Is Fox’s ‘Accused’ Based on a True Story?

Accused is the latest crime drama to grip TV audiences with its twisty, salacious stories. The anthology, which premiered last night on FOX, is inspired by a BBC series and comes from the mind of showrunner Howard Gordon, who has also worked on Homeland and 24. 

His new show tells the stories of 15 different people on trial for various crimes, from a father whose son plans to carry out a mass shooting to a surrogate who interferes with a couple’s plans for their baby, whom she is carrying. Each episode unfurls the case at its center through flashbacks, so viewers don’t stay in the courtroom the whole time. 

Of course, with any legal or crime thriller, we’re always wondering if the story at its center has been ripped from the headlines. Are the cases in Accused based on real-life events? Here’s what we know.

IS ACCUSED BASED ON A TRUE STORY?

No, Accused is not based on a true story. The trials that are featured in the show do not directly depict real-life cases, although Gordon said he was influenced by current events while writing the first episode, titled “Scott’s Story,” which focuses on a father and his struggles with his son.

“So the reason I was even came up with the story to begin with was that I’m a father. Then I came across this story in the newspaper about a Japanese diplomat, and he was in the Parliament, and he had been arrested for killing his adult child who was living at home and who he feared was going to commit a series of knife attacks,” Gordon told Deadline.

The rest of Accused‘s episodes are similar in their origins. Gordon explained to Deadline, “Trauma is very good for drama, in a way, and as a storyteller, you get to process that fictionally. So you get to take that real truth and process it adjacent to actual events. I think the writers are getting a chance to dramatize some of the questions that we’re all asking ourselves at this particular time in 2023. These are stories that really probably could only have been told, for a variety of reasons, today.”

ACCUSED CAST: WHO STARS IN ACCUSED?

Accused has a whole slew of big names in its cast. Here are just a few: Michael Chiklis, Betsy Brandt, Abigail Breslin, Whitney Cummings, Margo Martindale, Rachel Bilson, Wendell Pierce and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

HOW TO WATCH ACCUSED:

The first episode of Accused aired in a special premiere Sunday night (Jan. 22), but if you missed it, don’t worry – you can still catch up! The drama is now streaming on Hulu, where the first episode is available to watch now with a valid subscription. The second episode, “Ava’s Story,” will premiere on Hulu tomorrow, Jan. 25, at 3:01 A.M.

Prefer to watch live? Accused airs Tuesdays on FOX at 9/8c ET.