Showtrial, which debuted on the BBC in the UK in 2021, is now seemingly a full-blown anthology series thanks to this follow-up three years later. I enjoyed the first series – it was frothy and fun and devious and twisty and, yes, turny. Perfect escapism for primetime Sunday evenings.
This second story has an eye-catching, high-concept premise and achingly zeitgeisty elements that make it feel bang up to the minute. We’re talking environmental groups blocking roads, we’re taking secret WhatsApp group chats between serving police officers, we’re talking bloggers intent on bringing down what they call the shadowy elite… we’re talking the full 21st-century, modern-day checks and balances.
The story concerns unrepentant environmental activist Marcus Calderwood, whose group Stop Climate Genocide is making enemies galore thanks to its road closures. But soon, Calderwood is knocked off his bike and left for dead in a nearby ditch, with the prime suspect being one PC Justin Mitchel (Michael Socha) who is brash, and arrogant but also whip-smart and absolutely bang to rights.
Or is he?
Judging by the first series we now know that this is Showtrial’s schtick – take a person who is a prime suspect for good reason and go from there, playing the whole did-they-didn’t-they concept for all it’s worth. And Justin Mitchell is a great character to base this concept around – he’s just so damn unlikable. But that is, of course, the point.
Charged with defending him is shambling lawyer Sam Malik (Adeel Akhtar), who is strung out on anti-anxiety pills and struggling to sleep at night as he still tries to come to terms with the suicide of his wife. Akhtar is once again fantastic here, all softly spoken and good and decent, but fidgety and wracked with the effects of extreme trauma.
Malik reminds the lawyer in The Night Of – John Stone (John Turturro) – down at heel and dishevelled, but woe betide anyone who underestimates him.
The scenes between Mitchell and Malik are electric – you often get the impression that Mitchell thinks he’s too clever for Malik, and he’s manipulating the truth as the investigation and the lawyer’s defence takes shape. But Malik does tease some things out of Mitchell that I don’t think Mitchell expected him to – the reason why he might have ploughed into Calderwood in the first place… because of a protest and a subsequent road closure, a young woman’s journey was diverted and she ended up being involved in a car crash. Called to the scene, Mitchell did his best to save her but could not.
He was still haunted by her death.
It’s a clever mirroring technique here – two men who suffered extreme trauma and both dealing with it in different ways or, actually, using their relationship and the case to process it and work through it.
It’s far from perfect. Some peripheral characters are used only for expositional purposes, syphons for summarising the plot, and there are some pointless side stories, but all in all, series two of Showtrial is a fun, well-acted watch that’ll keep you hooked until the end.
Paul Hirons
Showtrial was broadcast on BBC One in the UK and is still available to watch on iPlayer
