Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes is a Disney Plus drama series set immediately after the 2005 London terrorist bombings. It focuses on the manhunt for a group of would-be terrorists and shows how innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was accidentally killed as a result.
Written and executively produced by Jeff Pope (Four Lives, The Reckoning), who wrote Philomena, Little Boy Blue and Stan and Ollie, among its stars are Edison Alcaide, Conleth Hill, Russell Tovey, Max Beesley, Emily Mortimer, Daniel Mays, Laura Aikman and Alex Jennings.
The four-part drama shows how Jean Charles, played by newcomer Edison Alcaide, was mistaken for a terrorist and shot dead by armed police officers at Stockwell tube station in London on July 22, 2005. His parents and other relatives worked as consultants on the series, so it’s guaranteed to be an emotional watch.
Here's everything you need to know about Disney Plus drama Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes…
Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes release date
The four-part series Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes launches on Disney Plus on Wednesday April 30 2025, but only in the UK and Ireland.
Suspect isn't yet listed in the Disney Plus upload schedule in the US or Australia so its release in these regions is delayed. We'll update you when that changes.
Is there a trailer
Yes there's now a trailer for Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes released by Disney Plus which you can watch below...
Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes plot
Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes is set 20 years ago, as London reels from the devastating suicide bomb attacks of 7 July 2005. The Met Police launches a large-scale counter terrorism operation to prevent further attacks. Unbeknownst to them, another terrorist cell plots an assault that could equal the devastation of 7/7. This second set of planned attacks fails, setting off one of the UK’s largest-ever manhunts and sparking a covert surveillance operation. As tension and uncertainty rises across the nation, a series of extraordinary events unfolds, leading to a critical misidentification. Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent young Brazilian electrician on his way to work, is mistaken for a terrorist and shot dead at Stockwell station. What follows is a family’s fight for justice and answers, and the long-fought struggle to bring clarity to a situation that is clouded by confusion, and silence.
Episode guide
Here's our brief guide to all four episodes of Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes...
Episode 1
It's July, 2005, and London is a city under siege. As the Metropolitan Police investigates the first suicide attack on British soil, unbeknownst to them another cell of terrorists plots further bombings on London’s transport system which could equal the death and destruction of the 7th of July. Meanwhile, on the other side of London, a young Brazilian electrician goes about his everyday life.
Episode 2
The Met Police, directed by Cressida Dick and Sir Ian Blair, launches one of the UK’s biggest ever manhunt after a botched suicide bomb attack, racing against time to stop the would-be bombers before they strike again. With the manhunt underway, evidence found at the scene of one of the attempted bombings leads police to set up a major surveillance operation at a South London address.
Episode 3
News of officers shooting dead an innocent man sends shockwaves around the Met. One senior officer is struck by the contrast between what is being said about the shooting by colleagues, and what the public is being told. As Jean Charles’ mourning relatives face an avalanche of misinformation, an unlikely source resolves to reveal the truth to the public. Meanwhile, the net closes on the terrorists.
Episode 4
The Met is plunged into crisis as it struggles to contain the fall-out from the whistleblower’s extraordinary revelations. Friends become foes, and in a tense showdown the Commissioner is confronted about what he knew and when. Officers involved in the operation face a day of reckoning as they are grilled at the coroner’s inquest. Will Jean Charles’ family finally get justice?
Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes cast — Edison Alcaide on playing Jean Charles
Leading the cast for Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes is newcomer Edison Alcaide who plays Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes. Jean Charles is wrongly gunned down by police and killed at Stockwell Tube station.
Edison Alcaide says; "Obviously, in Brazil, Jean Charles de Menezes is very well known, and when I arrived in London in 2008, I saw his mural at Stockwell Station. It was only then that I started reading about it and talking to people about it. Even then, when talking to people, they would say, “Oh, but you know, he ran. He shouldn’t have done that.” So, even three years later, in 2008, that’s the kind of misinformation you would hear regarding this case.
"The first thing I felt when I joined this project was honour. I felt it was such an honour to play this man and also to help bring light to what really happened and who he truly was as a person. I just felt really honoured by the responsibility of playing this character. I felt, and still do feel, really connected to Jean Charles. We have so much in common, not just that he was a Brazilian man living in London. I built this sort of connection with him while filming this project. I just feel so much love for this man and so much love for his family as well.
"So then I felt even more heartbroken; because the more I learned about him, the more I found out about him, I just kept thinking of the injustice. He was truly such a nice guy in the sense of how he cared for his family and his friends and the way he approached life. He was living in the UK because he wanted to grow as a person. He wanted to experience different cultures. He would tell his cousins, 'I know you want to go to the States, but you know, England is such a good option too!'
"Shooting Jean Charles's death scene was very difficult. First of all, there were so many legal things to be respected, and they were extremely careful, thanks to all the research, to show exactly what had happened. That scene, that whole scene, was filmed meticulously — from the writing to production. It was very difficult. It was very emotional. It was a very heavy day on set for everyone. But, you know, we were just trying to do it as respectfully as we could. It was hard not to think about his family, which made it even more emotional. He was just trying to find some normality in the context of the moment in time he was living. We all try to find some normality in our lives, especially in moments of tension. And that’s what he was doing. He had no idea he was being perceived as a suspect. So it truly is heartbreaking. People have to realise the importance of this story."
