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Lee Ingleby and Hermione Norris are to star in new ITV drama Innocent. The four-part series, written by Chris Lang (Unforgotten) and Matt Arlidge (Silent Witness), revolves around the life of David Coller (Ingleby), an ordinary family man sent to jail for seven years after allegedly killing his wife, Tara.

 

David has always maintained he had nothing to do with his spouse’s murder, and the only person who seems to believe him is his brother Phil (Daniel Ryan). While Phil has endlessly campaigned for his innocence, David is still detested by Tara’s family, particularly her childless sister Alice (Hermione Norris).

 

She, together with her husband Rob (Adrian Rowlins), became guardians to David’s kids and the pair now enjoy a far more comfortable lifestyle than they did when Tara was alive, raising their young family with David’s estate money.

 

As David and Phil campaign for his release, Chief Inspector William Bleech (Nigel Lindsay) has a lot to lose should the conviction be overturned. If David is acquitted, Detective Cathy Hudson (Angel Coulby) is in line to replace the chief inspector – but no one knows she and Bleech are in a secret relationship.

 

When David is released on a technicality, a cloud of suspicion still hangs over his head. How is he going to rebuild the life he has lost? Who should he trust? How will he manage his complex web of relationships? And the question stands: is he truly innocent?

 

very exciting premise and always love a whodunnit! hope it lives up to the hype!

Eh, it was alright but I found it to be rather pedestrian tbh.

I prefer drama to be slow enough to develop properly. Innocent had a fair number of characters to introduce and different plot strands. I like the fact that, as well as the question of whether he really is innocent, it also looks at questions such as custody of the children and the difficulties of suddenly being released after seven years in prison. A prisoner released at the end of their sentence will have had periods of day release to help readjust; a prisoner suddenly declared innocent is released without any of that help.

I'm enjoying this so far even though the group of detectives are all utterly boring/void of personality.

 

I'm thinking it was Rob (the children's uncle/foster dad) that killed Tara at the moment...

I'm enjoying this so far even though the group of detectives are all utterly boring/void of personality.

 

I'm thinking it was Rob (the children's uncle/foster dad) that killed Tara at the moment...

 

Yeah it does seem to be hinting to that, but I see little motive for it so far. I wonder if it's the ex-best friend's ex wife as well.

The original investigating officer was either too lazy to do a proper job or was involved in some way.

I feel like this has been solid so far. Not amazing or mind-blowing by any means but good enough to keep my attention and to keep my intrigue!

 

Part of me do wishes it spent a bit more time than it has debating on whether David was innocent or not but, on the other hand, I'm glad it's focused on wider issues such as the interactions with his children etc.

 

Still got one episode left of course and so anything could happen but I do wonder if it might have benefited from a six part run as I'd have also liked to see some focus on the media treatment of the case (i know we saw a tiny bit at the very end of last night's episode) and it maybe might have helped to flesh out the police officers more.

 

It has been solid though, in a year where British drama has felt quite underwhelming so far, this might only be like the... second (?) UK drama series I've watched and stuck with this year.

So we never really found out why the original investigation was so bad. We can only conclude that the investigating officer was too lazy to do a proper job.