800 years of British legal history. 15 years of campaigning to change it. Decades of suffering after the murder of her daughter. England’s Ann Ming, 79, is a force of nature. Now, the four-part ITV drama series I Fought the Law will tell her story and bring it to a broader audience, starting on Sunday, when the show hits U.K. screens.
Written by Jamie Crichton (All Creatures Great and Small, The Last Kingdom, Grantchester), starring English actress and singer Sheridan Smith (Cilla, Mrs Biggs, Gavin & Stacey) as Ming and produced by Hera Pictures (What It Feels Like for A Girl, Mary & George, Hamnet), in association with All3Media International, the series is based on Ming’s book For the Love of Julie, which details her long campaign to overturn the 800-year-old British double jeopardy law following the murder of her 22-year-old daughter and the ruling of a mistrial that, she kept emphasizing, kept justice from being served.
After all, the double jeopardy rule prevented people from being tried twice for the same offense. But thanks to her campaign, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 created an exception, allowing an acquitted defendant to be tried a second time for a serious offense.
That opened the way for a retrial and 2006 conviction in the case of Julie’s murder. The man was sentenced to a life term.
“I Fought the Law is the powerful true story of a mother’s relentless fight for justice following the disappearance of her beloved daughter Julie,” reads a Hera Pictures series summary. “This groundbreaking campaign led to a historic legal reform and, ultimately, to a life sentence for Julie’s killer nearly two decades after her murder.”
An ITV synopsis also highlights: “The drama follows the tragic, moving, and deeply inspiring journey of the Ming family after the murder … In the wake of multiple police failings, Ann relentlessly pressures the authorities to uncover the truth and ensure the man responsible is brought to justice – despite initially seeming he will get away with murder. In her steadfast and indomitable style, Ann takes on the entire justice system – challenging the Crown Prosecution Service, the Law Commission, prominent defence barristers in television debates, the government, the Lord Chancellor, the Attorney General, and two Home Secretaries.”
You may wonder how Ming kept up her campaign for so long. “I am quite a strong person, but I mean, I never had the challenge of changing the law, but I’m glad I did it now,” she tells THR.
Asked about the heavy weight of tradition and history that kept her from pushing through her proposal for a change for a long time, Ming explains: “I don’t know why they were so frightened to change it, because it’s common sense. If there is a proven wrongful conviction, the person should be freed. And in the case of wrongful acquittal, such as ours, the same principle should apply. This man killed my daughter and was bragging in a local pub that he got away with the perfect murder.”
So, how did the series come about? “[Hera] got in touch and said they were interested” to make a series, she recalls. “I’ve got an agent in London. He advised me to meet and go with them.”
Shares Hera founder Liza Marshall: “Yes, we wanted to option her amazing book. We were just so drawn to her.”
The long creative journey was worth it, she feels. “We first started talking about it during the pandemic, which was a time when we were all, certainly in the U.K., complaining a lot about the government,” the executive shares.
Of course, her team also felt a burden to tell the story in the best possible way. “It’s a huge responsibility,” Marshall tells THR. “Ann was right at the heart of the process all the way through, from the moment we took it to ITV to start off and develop the script with them. And then Sheridan became attached, and that was absolutely integral to the greenlighting of the show.”
Ming enjoyed working with Crichton and the rest of the creative team. “When he did the script, he sent it to me to have a look at it, and if I felt there was anything to alter, we altered it,” she tells THR. “I’m really pleased with the script and everything, the whole process and the whole drama.”
And Ming loves that Sheridan portrays her. “They couldn’t have picked anybody better than Sheridan Smith,” she tells THR. “She is really the best actress.”
So, she was a Smith fan before her casting? “Oh, yeah, definitely,” Ming says. “I’ve seen everything she’s ever done. It’s so nice for her to play me.”
Does Ming expect I Fought the Law to change people’s awareness of her work much? “I’ve lived and breathed this for so long. I think people in my local area all know that it was me who campaigned to change the law,” she says. “But a lot of people don’t know it was me, even though I did the book in 2006. Now, more people will realize who did it.”
Indeed, highlights Marshall, “in a wider U.K. context, people actually don’t know the story and the incredible bravery she showed and the resilience to get the law overturned. I think Ann is a complete shining example of what you can do if you put your mind to something, and how, even if the doors close in your face, you just keep pushing through. That just felt incredibly inspiring.”
Adds Hera executive producer Charlotte Webber: “Ann was going up against the establishment and various different organizations. How many things have we seen that we want to change and don’t? And Ann has spoken to every single level of authority on a human level. And whoever she came across, she looked them in the eye and, as a mother, told them how this happened.”
She describes Ming as a role model for women everywhere. But Ming herself remains modest. Does she feel like a role model? “No, not really,” she tells THR. She feels she just followed her heart and common sense. “If you think something’s wrong and you think that it should be changed, well, you do it,” she concludes. “Keep that thought for the day: If it’s wrong, change it to right.”
I Fought the Law launches on ITV and STV on Sunday, Aug. 31, with the series streaming on ITVX and STV Player, followed by a documentary about Ming’s historic campaign called I Fought The Law: The Ann Ming Story.
