The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies

This film is based very closely on a true story and the victim, Christopher Jeffries, worked with the writing staff to make sure they got the story right. My love of history and insistence that stories remain true to the facts make this a must-see film. The fact that it's made so well makes it doubly so.

Originally, this film was a two-part British film shown on television. However, they've combined them to make a full-length film...and this is the version I saw.

Christopher Jefferies is a very odd man. No, he's not a bad person but he has a weird hairdo and never married or had any close relationships. So, when a murder occurs to one of his tenants, the police unwisely arrest him and question him. Their thinking is that an odd-ball single guy might have done it...and they had nothing more on the guy than this. During the three days they held him before he was ultimately released (and soon completely exonerated), the British press went nuts...vilifying the man and making him out to be some sort of sick pervert. While they had nothing on which to base this other than his hair and peculiar habits, the press destroyed Jefferies and the film is about all of this as well as his fight for justice. The film is very compelling, very well acted and kept my interest throughout. The movie is a bit low energy but I don't think that's a deficit...as the man really was a low energy sort of guy. Very well made and a delightful film with a very strong message.

Jason Watkins plays the the calm-kept to himself Christopher Jeffries perfectly , a great little film aswell with some harrowing scenes, must watch

My review is in no way going to be as comprehensive as those that precede me as I feel are already more than adequate. I was, however, intrigued by the review of drywontonmee and his/her scepticism about the inclusion of the Leveson Inquiry...... maybe it was indulged promotion but maybe it was relevant to the timelines and the actual events that did follow!!

Whilst it states it is a drama based on real events, it doesn't go as far as to say how much is truth and how much is 'imagined or suggested' and which parties (if any) were consulted/involved.

I remember this case as I returned from living in the US for 6 months on 30th Dec 2010 and I remember the footage of Christopher Jefferies being taking into custody. What I had no awareness of was his subsequent release or the subsequent conviction of Vincent Tabak, nor of the efforts of Mr Jefferies to clear his name and defamation of character and so, I am glad that I watched this which set the record straight in addition to enjoying it as a drama on TV.

An acting tour de force! Extraordinary! Jason Watkins is absolutely amazing. This is a kind of exploration of character that requires the deepest understanding of the craft of acting.

This is all a true story told with care and respect about the horrifying behavior of the British Press, the terrible consequences of being falsely accused of murder, and the possibility of human beings to change, even when they are convinced they are set in their ways for life.

I highly recommend this film.

It's available on Netflix.

The drama portrays very sensitively a particular individual in extraordinary circumstances. The acting by Jason Watkins is outstanding, using subtleties of body language/tone to convey the oddities of an individual while allowing a balanced impression of the whole human being to come through. The script also, importantly, seemed respectful of the family tragedy at the heart of the story.

There has been a comment that the drama is 'propaganda for the Leveson inquiry'. However, the drama is ultimately about media intrusion into private lives so inevitably must make reference to Leveson; it would be quite an omission if it didn't! So there is no point criticising it for that. I am no great fan of ITV but 'hats off' to them for broadcasting this; what is more worth criticising is the lack of exposure by all other media outlets of an excellent drama.

By the way, I haven't used the word 'eccentric' in the above because actually we are all odd in our ways - every one of us - which is why the message from the film is so very important. Its about protecting individuals from the media machine, not about protecting so-called 'eccentrics'.