Renewed: Showtrial

UK legal drama Showtrial by Ben Richards has been renewed for a second season.

Seven screened the first season in early 2022, which centred around a duty solicitor (Tracy Ifeachor) representing a privileged, woman (Céline Buckens) on trial after the death of girl who attended a student ball.

Made by World Productions (Vigil, Line of Duty, Anne) the new series will revolve around charismatic and cocky officer Justin Mitchell (Michael Socha); Sam Gill (Adeel Akhtar), an anxious defense solicitor with a reputation for winning lost causes; and Leila Hassoun-Kenny (Nathalie Armin), a rigorous CPS lawyer leading the case against the accused.

It will once again centre around a hotly contested criminal trial that divides the nation and takes place in the full glare of the media spotlight.

When the high-profile climate activist Marcus Calderwood is left for dead in a violent hit and run, he uses his dying moments to identify his killer – a serving policeman. But who is this unnamed ‘Officer X’? What does his own history reveal about the nature of trauma and revenge, and was Marcus’s death a careless accident or cold-blooded murder?

As public outrage reaches fever-pitch, Showtrial questions what happens when a trial is dominated by contentious issues and whether the truth is ever clear cut. Is a fair trial possible when tensions are riding so high?

Creator Richards says: “I am very grateful to the BBC for the opportunity to explore another sensational trial which I hope will be just as entertaining as our first outing. I love writing Showtrial and I’m honoured to have a cast of such high quality to deliver it.”

Filming begins in November in Belfast, and further casting will be announced in due course.