Passer By (film)

Passer By is a 2004 British television film broadcast on BBC One in two parts on 28 and 29 March 2004. It was directed by David Morrissey from a script by Tony Marchant and stars James Nesbitt as Joe Keyes, and Emily Bruni as Alice.

Passer By
Passer By title screen
Written byTony Marchant
Directed byDavid Morrissey
StarringJames Nesbitt
Siobhan Finneran
Emily Bruni
Bryan Dick
Theme music composerDario Marianelli
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Production
ProducerDavid Snodin
CinematographyTim Palmer
EditorJohn Wilson
Running time120 minutes
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release29 March 2004 (2004-03-29)

Plot

Joe Keys is a man who sees a young woman called Alice accosted by some men on a train one night. Alice looks to Joe for help but he ignores her predicament and gets off the train. A few days later, the police are seeking witnesses to a sexual assault against Alice. Joe unwillingly comes forward but, when giving evidence against the men in court, cannot bring himself to admit that he did nothing to save Alice.

Production

The film was commissioned by the BBC's director of serials Laura Mackie at the outline stage. Marchant did not want to extend the script to any more than two parts because he thought two was the right length. He previously worked with Morrissey and producer David Snodin on the 1997 television series Holding On. The script went through five drafts; refinements included making Joe's wife less judgmental, and seeing other characters in the wider world reacting to Joe.[1] It was filmed over 30 days.[2]

Reception

The first part received 6.9 million viewers, and the second part 6.7 million (28% audience share). The second part was the first time BBC One won the 9–10 p.m. timeslot in two months.[3] Final ratings, accounting for viewers who recorded it to watch later, brought part one up to 7.47 million and part two up to 7.54 million.[4] Passer By received negative critical reaction from the New Statesman.[5]

It was repeated by UKTV Drama on 28 December 2004 as a single feature-length film.[6]

References
  1. Madden, John (2 March 2004). "NFT Interviews: David Morrissey Archived 5 June 2011 at WebCite". British Film Institute. Retrieved on 11 December 2008
  2. Fogg, Tom (1999). "Interview with David Morrissey Archived 7 June 2011 at WebCite". Netribution. Retrieved on 11 December 2008.
  3. Deans, Jason (30 March 2004). "Nesbitt delivers Monday night ratings win for BBC". guardian.co.uk (Guardian News & Media). Retrieved on 11 December 2008.
  4. "Weekly Viewing Summary: Terrestrial Top 30". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved on 11 December 2008.
  5. Billen, Andrew (5 April 2004). "The bad Samaritan". New Statesman: p. 46.
  6. Staff (18 December 2004). "Television: Tuesday 28 December". The Times (Times Newspapers).
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