Naomie Harris & Christina Hendricks Lead All-Star Cast in ‘Reputation’
Christina Hendricks is poised to play a pop star concerned about her 'Reputation' in the BBC’s newest courtroom drama.
The collapse of the streaming wars has meant a slow and inexorable return to the way TV used to be – not four channels on broadcast, of course, but a new rebundling that will eventually be the new form of cable television in a decade’s time. It’s also allowed longtime TV producers to stop focusing solely on prestige TV series and remember how televisual storytelling has worked for generations. The first major sign of this return came with the debut of The Pitt on HBO, a jumped-up ER for the 21st century. It’s also inspired HBO and other streaming services to commission courtroom dramas, such as the forthcoming War, starring Dominic West and Sienna Miller.
The BBC has seen which way the wind is blowing and has added Reputation to the lineup of forthcoming courtroom-focused series. The new show appears to have aspirations for an American co-producer pick-up, with a lead cast featuring British actor Naomie Harris and American actor Christina Hendricks, both of whom are well known on both sides of the pond. As for the actual drama, Reputation, which is currently billed as a limited series, will pull from the headlines with a divorce case featuring a pop star who goes viral when she releases a brand new hit all about her abusive spouse, just as he’s doing a press tour.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because something very like it happened in October 2025. Pop star Lily Allen (sister to Game of Thrones actor Alfie Allen) released her first album since 2018, West End Girl, in which she evicerated her ex-husband David Harbour, mere days before the press tour for Stranger Things’ final season started. While the album has not led to a trial-of-the-century-style divorce, it clearly helped inspire the new series.
Here’s the synopsis:
Reputation is an audacious, glossy new drama that explores what happens when a celebrity’s legal battle spirals out of control. After Davina releases a provocative new song accusing her ex-husband, Billy, of abusive behavior, and he retaliates in kind, their private breakdown erupts into a very public libel battle.
The case is fought far beyond the courtroom, as PR machines are deployed, laws are bent, and social media platforms become judge, jury, and battleground - driving outrage for clicks and warping the truth. For Lena, the case puts her own personal life in the line of fire. How far will she go to win, and at what cost? And for Davina, how far will she go to protect her reputation?
Harris (Skyfall) stars as Lena, the formidable lawyer who gets pulled into the celebrity case of the decade. Hendricks (The Buccaneers) plays her global pop star client, Davina Knight, and Kyle Soller (Poldark) is her soon-to-be ex-husband, Billy.
The cast also includes Alex Jennings (The Crown), Emily Atack (Rivals), David Gyasi (The Diplomat), Marli Siu (Twenty Twenty Six), Alex Heath (The Serpent Queen), Tilly Keeper (Queenie), Corey Johnson (The Day of the Jackal), Jodie Campbell (Boarders), Aidan McArdle (Showtrial), Kayla Meikle (Time), Ernest Kingsley Jr (Washington Black), Kat Ronney (Dinosaur), Mike Noble (This City is Ours), and Enzo Cilenti (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell).
The series was conceived and written by Anya Reiss (Becoming Elizabeth), with Shyam Popat and Karla Crome as co-writers. Mahalia Belo (The Long Song) will direct all episodes with Alex Kazamia producing. Reiss and Belo executive produce alongside George Ormond and Jade Taylor for The Forge.
Reputation is currently filming in the U.K. It is expected to debut on the BBC in 2027. It does not yet have an American distributor.
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