Public Enemies is a three-part British television drama series, written by playwright Tony Marchant, that is based upon the professional and private lives of Paula Radnor, a probation officer working within the British Probation Service, who is working with convicted murderer Eddie Mottram, who has served 10 years in prison for the murder of his 17-year-old girlfriend, and is struggling to adapt to life outside of prison.

[1] First broadcast on BBC One from 4 to 6 January 2012, the series stars Anna Friel as Radnor and Daniel Mays as Mottram, and encompasses a cast including Georgina Rich, Aisling Loftus, Peter Wight, Barbara Marten, Nicholas Gleaves, Joe Armstrong and Barnaby Kay.

[4] Patrick Smith of The Telegraph said of the first episode, "A hard-hitting, gloom-ridden drama about the inadequacies of the British probation service, this three-part serial – showing over consecutive nights – was created by the brilliant Tony Marchant, a British writer who’s no stranger to tackling unhappy, unsettling subjects.

Readjusting to the outside world was proving difficult, and his old friends weren’t helping matters – as one of them pointed out to him: “I haven’t seen you in 10 years, mate.

It ain’t just mobile phones that have moved on.” Sometimes the story felt contrived – you just knew that Mottram would proclaim his innocence – but, ultimately, the strength of the script and the credibility of the acting carried it through.”[5]