Accused goes into production for second series

Jimmy McGovern’s drama Accused has started recording sequences for the second series to air next year on BBC One.

The first two episodes of this new four-part series will be completed before Christmas. The second two episodes will wrap up filming in February 2012.

Cast announced for the second Accused include Anne-Marie Duff, Olivia Colman, John Bishop, Robert Sheehan, Sheridan Smith and Thomas Brodie-Sangster. Further castings have yet to be announced by the BBC.

The series focuses on a different crime and punishment story each week, with the first centring on two mothers trying to do right by their sons and their community in a battle against guns and crime.

The episode opens on an estate where the funeral of a young drug dealer is about to take place. His gang leader, Riley played by Joe Dempsie, has instructed local shops to stay closed and show respect or there will be consequences.

The next episode to shoot concerns a teenager called Stephen. He is convinced that the palliative care nurse Charlotte, who is assigned to look after his mother, has a very different agenda.

Filming for the drama is taking place in and around Manchester this month.