''Anybody's Nightmare'' is a British television

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

, based on the true story of the imprisonment of Sheila Bowler, that was broadcast on ITV on 7 October 2001.

Patricia Routledge Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge, (; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress, singer and broadcaster. For her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom '' Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Awar ...

starred as Bowler, a 62-year-old music teacher who in 1993 was wrongly arrested, tried and convicted for the murder of her husband's 89-year-old aunt Florence Jackson, who in 1992 had drowned in the

River Brede The River Brede is an English river in East Sussex. It flows into the Rock Channel (tidal section of the River Tillingham) and then onto the River Rother at Rye, Sussex. It takes its name from the village of Brede, which lies between Hasti ...

in East Sussex. The film chronicles the investigation and trial, and her subsequent four years' detention in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016. Histor ...

and Bullwood Hall Prison before her successful appeal in 1998. The film depicts the quest for justice undertaken by Sheila's children, Simon (Thomas Arnold) and Jane (Georgina Sutcliffe), who were helped by a friend of the family, Angela Devlin (Nicola Redmond); Devlin's book on the case, published in 1998, was the basis for the film. The cast includes David Calder as prosecution barrister Anthony Glass QC, Malcolm Sinclair as Nicholas Purnell QC, and William Armstrong as Jeremy Roberts QC, Bowler's defence lawyers. The initial broadcast of the film drew 9.11 million viewers.

Plot

Sheila Bowler (

) is a 62-year-old music teacher living in

Rye, East Sussex is a small town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. An important member of the mediaeval Cinque Ports confederati ...

. One weekend, she goes to collect her late husband's auntie, Florence Jackson (Jean Ainslie), from the care home where she is living. On the drive back home, Sheila's car suffers a puncture. She makes the decision to leave Florence in the car to walk to a nearby cottage to call for help. Upon her return, Sheila discovers that Florence has disappeared. The police are called, but despite an overnight search, no trace of Florence is discovered. Early the next day, divers pull a body from the nearby

, which is confirmed to be that of Florence. The much younger police inspectors in charge of the case seemingly find suspicion in every one of Sheila's actions, from her lack of concern while phoning for help to her cleaning her shoes after returning home to her not signing in at the care home when she picked up Auntie Flo. Sheila's lawyers, also much younger, advise her to refuse to answer any questions whatsoever in police questioning, a tactic which only spurs the case to trial. In court, Sheila is unprepared for aggressive cross-examination and is subsequently found guilty. In prison, Sheila takes advantage of the wardens' discomfort with her age to leverage better working conditions and eventually becomes friends with some of the inmates, who take to calling her "super-gran". Meanwhile, her children reconnect with an old friend who advises them to do their own homework on the appeals process and to find better lawyers. Their efforts eventually lead to media attention for Sheila's case and the appeal goes forward. At the appeal, Sheila and her lawyers are better prepared and make a more convincing case. When the receptionist of the care home reveals details about Auntie Flo that sink the prosecution's original argument, Sheila is finally freed.

Cast

as Sheila Bowler *Georgina Sutcliffe as Jane Bowler *Thomas Arnold as Simon Bowler *Jean Ainslie as Florence "Aunt Flo" Jackson * David Calder as Anthony Glass, QC * Malcolm Sinclair as Nicholas Purnell, QC *William Armstrong as Jeremy Roberts, QC *Nicola Redmond as Angela Devlin *

Albert Welling Albert Welling (born 29 February 1952) is a British actor. He has appeared in a number of television series including '' The Line of Beauty'', ''Cribb'', ''Z-Cars'', '' The Sweeney'', ''Rumpole of the Bailey'', ''The Bretts'', ''Inspector Morse' ...

as Ewen Smith *Scott Baker as DS Renno *Louisa Millwood-Haigh as WDS Booth *Anne Carroll as Valerie Nye *

Michael Culver Michael Culver (born 16 June 1938) is an English actor. He was born in Hampstead, London, the son of actor Roland Culver and casting director Daphne Rye. He was educated at Gresham's School. Actor Culver's aunt, father, mother and brother a ...

as Lord Chief Justice Bingham *

Peter Halliday Peter Halliday (2 June 1924 – 18 February 2012) was a Welsh actor. Early life The son of an auctioneer and estate agent, Halliday was brought up in Welshpool in Montgomeryshire, and attended Oswestry School in Shropshire. On leaving school h ...

as Lord Justice Swinton Thomas *Rashid Karapiet as Dr. Jeelani *

Valerie Lilley Valerie Lilley (born 14 April 1939) is a Northern Irish actress who has played many television roles on dramas such as '' Doctors'' and ''Grange Hill''. Lilley most recently appeared in BBC1's '' Casualty'' as Daisy Fennings. Prior to that Chan ...

as Mrs. Dobson

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0287917, title=Anybody's Nightmare 2001 crime drama films 2001 films 2001 television films 2000s British films 2000s English-language films 2000s legal films 2000s prison drama films 2000s prison films British courtroom films British crime drama films British drama television films British legal films British prison drama films Carlton Television Films about death Films about dysfunctional families Films set in East Sussex Films set in the 1990s ITV television dramas Legal drama films Television series by ITV Studios