| Native Name: |
| ||||
| Music: | Park Se-joon (Music Director) | ||||
| Opentheme: | Until The End (Inst.) by San E | ||||
| Country: | South Korea | ||||
| Language: | Korean | ||||
| Num Episodes: | 18 | ||||
| Runtime: | 60 minutes | ||||
| Network: | SBS TV | ||||
| Developer: | Han Jung-hwan (planning) |
Innocent Defendant[1] is a South Korean television series starring Ji Sung, Um Ki-joon, Kwon Yu-ri, Oh Chang-seok, and Uhm Hyun-kyung. It aired on SBS from January 23 to March 21, 2017 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 (KST) for 18 episodes.[2] [3] [4] [5]
Park Jung-woo is a prosecutor at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. One day, he wakes up and finds himself a convict on death row. Suffering from temporary amnesia, Jung-woo has no idea what transpired to land him in prison. He struggles to recover his memory and clear his name.
A Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office. The head of the violent crimes investigative division who never loses a case.
Cha Sun-ho is the President of Chamyung Group and Cha Min-ho's older brother.
Cha Min-ho is the Vice President of Chamyung Group and the younger brother of Cha Sun-ho. He is neglected and abused by his father.
A defense lawyer who strives to be eloquent and rational, but loses in court every single time. She takes up Jung-woo's case.
Jung-woo's best friend and fellow Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office.
Sun-ho's wife and daughter of a bankrupt chaebol, who has a fiery ambition to succeed.
Born on 16 December 1990, Lee Sung-gyu is a convict charged with assault. The prison's quick-witted mood maker, who helps take care of Jung-woo.
Jung-woo's jail-mate who was serving life imprisonment for murder. He was jailed by Jung-woo for killing his boss, later to be revealed that he was falsely accused of the crime.
A former doctor, he is a life convict and who had been imprisoned for twenty-years by the time he became Jung-woo's jail-mate.
Jung-woo's helper.
Jung-woo's jail-mate.
Innocent Defendant is directed by Jo Young-kwang of 49 Days, and written by Choi Su-jin of City Hunter. Its first script reading took place on November 18, 2016 at the SBS Studio in Ilsan, South Korea.[10]
| Defendant: The OST Album | |
| Type: | Soundtrack |
| Artist: | Various Artists |
| Genre: | Soundtrack |
| Language: | Korean, English |
In December 2016, co-producer Signal Entertainment Group signed a deal with KT Music for the soundtrack of Innocent Defendant.[11]
The series was a commercial success with over 25% ratings and topped popularity charts.[12] [13] It received praise for its plot-focused narrative, impressive acting performance of lead actors Ji Sung and Um Ki-joon and its ability to resonate with the public. The Korea Times said the drama is like a "warning sign to the evil and powerful figures of the real world"; and Yonhap News Agency praise Ji's character as "putting a relatable human face on a tale that is often disturbingly grim and somber". However, it also had criticisms about its unrealistic plot and its tendency to repeat the same pattern of twists and turns to keep viewers hooked.[14] [15] [16]
In the table below, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings.
| Original broadcast date | Average audience share | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TNmS[17] | AGB Nielsen[18] | |||||
| Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul | |||
| 1 | January 23, 2017 | 16.3% | ||||
| 2 | January 24, 2017 | 12.9% | 15.1% | 14.9% | ||
| 3 | January 30, 2017 | 12.8% | 15.1% | 17.3% | 18.2% | |
| 4 | January 31, 2017 | 14.8% | 17.8% | 18.7% | 20.8% | |
| 5 | February 6, 2017 | 14.2% | 16.3% | 18.6% | 19.6% | |
| 6 | February 7, 2017 | 15.3% | 18.5% | 18.6% | 19.6% | |
| 7 | February 13, 2017 | 15.8% | 18.9% | 20.9% | 22.4% | |
| 8 | February 14, 2017 | 16.6% | 20.2% | 22.2% | 23.8% | |
| 9 | February 20, 2017 | 15.9% | 20.0% | 21.4% | 23.1% | |
| 10 | February 21, 2017 | 16.8% | 20.4% | 22.2% | 23.4% | |
| 11 | February 27, 2017 | 19.8% | 22.7% | 23.3% | 24.6% | |
| 12 | February 28, 2017 | 19.0% | 22.1% | 22.9% | 23.9% | |
| 13 | March 6, 2017 | 18.8% | 22.2% | 23.7% | 25.4% | |
| 14 | March 7, 2017 | 20.1% | 24.3% | 24.9% | 26.1% | |
| 15 | March 13, 2017 | 20.3% | 23.5% | 25.6% | 27.1% | |
| 16 | March 14, 2017 | 21.3% | 24.6% | 25.4% | 27.1% | |
| 17 | March 20, 2017 | 24.8% | 29.0% | 27.0% | 28.8% | |
| 18 | March 21, 2017 | |||||
| Average | ||||||
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 10th Korea Drama Awards | Best Original Soundtrack | Son Dong-woon (Dreaming Now) | [19] | |
| 1st The Seoul Awards | Best Drama | Innocent Defendant | [20] [21] | ||
| Best Actor | |||||
| Best Supporting Actress | |||||
| Best New Actor | |||||
| Grand Prize (Daesang) | [22] [23] | ||||
| Drama of the Year | Innocent Defendant | ||||
| Character of the Year | |||||
| Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday–Tuesday Drama | |||||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday–Tuesday Drama | |||||
| Excellence Award, Actress in a Monday–Tuesday Drama | |||||
| Best Supporting Actor | |||||
| Youth Acting Award | Shin Rin-ah | ||||
| Best Actor | [24] | ||||
| Best Drama | Jung Min-gyun, Song Yo-hoon |
The series was adapted in Turkey as "Mahkum - Şehrin Kralları" and it has been broadcast on Fox TV.[25]