FIRST EPISODE DEALING WITH THE MICHAEL STONE CASE AIRS ON SUNDAY, 28th MAY AT 10:00 PM
LONDON, UK – 10 April 2017 – CBS Reality, owned by CBS Studios International and AMC Networks International – UK, announced today that it will premiere a new CBS Reality Original crime documentary series entitled “The Jury Room,” on Sunday, 28th May at 10:00pm.
The 6×60 series produced by FirstLookTV for CBS Reality, the biggest factual entertainment channel in the UK amongst adult women and a Top 10 most watched non-PSB channel amongst all adults[1], re-examines real murder cases in which convicted killers have always maintained their innocence. The accepted facts of each case are presented, as originally seen by the actual trial judge and jury, to twelve members of a specially selected CBS Reality Jury. Ex-Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton represents the prosecution and barrister Matt Stanbury speaks for the defence, while renowned crime reporter Will Hanrahan helps the jury and the viewers to connect the dots.
Each sitting offers either revelatory new evidence, or a more advanced analysis of pre-existing evidence, that may influence the jury’s judgment. The action unfolds in real time as the women and men in the jury room consider each defendant’s fate.
Broadcast journalist and presenter Will Hanrahan, a former BBC News foreign correspondent and three times RTS Award winner and AMCNI-UK Director of Programming Sam Rowden devised “The Jury Room” in response to the large volume of cases which come before the Criminal Division of the Appeal Court, each featuring new evidence unseen by the original jury by. Both Hanrahan and Rowden also serve as Executive Producers on the series.
Sam Rowden said: “The Jury Room offers an innovative approach to the ever popular genre of crime documentary as it invites the viewer to witness the secret world of the jury room and to ultimately cast their own verdict along with the CBS Reality jurors.”
Will Hanrahan, whose company FirstLookTV is producing the series, said: “The cases we have chosen for The Jury Room feature prisoners convicted of murder who have brought new evidence which is credible enough to be considered by an appeal court. What will our CBS Reality Jury think of that new evidence? Will they find the ‘killer’ guilty again?”
The premiere episode deals with the Michael Stone murder case that shocked the nation in 1996. Twenty years on, there remains a dedicated group of campaigners convinced of Stone’s innocence, who believe that further DNA testing could connect a different assailant to the scene of the crime, and a wrongfully convicted man could walk free.
The channel has invested heavily in original programming consisting of in-depth and relevant real life crime stories that resonate well with CBS Reality’s loyal audience. “Murderers and Their Mothers” debuted to 244K viewers, and “Killer Clergy” delivered 163K adults across its premiere run in 2016.
Other CBS Reality originals include “Stalkers Who Kill,” “The Day I Should Have Died,” “Uncovering Melanie’s Murderer” and “Encounters with Evil.”
Key art and contributor portraits available here:
dropbox.com/sh/cex6mzvwc5ezszz/AAAbkbdo0oTgGfw9bVcgdAPza?dl=0
For more information on the channel please visit:
#JuryRoom
[1] based on 0900-2959 daypart, All adults 2016
Source: BARB/Techedge, audience shares based on whole day viewing, adults