Martin Freeman to star in BBC movie about the televised trial of Adolf Eichmann

LONDON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Martin Freeman and Anthony LaPaglia are to star in the TV movie The Eichmann Show, the BBC announced.

The picture is to air this winter as part of the British television network's programming to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.

The Eichmann Show will revisit ex-Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann's televised 1961 trial, the BBC said. Eichmann was hanged in 1962 after he was found guilty for crimes against humanity.

"Described as the 'trial of the century,' it was shown on TV in 37 countries over four months and was the first time the horror of the death camps had been heard live, directly from its victims," the BBC said in a news release announcing the movie Sunday. "Eighty percent of the German population watched at least one hour a week and people fainted when they saw it. The trial became the world's first ever global TV event. Anthony LaPaglia plays director Leo Hurwitz, and Martin Freeman is producer Milton Fruchtman who captured the testimony of one of the war's most notorious Nazis."

The BBC did not say who would play Eichmann or if real footage of the Nazi officer would be used in the movie.

Freeman is best known for his work on the TV shows The Office, Sherlock and Fargo. His film credits include The Hobbit trilogy, The World's End and Love Actually.

LaPaglia was the longtime star of the small-screen mystery drama Without a Trace.