Juliet Stevenson and Peter Capaldi star in Accused, a heart-rending drama about fortitude and endless love, written by Alice Nutter and Jimmy McGovern.
As Helen Ryland is led up to the dock there is a defiant look in her eye. Nothing can hurt her now.
Some months earlier, primary school teacher Helen sends her son, Rob, off to his first day of temping work at a local factory, Maxfields. Tragically he is fatally injured in his first hour at work. Yet it is only later that night that Helen and her husband, Frank, learn that their only child is dead.
Utterly bereft, the Rylands go to Maxfields to find out what happened. However, while the owner, Alan Maxfield, is sympathetic, he is evasive about the details of the accident. Helen goes to see another boy, Michael Lang, who started work with Rob that fateful day. She wants to hear his version of events. But Michael and his wife, Leanne, are evasive and troubled by Helen's questions.
Helen knows something is wrong. With great fortitude and courage she decides to find out the truth and quash the invidious suggestion that Rob was somehow to blame for his own death. Frank is consumed by grief and sinks into depression but Helen fights on.
Time drags and Helen and Frank are worn down by the legal process of trying to get someone to accept responsibility for the death of their son. Increasingly incensed, Helen strikes out at the factory owner, committing a serious crime.
Helen has looked the jury in the eye and told them her story. Will they convict her?