Channel 4 recommissions critically acclaimed ratings winner, The Jury, for a second series

10 July 2024

The first series was Channel 4’s biggest new 9pm unscripted launch since 2019

Channel 4 today confirms that hit new factual entertainment format, The Jury will return for a second series. The first series, The Jury: Murder Trial, was both a critical and ratings success - including repeats, the series reached 6.3m across both linear and Channel 4 streaming overall*. The series also performed extremely well on streaming - 37% of all viewing came from VOD, increasing to 58% for 16-34s. The series was a huge hit with younger audiences, with 13% of total viewing across all platforms over a 28-day period coming from 16-34s, increasing to 21% on just Channel 4 streaming.

The second series, produced by Screendog Productions, will follow in the footsteps of the first series, by recreating a real case from the original court transcripts in front of two randomly assigned juries. What will the two juries decide, and why?  Having both received the exact same evidence, presented in the exact same way, will both juries come to the same conclusion? And after they have deliberated, will the individual jurors feel they were swayed, or gave a true fair verdict?

The series was a critical hit too, receiving acclaim across the board.

The i paper gave five stars, saying “This heartrending experiment posed some of the most profound questions I've ever seen on primetime TV”. The Guardian said “this legal experiment might be the most terrifying TV series ever”

Ed Kellie, Creative Director for Screendog Productions, said: “As a small company who make big ideas, we are over the moon that The Jury is such smash hit and will be returning for the next series. We're looking at cases now and it promises to be another nail biting and twisty path to verdict, that also raises genuine questions about how to make our system fairer.”

The second series of The Jury will be a 4 x 60’, produced by Screendog Production for Channel 4. The Executive Producer for Screendog is Ed Kellie and the Showrunner Executive Producer is yet to be confirmed. The concept was developed by Ed Kellie, Harry Smyth and Will Stanbridge. It is commissioned for Channel 4 by Alisa Pomeroy, Head of Documentaries and Factual Entertainment with Ian Dunkley, Commissioning Editor for Factual Entertainment.

 

For further information: rgordon@channel4.co.uk