The Twelve

The Twelve

[Full series available on ITVX here]

This gripping courtroom drama tells the story of 12 ordinary Australians who are selected for jury duty in a murder trial as traumatising as it is controversial, in which a woman stands accused of killing her teenage niece. Behind the façade of their anonymity, these twelve ordinary people bring with them their own histories. Lives that are as complex as the trial, full of fractured dreams, shameful secrets, hope, fears, personal trauma, and prejudice. Through the multiple lenses of these jurors, audiences will see the fragility and imbalances of the law, and the chaotic and flawed way we attempt to determine justice in our society.

The limited series also stars Marta Dusseldorp (Wentworth, Stateless, A Place to Call Home) and Kate Mulvany (Fighting Season, Lambs of God, Hunters).

The 10-episode crime drama commissioned by the FOXTEL Group, is produced by Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia in partnership with Easy Tiger Productions with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with FOXTEL.

Financed with support from Screen NSW. The series is distributed globally by FIFTH SEASON. Executive Producers for the Foxtel Group are Brian Walsh and Penny Win.

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The Twelve begins on the first day of jury selection in a complicated trial.

Twelve ordinary citizens from diverse backgrounds have been summoned to the Supreme Court to decide the fate of a woman charged with murder. Is she guilty or innocent? Is it even a murder? Her fourteen-year-old niece went missing when in her care, but a body has never been found and it isn’t clear what motive she would have for killing her. Her own family is divided about her guilt or innocence, what hope does the jury have of reaching the truth?

Over ten episodes we explore the lives and loves of the people who will decide the fate of the accused, their histories, their conflicts, their families, their secrets: a gentle suburban mum whose husband’s adoration may be hiding coercion, a builder torn away from his responsibilities, a star student struggling with being a role model to his indigenous community, a chronic gambler with money problems, a brash millennial plagued by traumatic memories.

The values they bring and the challenges they confront will shape the different ways they react to the unfolding trial. Being on a jury for a long complex trial is tough and time consuming, the pressures of the trial impact upon the personal lives of the jurors. They are forced to contemplate the darker side of human nature while being forbidden to speak to anyone outside the jury room about the evidence they confront each day. Alliances become friendships, relationships form and come apart as they learn the contradictory details of what may be a horrible crime, or a tragic accident or simply a runaway teen who knows how to hide. When they reach a verdict, it will change the lives of everyone involved in the trial.

Episode 10

In the final episode of this series, startling revelations emerge about the ties between a past crime and the present crime – but is Kate Lawson guilty of her niece’s murder? The legal system is tested by the jury’s process of deliberation – how can twelve people with diverse problems and morals judge the fate of another? This question is raised – and the group’s individual flaws are challenged by the least likely among them. Sequestered in a hotel, their conflicts and personal connections are put under a microscope; and Georgina’s domestic drama comes to a head when her jealous husband breaks the rules to find her.