The Innocent (miniseries)

*The Innocent*
The Innocent
Genre	Crime drama
Written by	Jan McVerry; Stephen Mallatratt;
Directed by	Sarah Harding
Starring	Caroline Quentin; Paul Rhys; Clare Holman; Peter O'Brien; Michael Cochrane; Ben Miles; David Fleeshman;
Composer	Christopher Gunning
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	2
Production
Executive producer	Carolyn Reynolds
Producer	Hugh Warren
Cinematography	John Ignatius
Editor	Edward Mansell
Running time	90 minutes
Production company	Yorkshire Television
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	7 January –; 8 January 2001

The Innocent is a two-part British television crime drama miniseries, written by Jan McVerry and Stephen Mallatratt, that first broadcast on ITV on 7 January 2001.^[1] Directed by Sarah Harding, The Innocent tells the story of David Pastorov (Paul Rhys), a barrister accused of rape by one of his colleagues, Alison (Clare Holman). Although he initially denies the claims, when it later transpires that he slept with the alleged victim, his wife, Beth (Caroline Quentin), heavily pregnant with the couple's third child, struggles to believe his version of events.^[2]

The two episodes of The Innocent attracted 9.87 and 9.49 million viewers respectively.^[3] Despite going head-to-head with Rebel Heart, the BBC's controversial Irish War of Independence drama, which had attracted widespread criticism before its broadcast (which resulted in critics expecting it to draw a large audience), The Innocent drew nearly six million more viewers.^[4] Despite this, the series has never been released on DVD.

Reception

Gareth McLean of The Guardian was slightly more critical, writing; "On paper - or in the Radio Times, at least - The Innocent hardly seemed like brave new drama. Focusing as it did on a schism between best friends, the subjectiveness of truth, and the compromises made and little lies told to live one's life, it appeared to be another off-the-peg contemporary drama. And with the misogyny of the legal system, the choices women have to make, and the loveliness of everyone's house thrown in, you could have been forgiven for not even turning on."^[5]

Cast

Caroline Quentin as Beth Pastorov
Paul Rhys as David Pastorov
Clare Holman as Alison Huntley
Peter O'Brien as Paul Huntley
Michael Cochrane as Harold Haig
Ben Miles as Brian Percival
David Fleeshman as Gareth Lloyd
Nicholas Fry as Simon Lang
Eleanor Lloyd-Davies as Scarlett Pastorov
Jack Lloyd-Davies as Luke Pastorov
Nathaniel Burrage-Light as Oliver Pastorov
Susan Cookson as DC Morgan
Joe Chadwin as Tom Huntley
Madeleine Eglin as Annie Huntley
John Griffin as Maurice Horovitch
Andrew Scarborough as Mark Latimer

References

^ "The Innocent (2001)". The Movie Scene. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^ "The Innocent - Series 1, Episode 1". Radio Times. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^ "BARB - Weekly Top 30 Programmes". BARB. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^ "Viewers Rebel Against New BBC Drama". The Telegraph. London. 9 January 2001. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^ "Of Vice and Men". The Guardian. 9 January 2001. Retrieved 30 January 2019.