How to watch The Case Against Adnan Syed
Don't miss a moment of the riveting HBO documentary series with our guide to watching The Case Against Adnan Syed
The Case Against Adnan Syed is a four-part HBO documentary series that investigates the 1999 murder of Baltimore county student Hae Min Lee and the subsequent conviction of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed.
What is The Case Against Adnan Syed about?
In January 1999, 18-year-old Woodlawn High School student Hae Min Lee was reported missing by her parents. Four weeks later, her body was found at nearby city park, killed by manual strangulation. Her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed, also from the same school, was arrested, then convicted of first-degree murder and given a life sentence of 30-plus years, which he is currently serving.
The case was the subject of the first season of the podcast Serial, which released in 2014 and instantly became a global phenomenon. It retraces the days leading up to Lee’s murder, featuring interviews with the different people and law officials involved during that time. Apart from that, it also presents new evidence that wasn’t available when the case went to trial almost 15 years earlier, proving that Syed could have been wrongfully convicted.
What happened since?
After the success of the podcast, in June 2016, Baltimore Circuit Court vacated Adnan Syed’s conviction and granted him a new trial after uncovering new evidence and hearing from an alibi that vouched for Adnan’s innocence.
The State of Maryland then appealed the lower court judge’s ruling, but on 29 March 2018, the Court of Special Appeals ruled to vacate Syed’s conviction and granted him a retrial.
Then, on 9 March 2019, a day before the first part of The Case Against Adnan Syed was due to air in the US, the same court overturned the ruling – by a 4-3 vote – denying Syed a new trial.
Syed’s attorney, Justin Brown, said they were devastated by the decision but will not give up, and are exploring other avenues of relief.
Any point watching The Case Against Adnan Syed if I haven’t followed Serial?
Don’t worry if you haven’t followed the podcast because the documentary goes over all the details of the case, bringing viewers who aren’t familiar with the podcast up to speed. It then introduces them to the different people involved during that fateful time in Baltimore. You can get a gist of the documentary series by watching its trailer below:
The Case Against Adnan Syed has new revelations that will challenge the State’s case, with exclusive access to all the people that were closely connected with the case at the time. This includes Syed, his family, friends and teachers of both Syed and Lee, and members of the law enforcement.
It’s a forensic account carefully retracing steps from the actual people involved to best find out what happened during that fateful time and see whether Syed deserves to be exonerated. You can read a review of the documentary over at Den of Geek.
How to watch The Case Against Adnan Syed from home and abroad
Watch The Case Against Adnan Syed in the UK
Sky TV
All four epidoes of The Case Against Adnan Syed are currently available to stream on Sky Atlantic. To access this, you’ll need Sky TV’s Entertainment package, which costs £22 a month on an 18-month contract. From the main Sky menu on your TV, simply head to Sky Box Sets, where you’ll find The Case Againt Adnan Syed in the Featured and Recently added sections on the left.
If you’re a new customer, then you’ll obviously need a Sky Q box, but based on our glowing Sky Q review, it’s a great investment even though you need to pay a one-time setup fee.
Now TV
If you don’t have Sky TV, then the only other way you can watch The Case Against Adnan Syed in its entirety is by ordering a Now TV stick and upgrading to its Entertainment Pass. This gives you instant access to 1,700 other shows and movies.
The Entertainment Pass costs £7.99 per month but it comes with a 7-day free trial period for new customers. This is more than enough time to check whether it’s the right service for you, while also watching the entire documentary.
How to watch The Case Against Adnan Syed in the US
HBO
All four episodes of The Case Against Adnan Syed are now available to stream on HBO. There are three ways to avail of HBO in the US: You can subscribe to HBO NOW for $14.99 per month, with a free first week for new subscribers. Alternatively, you can add HBO to your existing TV package or digital subscription.
Hulu
The other online platform that’s currently airing The Case Against Adnan Syed in the US is Hulu. You can access the entire Hulu library for $44.99 per month. This includes a free trial for new customers. On most occasions the trial lasts for one week, but during special offers this is increased to two.
How to watch The Case Against Adnan Syed in Australia
The Case Against Adnan Syed released a little later in Australia than the rest of the other Western countries. Episode one premiered on 7 April at 8:30pm on SBS. The other three episodes will air at the same time on 14, 21 and 28 April.
Go to the SBS Case Against Adnan Syed webpage to see a timeline of the entire case. Alternative, you can watch episode one, titled Forbidden Love. This episode introduces the different characters of the story and key plots that becoming talking points as the series progresses.
Watch The Case Against Adnan Syed from anywhere in the world
If you live in a country where the entire documentary has not been broadcast yet – or in a country where the documentary is not being broadcast – then the only way you can watch The Case Against Adnan Syed is using a VPN.
Doing this not only ensures complete anonymity while browsing, it also lets you enjoy content that’s geoblocked in your country by letting you spoof your location to any country you want. We’ve tested different VPNs and come up with this comprehensive list of our Best VPN Services of 2019.
As you can see, NordVPN is our favourite service by far. It has a free seven-day trial if you sign up to its three-year plan and the VPN has recently completed a successful audit by one of the Big Four firms to back up their claims that they don’t log any user data. You can also use it on six devices, making it a great option for the entire family.
Alternatively, you could opt for our second-favourite service, PureVPN. Compared to Nord, this VPN first asks you why you’re using it (streaming, security, file sharing, etc.), then presents you with a list of optimised servers for that task. Like Nord, you can use it on five devices at one time but there’s no free trial.