Cast announced for legal thriller The Victim

BBC One has announced the cast for The Victim, a gripping, contemporary four-part legal thriller written by Rob Williams and told through the eyes of the plaintiff and the accused. Set in Edinburgh and Greenock, within Scotland’s unique legal system, the show offers a constantly surprising and twisting perspective on who is really ‘the victim’.

The cast will be led by Scottish actress, Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting, Boardwalk Empire) John Hannah (Four Weddings And A Funeral, The Mummy) and up and coming Scottish star James Harkness (Rogue One, Darkest Hour).

Anna Dean (Macdonald) is the mother of a teenage boy who was murdered twenty years ago by a then 14-year-old boy. Having campaigned to be told of the killer’s new identity and whereabouts, she is then accused of revealing his identity online and conspiring to have him murdered. Has the anger of a grieving mother turned her into a criminal too? What exactly is she guilty of – and what is she capable of doing in her son’s name?

Craig Myers (Harkness), a hard-working family man from Dundee, is the victim of a random, unprovoked attack, after being identified online as a notorious child murderer living under a new identity. With his life collapsing around him, should Craig keep his head down and pray for the smoke to clear or try to prove his innocence? Is he simply the tragic victim of mistaken identity or the dangerous killer he is suspected of being? Karla Crome (Misfits, The Level) plays Craig’s wife, Rebecca.

Played out through the lens of one criminal trial, moral dilemmas will be thrown up and sides will be taken in these two very different quests for justice.

James Harkness says, ‘The character of Craig gives me a fantastic opportunity to play someone faced with incredible circumstances. Rob’s writing takes Craig to lots of different places in his life. I feel very lucky to be telling this story. I can’t wait to start.’

The series opens on day one of a criminal trial in Edinburgh’s High Court and follows the legal proceedings in the present, while also reaching back over the previous five months leading up to the trial.

Viewers will also meet DI Steven Grover (Hannah), a dedicated policeman investigating the attack on Craig, but who has his own demons to contend with.

John Hannah says, ‘It is great to be back filming in Scotland especially as Rob has delivered in DI Grover an exquisitely drawn character. On first appearance he seems pretty straight forward but I’m pleased to report that audiences will soon find out that this is far from the case.’

Along the way, new evidence will be revealed and long-buried secrets unearthed as the story builds to a final, devastating climax and the truth is finally revealed.

The Victim will be directed by Niall MacCormick (The Long Walk To Finchley, Complicit), the producer is Jenny Frayn and the executive producers are Sarah Brown and Rob Williams for STV Productions, and Elizabeth Kilgarriff and Gaynor Holmes for the BBC.

Sarah Brown said, ‘We are delighted to have the chance to bring Rob’s brilliant, thought-provoking story to the screen for BBC One. It’s particularly exciting to be making a drama set and shot in Scotland, and to be able to tell a story which is both totally rooted in its setting, and yet utterly universal in its concerns.’