I FOUGHT THE LAW - sun&mon 9pm itv - TV PACE NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

I Fought the Law brings to life the true story of a mother who fought for 15 years to secure justice for her daughter.

on sun and mon for two weeks this 4 part series is based on a true life story

Smith stars as Ann Ming in the true story of a mother who refused to give up her fight for justice after her daughter’s killer was acquitted.

Driven by grief and determination, Ann launched a 15-year campaign to overturn the centuries-old double jeopardy law – which once prevented someone from being tried twice for the same crime – eventually ensuring her daughter Julie’s murderer was retried and jailed for life in 2006.

Written by Jamie Crichton (All Creatures Great and Small (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/all-creatures-great-small-season-6-release-date/)), the series is based on Ming’s memoir For the Love of Julie.

I Fought the Law was first announced in May 2024. At the time, Ming said of the drama: "I am very pleased that ITV and Hera Pictures will tell the story of my campaign to overturn the double jeopardy law.

"My daughter’s killer was wrongfully acquitted, and I wasn’t going to let this law stand in my way of getting justice for Julie.

I’m overwhelmed that Sheridan Smith will be playing me. Having such an iconic and talented actress portray me is truly wonderful."

Smith herself added: "I am so honoured to have been asked to play the role of Ann Ming, a mother so determined to fight for justice for her murdered daughter that she spent 15 years campaigning for the double jeopardy law to be changed.

"She is a truly courageous and remarkable woman to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude."

The cast of I Fought the Law also includes Daniel York Loh (Scarborough) as Ann’s husband Charlie Ming and Enzo Cilenti (The Crown) as DS Mark Braithwaite, alongside Marlowe Chan-Reeves (Doctor Who (https://www.radiotimes.com/doctor-who/)), Olivia Ng (Phoenix Rise), Jake Davies (Grace (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/grace-season-6-release-date/)), Kent Riley (Mr Bates vs The Post Office) and Rufus Jones (Rivals (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/rivals-season-2-disney-plus-release-date/)).

Sadly since Julie was killed, violence against women has increased. Many more murdered since.
Did he let himself into her house with a key or did she open the door. I suppose it dosent matter but was curious. Not sure it said.

Anyway vile man. No thought about taking a mum away from her little boy.

I imagine she let him in as he was already well known to her but obviously didn't realise he was a violent man .

Sheridan Smith was completely awesome in this drama. Having said that, Mrs Ming herself was also pretty awesome. A one woman force that’s for sure.

I’ve watched the first two episodes and I’m not sure I’ll carry on with the others. It was obvious who it was gong to be when they were shown for a second and I don’t imagine she’s be able to remember him from that. In real life, I obviously feel sorry for Anne, but in this drama she’s made out to be aggressive and a nuisance. I’d be annoyed to be the dad to be portrayed as so uncaring towards the missing daughter, while Anne takes on the law single handedly.

Aggressive and a nuisance is an interesting take , for sure .

Do try and carry on if you can. This was an amazing series and the documentary as well was so good. I wouldn’t say she is aggressive and a nuisance, she’s frustrated because of the incompetence of the police and they didn’t even search the house properly. I think anyone could be classed as a “nuisance” from that but she fought so much for her daughter. Regarding her husband, he fought as well at first but for him, there came a point where he thought sometimes you have to stop fighting to keep your sanity and not let it consume you like Ann did for very good reason so maybe the husband did come off uncaring in that way because he felt he didn’t have enough fight left but he was still very supportive of Ann to get justice

I’ll maybe watch the documentary instead of finishing the drama, I think Sheridan Smith is making me dislike Anne and that’s clearly not the intended outcome of it.

Ann Ming is a remarkable woman, well done to her for all that she fought for and achieved. After watching the documentary, you didn’t even need to watch the show - it was nice to see the show was based very very accurately on real life - all too often they add loads of irrelevant content to ‘bulk it out’. But in the documentary Ann was talking about things she’d said/things that had happened, and Sheridan played her word for word, which was actually very refreshing.

Aggressive and a nuisance?? Fucking hell, this has really really riled me.

She was determined and resilient. And she was always RIGHT. But she had to fight for that, and she shouldn’t have had to. If she had not been so “aggressive and a nuisance” then her daughter’s killer would have gone unpunished for her murder. I have no other words to repeat but - fucking hell.

I’m sure she is a remarkable woman; she’s been let down by the writing and the script.

The drama was made with Ann's involvement and was based on her own book. She worked closely with the team to ensure authenticity. She also appears in a cameo role briefly.

If you think she came across as agreessive and a nuisance, then that's very, very sad. A woman who has just been robbed of her daughter is just supposed to take it mildly? Be gentle? Behave? Not rock the boat or fight for the cause as Ann did? I don't think so. It smacks of misogyny.

This happened in my area and was filmed last August in my village. I think it was brilliant.

Typos

Agree. I’m in awe that she found the strength to fight the way she did, and the fact that she changed an archaic law that has benefited others since! She is truly remarkable.

Well said. x

It was because of Ann Mings tenacity that other families have also got justice as well as for her daughter. Determined and tenacious is how id describe her. And as a PP said the series was based on her own book with full input and approval from Ann herself

@RainbowZebraWarrior

Oh wow, that’s amazing. Did you manage to catch any of the filming or meet the cast or even Ann herself?

Yes, we watched them filming all through the summer holidays last year. Most of us in the village were invited to be extras, but you weren't allowed on camera if you had modern hairstyles / coloured hair. (Which I have) It was great to see it being filmed and then watch it on the TV as its such an important story to tell.

You woukd have thought they’d give the extras a wig or is that just reserved for the main cast if they need one? I bet it was amazing to see it and to spot the areas on the tv that you saw them filming in

The budget for supporting actors doesn't tend to reach to wigs unless you're doing period dramas (I've done a lot of extra work in the past) Julie's house was actually my childhood school friend's grandparents house opposite our old school.

A woman who was robbed of her daughter, had it heavily implied she'd run off drunk, then found her own daughter's decomposed remains in the location police had spent FIVE BLOODY DAYS IN and found nothing, only to have her posthumously smeared as a nymphomaniac to justify her "accidental" death in court

Im guessing they didnt want ppl with coloured hair in shot because of things like balayage which wasnt a thing then

Indeed. The whole legal system is still heavily misogynistic against women who have been victims of violent and sexual crimes. It's always the women's fault. They were promiscuous, they asked for it, it was 'just' rough sex, etc. Ann put up with so much of this shit (and it's still perpetuated now) and she also had to put up with people being racist towards her family, too. The woman is an absolute inspiration.

Yes, I have Balayage hair colouring which is why they didn't want me. I was glad to be honest as the filming hours are often 7am to 7pm with a lot of standing around. Always very interesting to be a part of, but not something I have that much time for these days.

I met Ann Ming a few days ago. It was a very brief meeting so I can't say a lot but she seemed a very mild and nice lady. I thought she had a slight aura of sadness about her too, what happened will never leave her even though her life has gone on and continues to.

She came across very well on the documentary so you’re very lucky to have met her, even only briefly. Yes, I do imagine what happened will never leave her but she has done something brilliant with the life she has now and I’m sure if Julie was still here, she would be so proud of her mother

I’m very late to the party but I think the series was very well done and Ann obviously had a big part in bringing her story to the screen.

Update:

Billy Dunlop has actually served his minimum term and has applied to go to an open prison. The parole board actually approved this but the government blocked it.

Ann is soon to meet David Lammy in relation to Dunlops sentence and parole decision.