Other main cast in Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones, Power of Parker) plays Sir Ian Blair (see interview below), he then Met Police Commissioner. Russell Tovey (Years and Years) plays one of Blair’s Deputy Assistant Commissioners, Brian Paddick, alongside Max Beesley (The Gentleman, Hijack) who plays Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, leading on the Met’s investigation into the bombings.
Emily Mortimer (Paddington in Peru; The Newsroom) plays Cressida Dick, then Gold Commander of the surveillance operation pursuing those presumed responsible for the bombings. Daniel Mays (Des, The Long Shadow) plays Cliff Todd, Principal Forensic Investigator in the aftermath of the events of 7/7. Laura Aikman (Archie; Gavin & Stacey) also stars as Lana Vandenberghe, a secretary at the Independent Police Complaints Commission who plays a pivotal role in the unfolding of events. Alex Jennings (The Crown; The Lady in the Van) plays barrister, Michael Mansfield KC, who represents the family of Jean Charles de Menezes at the inquest into his shooting.
Daniel Mays says: "During 7/7 and the shooting of Jean Charles, I actually got my first lead in a show. I was filming a BBC3 drama called Funland. I was up in Manchester. So even as a Londoner my experience of it isn't firsthand, only just seeing it on the news. So I didn't necessarily have a sort of visceral emotional connection to it. Nevertheless, you are giving obviously this amazing opportunity to shed light, you know, into this recent moment in history.
"My port of call was obviously Cliff Todd, so I'm playing the forensic explosives expert who pretty much kicks off the whole story. So my storyline is predominantly focused on the 7/7 bombings and Cliff, after the first responders had left, was the first guy with his team to go down there in the carriage at Russell Square on the Piccadilly line. We had a Zoom call at first and I don't actually remember ever working on a show before, and the actual guy that you are playing is on set with you. So that was a new kind of experience. My first question to Cliff was “did you have post-traumatic stress? Does that, you know, did that affect you?” But the thing that strikes you when you meet Cliff is this absolute quiet professionalism. And I think that's the thing in which I try to instil in the performance."
Cast interviews with Russell Tovey, Conleth Hill and Emily Mortimer
Emily Mortimer, who plays Cressida Dick, says: "Cressida Dick is leading the mission to track down terrorists who could kill more people, and it’s terrifying. ‘The pressure is on her and her team and a lot of things went wrong. You feel the horror of what happened. It’s an awful mistake.
"The series works to present everything as truthfully and objectively as possible. Everything is as close as possible to actually what happened. And as a result, you really do feel the horror of what happened because you're not being told to feel it. You're just being presented with the facts and it just feels so heartbreakingly tragic — an extremely, painful and awful mistake and something that we can learn from."
Russell Tovey, explains how Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick who he plays grows increasingly unsettled by the police’s handling of the case and tries to shed light on what happened.
"It was amazing to talk to Brian and understand his pursuit of the truth. He put his neck on the line and risked his career to make sure the Met were held accountable. And I hope this drama will do justice to Jean Charles and his family.
‘Making shows like this holds people accountable Mr Bates vs The Post Office has had incredible public support, pushing for people to get the compensation owed to them. I think this project will follow a similar process. It highlights the society we live in, and what the public is willing to accept."
"I've seen the mural [Jean Charles’ memorial] multiple times at Stockwell tube and reflected on it. So many people I spoke to about this said, ‘Wasn’t Jean Charles running from the police?’ And he wasn’t. There was misinformation. But that rhetoric was sealed in the tabloids. And I’d believed what we'd been told. At the time, there was such a desperation to catch people, that things got mixed up. It was shocking and deeply sad."
Conleth Hill, who plays Sir Ian Blair, says: "It’s a comprehensive look at that terrible journey, from the first explosion on 7/7 to the [2008] inquest [into the shooting] where culpability was decided. The beauty of it is the different perspectives we’re given. They’re not as black and white as we might imagine in a moral sense.
Behind the scenes and more on Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes is written by Jeff Pope, produced by Kwadjo Dajan and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. Pope, Dajan and Williams also serve as executive producers. The series is executive produced for Disney+ by Lee Mason, Executive Director of Scripted.
Writer and Executive Producer, Jeff Pope says: "This is an incredibly important story to tell, and we’ve got a heavyweight ensemble cast in place that will help us examine the events that led to the tragic shooting of the innocent Jean Charles de Menezes. He was just a commuter who was tracked for nearly an hour with surveillance failing to correctly identify him, before he was shot dead on a crowded tube train, leaving his family to try and shine a light on the critical errors that led to this devastating tragedy.”
The real story behind Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
Electrician Jean Charles de Silva e de Menezes was a Brazilian man who was living in London at the time of the London bombings on July 7, 2005, where terrorists killed 52 people. He was wrongly identified as part of a terror cell of four men that had made a failed bombing attempt on July 21, just weeks after the atrocity, and the next day was followed by armed officers as he walked to the station. His address, in a block of flats, had been written on a gym membership found inside one of the unexploded bags used by the failed bombers. When Jean Charles boarded a train, he was shot by police marksmen. His death provoked outcry and a catalogue of errors was discovered in the build-up to the shooting. The Met was found guilty of breaking health and safety laws and fined £175,000. No officers were prosecuted. An inquest into Jean Charles’ death returned an open verdict.
