News

A+E Networks EMEA has commissioned award-winning production company Redeeming Features, BAFTA winning Century Films and GroupM Motion Entertainment, to make a 2x60’ historical investigative series The Guilty Innocent with Christopher Eccleston, which will premiere on Sky HISTORY and on The HISTORY Channels across Europe in May 2024. In his first ever presenting role Eccleston will examine two highly controversial cases, both of which captured the public imagination and sparked major campaigns for social justice and continue to fascinate today. 

Marking the fifty-year anniversary of the arrest of minicab driver George Davis for the armed payroll robbery of the London Electricity Board in Ilford, Essex, Eccleston talks to those who campaigned tirelessly for Davis’ release and for his conviction to be overturned. In a TV exclusive Davis will break his fifty-year silence with his first ever long form TV interview. The series also re-examines the highly controversial case of James Hanratty one of the last men to be hanged in Britain, for the murder of Michael Gregsten and attempted murder of Valerie Storie, in August 1961. Eccleston retraces the extraordinary twists-and-turns of this notorious case, and the evidence which put Hanratty’s neck in the hangman’s noose on 4th April, 1962, sparking a concerted campaign to end capital punishment in the UK, once and for all.

Christopher Eccleston said: “The pursuit of justice is a subject matter which has peppered my career with dramas that remain special to me and have, in their own way, swayed public opinion. The Guilty Innocent is another project which pursues justice, or the lack of it, through a new medium which has allowed me to explore another means of storytelling.”

The series was commissioned, and executive produced by Dan Korn, VP of Programming at A+E Networks EMEA, with Diana Carter, Commissioning Editor and Head of Talent at A+E Networks EMEA.

This new series is created by BAFTA long-listed actor and filmmaker Nathanael Wiseman and is produced by Victoria Williams Co-CEO of award-winning production company Redeeming Features and Exec Produced by multi-BAFTA winning director Brian Hill for Century Films, and Deep Sehgal for GroupM Motion Entertainment. 

Dan Korn, VP of Programming said, “With the criminal justice system under ever greater scrutiny, there has never been a more important time to re-examine historic cases which sparked popular activism and widespread campaigning for change. And with his passion and presence, there is no one better than Christopher Eccleston to take us back to the sights and sounds of Britain in the 1960s and ‘70s”.

Victoria Williams, Producer and Co-CEO of Redeeming Features said, “In the wake of the Horizon scandal, there’s never been a better time to examine miscarriages of justice, so we are all really excited to be making this gripping new series for A&E .From the new season of ‘True Detective’ to ‘Our Friends In The North’ and ‘Doctor Who’, Christopher Eccleston is one of the best British actors working today, so to see him investigate these stories and bring them to life is a dream come true.”

The Guilty Innocent with Christopher Eccleston premieres on Sky HISTORY and on The HISTORY Channels across Europe in May 2024.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Barbara.Pianca@aenetworks.co.uk 

 

Editor’s Notes 

• www.SkyHISTORY.co.uk
• Sky HISTORY is available on Sky 123, Virgin 131, TalkTalk 327 and streaming service NOW. 
• Clips, viewing materials and images provided on request. 
• Interview access available depending on availability. 

About Sky HISTORY

Sky HISTORY is the flagship brand of the A+E Networks® EMEA portfolio which is made up of true crime channel Crime + Investigation®; Sky HISTORY2® and free to air channel BLAZE®. Sky HISTORY is available in the UK on Sky, Virgin and on streaming service NOW. www.SkyHistory.co.uk

About A+E Networks EMEA

At A+E Networks EMEA, we share stories that matter everywhere, anywhere. A leader in factual entertainment, our compelling, award-winning content connects with millions across the UK, Nordics, Benelux, Germany, Italy, Spain, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Our portfolio of premium brands – The HISTORY® Channel, Crime + Investigation®, HISTORY2®, BLAZE®, and COSMO TV® - inspire and excite viewers with hit franchises (Forged in Fire), must-see dramas (Vikings) and original commissions (The Hunt for Baltic Gold and Ross Kemp: Shipwreck Treasure Hunter). Our stories are global and local, linear and digital, and always compelling. With offices in London, Rome, Madrid, Warsaw, Munich, and Johannesburg, we are a truly international company that celebrates difference and diversity.

About Redeeming Features

Redeeming Features is an award-winning, East London-based production company, known for magnifying underrepresented voices, their relationships with A-list talent and for bringing original and inspiring stories to a global audience. 
Founded by award-winning TV producer, Victoria Williams, and award-winning filmmaker and BAFTA long-listed actor and director, Nathanael Wiseman, the company prides itself on its working-class roots and on championing diversity, inclusion and a strong work ethic.
The company’s first feature film release was the true crime drama Hard Tide, currently streaming worldwide on Amazon Prime and Netflix USA after a successful European and USA theatrical run. 
Most recently, the company has completed the feature documentary Ten Count, about mental health and the redemptive power of sport, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and a host of well-known athletes, which will be touring the USA, UK and Europe in the coming year.
RF are currently in development on a slate of original scripted and non-scripted projects.

About Century Films 

At Century Films we are passionate about telling stories, whether that be through documentary or drama, or sometimes a hybrid of the two. We pioneered the documentary musical in award winning films such as FELTHAM SINGS and SONGBIRDS. Our drama is always bold and hard hitting, as with the recent MARYLAND for BBC2. We explore life in the UK, telling stories that resonate with British audiences, but we also crisscross the globe, finding and telling compelling international stories, such as THE CONFESSIONS OF THOMAS QUICK.

About GroupM Motion Entertainment

GroupM Motion Entertainment funds, develops, produces and distributes premium television, digital content and award-winning programming around the globe in partnership with the world’s leading producers, talent, networks, and platforms. Through innovative commercial and creative partnerships Motion works alongside GroupM agencies to produce original brand-funded content and unique entertainment partnerships that create value and help clients play a positive and active role in culture. The company has co-produced over 1,800 series, equating to over 26,000 hours of television across all programming genres. Motion currently operates in 44 countries worldwide with headquarters in London and Los Angeles. GroupM Motion Entertainment is part of GroupM, a WPP company.