Showtrial

For all its promise of something different, Showtrial initially plays the same tune, teasing out 50 minutes or so of steady plot, before walloping the audience over the head with a showy twist or a development that makes next week’s episode a must-see. ... As for whether it will be the show that grips the nation, the jury is still out.

This narrative jumping around proved an unsettling beginning and while there is intrigue in the idea of how the path of justice might be diverted by power, class, wealth and media attention, Showtrial didn’t quite dig its heels in enough to be the gripping opener the premise deserved.

It’s a difficult dynamic, solicitor and brat, but Ifeachor in particular gives a performance that captures the contradictions of the legal system, where clients they don’t like, who have potentially done reprehensible things, must be defended to the best of the lawyer’s ability. But in order to be truly gripping, these sorts of dramas must work as character studies as well as thrillers, and the dialogue doesn’t always live up to its ambition.