EXCLUSIVE: BBC One and LA Productions have locked down the core cast for their upcoming 90 minute TV movie Common, from Accused scribe Jimmy McGovern. I’ve learned that Daniel Mays (Mrs Biggs), Susan Lynch (Monroe), Jodhi May (The Ice Cream Girls), Andrew Tiernan (Prisoners’ Wives), Nico Mirallegro (The Village) and Robert Pugh (Game of Thrones) have all been cast in the one-off, which is currently in production.
Penned by McGovern, Common explores the potential injustice of the Joint Enterprise or Common Purpose law and tells the story of four young men who, in sheer panic, quickly flee from the scene of a fatal stabbing. The drama focuses on how the so callled Joint Enterprise or Common Purpose law (a 300 year old law which forms the basis of the felony murder statute in the US) suggests that the prosecution do not need to prove that the defendant knew that a violent crime was about to occur, the fact that they had knowledge or foresight of another person’s intent, or were present and failed to stop it. The lives of theses four young men, the lives of those they love and the lives of the victim’s family will never be the same again. The one off drama is being produced by LA Productions with Poly Hill, Colin McKeown and Jimmy McGovern serving as executive producers. Common is being directed by David Blair, who previously helmed several episodes of McGovern’s previous series Accused.
