Innocents (film)

{{About|the 2000 British television film|similar uses|The Innocents (disambiguation)#Film and television{{!}}The Innocents § Film and television}}

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| genre = Medical drama

| writer = Neil McKay

| director = Peter Kosminsky

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| starring = Tim Pigott-Smith
Madhav Sharma
Aden Gillett
Emma Cunniffe
Andy Snowden
Kate Redshaw
Adie Allen
Gillian Bevan
Roger Brierley

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| composer = Debbie Wiseman

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| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

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| producer = Helga Dowie

| executive_producer = Michele Buck
Tim Vaughan

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| cinematography = David Higgs

| editor = Chris Ridsdale

| runtime = 90 minutes

| company = United Television
Stonehenge Films

| network = Channel 4

| released = {{Start date|2000|10|1|df=y}}

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Innocents is a British television medical drama film, written by Neil McKay and directed by Peter Kosminsky, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 1 October 2000{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/sep/25/tvandradio.television1|title=Tears at bedtime|first=Mark|last=Lawson|date=25 September 2000|website=the Guardian}} as part of Channel 4's Doctors on Trial season.{{cite journal|url= |title=Innocents|first=Sean A.|last=Spence|date=30 September 2000|journal=BMJ|volume=321|issue=7264|pages=840|via=www.bmj.com|doi=10.1136/bmj.321.7264.840|pmid=11009536|pmc=1118631}} The film, based upon the Bristol heart scandal of the 1980s and 90s,Rebecca Smith (29 July 2010) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100804011828/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7914795/Bristol-heart-scandal.html Bristol heart scandal]" The Telegraph. Accessed 28 August 2011. stars Tim Pigott-Smith as James Wisheart and Madhav Sharma as Janarda Dhasmana, who whilst working together to perform 33 arterial-switch operations, drew up a mortality rate of 66% among patients under a month old, and 43% among those over a month old. Aden Gillett co-stars as Steve Bolsin, the whistleblower whose testimony first brought the scandal to public attention.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8531ab43|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505212340/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8531ab43|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 5, 2018|title=The Innocents (2000)|publisher=}}

The film broadcast in the United States as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre strand on 6 May 2002.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/06/arts/television-review-uncovering-the-coverup-of-a-medical-scandal-in-britain.html|title=TELEVISION REVIEW; Uncovering the Coverup of a Medical Scandal in Britain|first=Anita|last=Gates|work=The New York Times |date=6 May 2002|publisher=|via=NYTimes.com}} The New York Times review of the film commented that "Neil McKay's script captures the intelligent persuasiveness of the surgeons and the twisted rationales employed by fairly good people doing bad things. Obviously there is no shortage of human drama in this story, and the scenes of parents reacting to news about their babies are almost painfully real. Eventually the confused drama within the infirmary becomes gripping, too." The film was nominated for an international Emmy Award in 2001.{{cite web|url=https://www.independenttalent.com/writers/neil-mckay/|title=Neil McKay - Independent Talent|publisher=}}