissatisfied with Cleveland Constabulary and their investigation, Ann challenged senior officers and applied pressure on the police to discover what had happened to her daughter and to prosecute the man who was guilty of her murder.
The drama follows Ann and her family, as they campaign tirelessly in Julie’s name.
In her steadfast and indomitable style and despite her grief, Ann took on the Criminal Justice System, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Law Commission, eminent Defence Barristers in television debates, the Government, the Lord Chancellor, the Attorney General, and two Home Secretaries as she ‘fought the law.’
Sheridan Smith said: "I am so honoured to have been asked to play the role of Ann Ming, a mother so determined to fight for justice for her murdered daughter that she spent 15 years campaigning for the Double Jeopardy Law to be changed. She is a truly courageous and remarkable woman to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude."
More details will be announced in due course.
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