CHANNEL 4 Announces THE MURDER RETRIAL (w/t): Unveiling the Secrets of the British Jury System

Is the secrecy surrounding the British jury system (judgement by a group of one’s peers) just a smokescreen for its inherent flaws?

Studies have shown that most jurors — regular people who are often in court for the first time — do not understand all the points of law they are supposed to judge upon, despite the fact that juries are a pillar of British justice and that up to a quarter of their verdicts may be susceptible to inaccuracies influenced by a range of factors beyond objective evidence. Furthermore, the secrecy of jury verdicts—in the UK, jurors are not allowed to discuss their reasoning—makes it impossible to evaluate the validity of the deliberations.

A unique inside look at a real murder trial

For the first time on British television, The Murder Retrial (w/t) will analyse the jury system by staging a full reenactment of a real murder trial using the original transcripts in front of two juries who are unaware of each other. The series, which was shot over the course of ten days in a disused Essex courthouse, will provide a forensic examination of the judicial system.

A man who admits killing his wife will have two juries decide his fate; the defence claims he was in a trance and therefore not guilty of murder. The trial will be reenacted before the two juries, who will sit in separate, soundproofed rooms and watch the proceedings without knowing anything about the other. How and why will the two juries reach their verdict? How likely is it that they will reach the same conclusion based on the same evidence presented in the same way? How well do you think they’ll comply with the complicated rules regarding loss of control? Will they even agree with each other’s decisions after all the deliberation?

Who is making the series

The Murder Retrial (w/t) is a 4 x 60’ produced by Screendog for Channel 4. The Executive Producer for Screendog is Max Shapira. The Drama Executive Producer is Bruce Goodison. The concept was developed by Ed Kellie with Will Stanbridge. It was commissioned by Alf Lawrie, Head of Factual Entertainment, with Daniel Fromm, Commissioning Editor, Factual Entertainment. Blue Ant International will handle sales and licensing opportunities worldwide, excluding the UK.