The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies | |
---|---|
Written by | Peter Morgan |
Directed by | Roger Michell |
Starring |
|
Music by | Dan Jones |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Kevin Loader |
Cinematography | Mike Eley |
Editor | Kristina Hetherington |
Running time | 114 minutes [1] |
Production company | Carnival Films |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 10 December – 11 December 2014 |
The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies is a 2014 British television film. It tells the real-life story of retired schoolteacher Christopher Jefferies, who was questioned by police as a suspect in the murder of Joanna Yeates. He was vilified by the press, partly because of his eccentric appearance, even after he had been released on bail by the police.
The film was directed by Roger Michell, written by Peter Morgan, and stars Jason Watkins as Jefferies. The title is taken from The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum by Heinrich Böll, a fictional account of media defamation. [2]
The drama begins the day before Yeates' disappearance, and follows the innocent Jefferies through his arrest, release and subsequent isolation as his un-sought fame profoundly affects his life. Five weeks later the real killer, neighbour Vincent Tabak, is finally arrested. [3] Jefferies later gives evidence at the Leveson inquiry into the News of the World phone hacking scandal.
The screenplay was written by Peter Morgan. The Bristol Post reported that Jefferies had read and approved the script, and supported the project. [4] The drama was produced by Carnival Films and Television and aired on 10 and 11 December 2014 on ITV. [5]
In May 2015, it won two awards at the 2015 British Academy Television Awards—Best Mini-Series for the programme itself and Best Actor for Watkins's portrayal of Jefferies. [6]
In 2016 it won two awards at the RTS Awards for Craft in Drama: Best Editing and Sound Fiction.[ citation needed ]
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had an extensive career on stage and screen for over seven decades and was one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses. She received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for six Olivier Awards. Smith is one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting.
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making him the only Canadian recipient of the "Triple Crown of Acting". He also received a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award.
Christopher Eccleston is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who (2005). He starred as Matt Jamison in The Leftovers (2014–2017), and has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom.
Richard Wallace was the editor of British newspaper the Daily Mirror until May 2012.
Carnival Film & Television Limited, trading as Carnival Films, is a British production company based in London, UK, founded in 1978. It has produced television series for all the major UK networks including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky, as well as international broadcasters including PBS, A&E, HBO and NBC. Productions include single dramas, long-running television dramas, feature films, and stage productions.
Paul Greengrass is an English film director, film producer, screenwriter and former journalist.
Joanna Cassidy is an American actress and former model. She began working as a model in the 1960s and made her professional acting debut in 1973, appearing in the thriller films The Laughing Policeman and The Outfit. She later starred in films Bank Shot (1974), The Late Show (1977) and went to star in the short-lived television series The Roller Girls (1978) and 240-Robert (1979). In 1982, she played replicant Zhora Salome in science fiction film Blade Runner.
Peter Dougan Capaldi is a Scottish actor and director. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series Doctor Who and Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It, for which he received four British Academy Television Award nominations, winning Best Male Comedy Performance in 2010.
Roger Harry Michell was a British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as Notting Hill and Venus, as well as the 1995 made-for-television film Persuasion.
Peter Julian Robin Morgan is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written for theatre, films and television, often writing about historical events or figures such as Queen Elizabeth II, whom he has covered extensively in all major media. He has received a number of accolades including five BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. In February 2017, Morgan was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship.
Jason Peter Watkins is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He has also played William Herrick in Being Human, Gavin Strong in Trollied, Simon Harwood in W1A, Gordon Shakespeare in the film series Nativity, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in Season 3 of The Crown and Detective Sergeant Dodds in McDonald & Dodds.
Joanna Clare Yeates was a landscape architect from Ampfield, Hampshire, England, who went missing from the flat she shared with her partner in Clifton, Bristol, on 17 December 2010 after an evening out with colleagues. Following a highly publicised appeal for information on her whereabouts and intensive police enquiries, her body was discovered on 25 December 2010 in Failand, North Somerset. A post-mortem examination determined that she had been strangled.
Events from 2011 in England
Gareth Elwin Neame is a British television producer and executive. As an executive at the BBC, Neame presided over the development of the dramas Spooks, State of Play, Bodies, Hustle, New Tricks and Tipping the Velvet. He was executive producer of the historical drama series Downton Abbey and originally proposed the idea to its writer and creator Julian Fellowes. He is a recipient of the Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.
Joe Sims is a British actor known primarily for his roles in ITV's drama Broadchurch where he played plumber Nige Carter, and as a voice actor, the Tenth Doctor's companion Mark Seven in Doctor Who, through Big Finish Productions audio dramas.
Kevin Loader is a British film and television producer. Since 1996, he and co-owner Roger Michell have run a London-based production company, Free Range Films, through which the pair have made several feature films directed by Michell, including The Mother, Enduring Love, Venus, Hyde Park on Hudson, and Le Week-end. Their most recent film is an adaptation by Michell of Daphne Du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel. The company is also developing and producing film and television projects with other directors. Loader was awarded the Bafta for Best Television Serial in 2015 for The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies.
The Bottle Yard Studios is a British film and television production studio facility in Bristol, South West England. It is the largest dedicated production space in the West of England. As of November 2022, it has offered a total of 11 stages across two sites.
Testament of Youth is a 1979 BBC television drama based on the First World War memoir of the same name written by Vera Brittain. It was transmitted on BBC2.
Nathalie Armin is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of stage productions. On television, she is known for her roles in the BBC Three comedy Juice (2023) and the BBC One drama Showtrial (2024).
Ben Caplan is a British actor and director, best known for portraying Police Constable Peter Noakes in the BBC One medical period drama series Call the Midwife.