The Wrong Man

Format

1 x 60'

Production company

Two Step Films

Commissioning channels

BBC

Imprisoned for 17 years for a crime he didn’t commit, this is the story of one man’s search for justice and the fight to clear his name.

Andrew Malkinson spent 17 years in prison for the violent rape of a young mother in 2003 - despite being completely innocent. With exclusive access to Andrew, his lawyers and his family, this film examines how failings in the criminal justice system led to the UK’s worst miscarriage of justice this century. The Wrong Man examines the challenges faced in the fight to clear his name and exposes police failings and a broken appeals system.

Filmed over three years this film is an intimate portrayal of what it means to be wrongfully convicted.

How did an innocent man get jailed for a crime he didn’t commit, and why did it take 20 years to prove his innocence? The Wrong Man tells the deeply personal, heartbreaking story of an innocent man failed at every turn by the criminal justice system.

“Andrew Malkinson’s calm dignity in this excellent documentary was remarkable given the horrors he has suffered at the hands of the state. He must have felt he was in a Kafkaesque nightmare. It was a skilful, enraging piece of television.”
Carol Midgely, The Times

“A timeline graphic was a simple but effective storytelling tool, marking the passing of the years. Malkinson, an articulate man, spoke with a quiet fury about his ordeal. His descriptions of life behind bars were powerful, from the fear of fellow prisoners to the hopelessness of his Catch-22 situation, whereby maintaining his innocence and refusing to take rehabilitation courses meant that the Parole Board considered him to be ‘in denial’ and unsuitable for release.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

"I wasn’t expecting to sob at the sight of a middle-aged man driving a borrowed Fiat Panda up a dirt track but, as part of lawyer Emily Bolton’s attempts to rehabilitate Malkinson after his release, it is an extraordinarily emotional moment.”
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian

Back to catalogue

Screener: The Wrong Man