News 2006

A former England football player, one of Britain's most successful businesswomen, a mother who campaigned for the law to be changed following the murder of her daughter and a rapper who spent time in prison on a murder charge are amongst the line up of high profile jurors taking part in BBC TWO's ambitious television event, The Verdict.

The full line up, announced today, is:

Jeffrey Archer – former Tory MP and author; Honor Blackman – actress; Stan Collymore – footballer; Jennifer Ellison – actress; Jacqueline Gold – head of the Ann Summers empire; Alex James – Blur band member; MegaMan – So Solid Crew member; Dominic McVey – millionaire teen entrepreneur; Patsy Palmer - actress; Sara Payne – mother who campaigned for Sarah's law; Michael Portillo – former Tory MP and broadcaster; Ingrid Tarrant – separated from TV presenter Chris Tarrant

The twelve jurors are sitting in judgement on a four day trial in a real courtroom, presided over by a real judge, with real barristers prosecuting and defending. The jury will then retire to the jury room to begin their deliberations. But the cameras will be there, observing for the first time the dynamics of a how a jury reaches its verdict.

The Verdict, which is being produced by RDF Television, part of the RDF media group, will be stripped across four nights on BBC TWO, to be shown early next year.

A BBC THREE switch-over programme will follow the jury back to their hotel to find out how they have reacted to each day's proceedings.

The case features the rape trial of an internationally famous footballer, Damien Scott, and his friend, James Greer. Scott and Greer are fictitious characters, but in the weeks leading up to the case the actors playing them have experienced what is like to be arrested, interviewed under caution by real policemen and examined by real forensic experts.

The trial is totally unscripted so that when the witnesses appear in the witness box, they give evidence about experiences that to them, to the jury, and to viewers will seem all too real.

The Judge is the highly respected and recently retired His Honour Neil Denison QC. Jane Humphreys QC and George Carter-Stephenson QC are acting for the Defence and Joanna Greenberg QC is the CPS Barrister. The barristers are free to prosecute and defend the case in exactly the same way as they would in a real trial.

Says Roly Keating, Controller of BBC TWO: ‘This is a hugely ambitious project which brings the law to life in a completely new way. It will be fascinating to follow the twists and turns of the case, see the dynamics and power struggles within the jury, learn about the jury system with its inherent flaws and strengths - and engage with the whole experience even more deeply on broadband.'

Stephen Lambert, RDF Media Group's Chief Creative Officer said: “We are delighted that such a wide range of high profile individuals have agreed to serve on our jury. It is fascinating to see how they interact and how their different backgrounds and assumptions influence their views on the case. A huge effort was taken by everyone involved in the production to ensure that the jury experience was as authentic as possible. We were amazed by how seriously our jury treated their task and how emotionally involving it became for all of them." This series will be accompanied by an extensive broadband service that will offer audiences high volumes of extended material, background videos, witness interviews and documentary evidence to allow viewers to form their own judgement as the case progresses.