''The Case'' is a five-part British television

legal drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

series, written and created by David Allison, that broadcast over five consecutive days from 31 October 2011 on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

. The series stars

Dean Andrews Dean Andrews (born 6 August 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his role as DS Ray Carling in the BBC drama series ''Life on Mars''. He continued the role in the sequel series, '' Ashes to Ashes'', until 2010. As of April 2019, he has ...

as Tony Powell, a defendant accused of the murder of his terminally ill partner Saskia Stanley (

Caroline Langrishe Caroline Langrishe (born 10 January 1958) is an English actress. Early life Born in London, Langrishe is the elder daughter of Patrick Nicholas Langrishe (1932–2022), of The Manor House, Sellindge, Kent, a Lieutenant in the 11th Hussars, late ...

), whose life Tony helped to end. Saskia's family suspect Tony may have an ulterior motive for helping Saskia end her life, but it falls to barrister Sol Ridley (

Tristan Gemmill Tristan John Gemmill (born 6 June 1967) is an English actor, most notable for his roles as Dr Adam Trueman on ''Casualty (TV series), Casualty'', and Robert Preston in ''Coronation Street''. He was educated at Holmewood House School, Royal Tunb ...

), defending his first murder case, to expose the truth. Episodes were broadcast at 14:15 daily as part of the channel's daytime schedule. ''The Case'' remains David Allison's second and final original production for television, following his debut with the

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witness. ...

series '' Bedlam'' earlier the same year.

Production

The series was filmed between

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. During production,

asked not to know the outcome of the final episode, instead choosing to "play the truth that was on the page at that moment", in order to prevent the resolution from influencing his performance. Shortly prior to the broadcast of the first episode, the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' published an article questioning if a story focusing on assisted suicide was suitable for daytime television. Actor

defended the programme, stating; “I had initial reservations about how you tackle such an emotive, delicate and topical issue in daytime, but what David llisonhas done is walk through the minefield and create some fascinating, strong characters. Seeing the case from multiple angles really emphasises how the ripples affect everyone involved."

Cast

as Tony Powell; defendant *

as Saskia Stanley; victim *

as Sol Ridley; defence barrister *

Chanel Cresswell Chanel Cresswell (born 23 January 1990) is an English actress, known for playing Kelly Jenkins in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and the three subsequent series ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' (2011) and ''This I ...

as Julie Prior; pupil barrister *

Ruthie Henshall Valentine Ruth Henshall (born 7 March 1967), known professionally as Ruthie Henshall, is an English actress, singer and dancer, known for her work in musical theatre. She began her professional stage career in 1986, before making her West End d ...

as Valerie Mornay; defence barrister *

John McArdle John McArdle (born 16 August 1949) is an English actor. He is most notable for playing Billy Corkhill in the soap opera ''Brookside'', with many other smaller appearances in other soaps and dramas. Playing a regular character in ''Brookside'' ...

as Gordon McAllister; senior clerk *

Sean Chapman Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglic ...

as Mark Metzler; prosecution barrister *

Connor McIntyre Connor McIntyre (born 30 November 1960) is an English actor, best known for playing Pat Phelan in the ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'' from 2013 to 2014 and again from 2016 to 2018, but has also had large roles in TV shows such as ''Al ...

as Neil Stanley; Saskia's ex-husband *

Karl Davies Karl Davies (born 6 August 1982) is an English actor, and voice actor, who portrayed Lyle Anderson in the TV series '' Kingdom''. Previously he had portrayed Robert Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Career Davies took over the role ...

as Dan Stanley; Saskia and Neil's son * Michelle Tate as Jess Stanley; Saskia and Neil's daughter * Russell Dixon as Judge Hopwood; presiding judge * Dominic Carter as Karl Rankine *

Tupele Dorgu Tupele Dorgu (born 13 December 1977 in Preston, Lancashire) is an English actress and voice over artist. She is best known for playing the role of Kelly Crabtree in the ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 2004 to 2010. Education Dorgu ...

as Nicole Jones

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Case TV Series 2011 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings 2010s British drama television series 2010s British television miniseries BBC television dramas English-language television shows BBC Daytime television series