Despite its daftness, I was fond of the first series of Showtrial, which took the death of a working-class student at a posh university and used it to explore themes of privilege and justice in the British legal system. Viewers liked it, too: it was brash, popular Sunday night fare, an airport novel of a TV series that pirouetted around credibility yet dragged you in with its relentless twists. It returns for a second, starrier season with a similarly over-the-top sensibility – and yet again I have been sucked in, despite the nagging presence of a firmly raised eyebrow during large sections of each of its five episodes.
This time, it has dipped into its grab-bag of headlines and come up with a story about the tactics of climate activism, offensive police WhatsApp group chats and online conspiracy theories. It may leave the impression that it is spinning too many plates, but the plot is captivating and once again touches on the class tensions within British society. Moving from Bristol to Brighton, it examines the legal process behind a newsworthy murder charge, this time thrown at a serving police officer, dragging the audience into yet another us-and-them, upstairs-downstairs scenario.
