The Clash sang, "I Fought the Law, and the law won." Well, in this case, ITV and Hera Pictures are filming "I Fought the Law," a drama starring Sheridan Smith that tells how Ann and her family dealt with Julie’s disappearance in Billingham, Cleveland, in November 1989 after she worked her late shift at a local pizza parlour. 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.
The four-part series has been commissioned for ITV by Head of Drama, Polly Hill and Senior Drama Commissioner Helen Ziegler, who will oversee production of the drama on behalf of the channel. The title will air on ITV1 and ITVX.
Hera Pictures ("Mary & George", "What It Feels Like For A Girl", "Hamnet", "Temple"," Honour") will produce the series in association with All3Media International, with Executive Producers Liza Marshall and Charlotte Webber at the helm. The series is directed by Erik Richter Strand ("The Crown") and produced by Mark Hedges ("Time series 2"). All3Media will be responsible for the international distribution of the series.
Hera Pictures is an independent production company founded by award-winning Executive Producer Liza Marshall in 2017. Filming is taking place in Teesside and surrounding areas, in collaboration with North East Screen via the North East Production Fund. North East Screen develops and champions North East England as one of the UK’s leading film and TV production hubs where exceptional screen industry talent can live, create and work. They manage the North East Production Fund on behalf of the North East Screen Industries Partnership.
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 (2Unforgotten") and Rufus Jones ("Hijack").