‘Showtrial’ Season 2 Will Show Up on BritBox
'Showtrial' moves house from AMC to BritBox as Season 2 finally gains a U.S. release.
In the early 2020s, the BBC had a moment when several limited series hit massive popularity at once because of lockdowns. Over about 18 months, the network released Time, The Responder, Sherwood, The Tourist, and Vigil, all of which had to scramble when asked to produce second seasons. The three that took variations on the anthology route – Time, Sherwood, Vigil – are still on the air today.
Ironically, the BBC actually released a series during that period that was planned as an anthology series from the start – and while the two seasons it managed to sustain certainly brought in viewership, the series as a concept itself was unpopular enough that it never got a third commission. Called Showtrial, the series takes a ripped-from-the-headlines style criminal case and stages... well, the show trial that follows.
Showtrial was one of those series that wound up on Sundance Now during the era when AMC Global was trying to compete with itself by launching multiple streaming services aimed at British TV lovers. Unsurprisingly, Season 1 gained no viewers over here, and Season 2 just never turned up.
When the network rebranded back to something more appropriate to its original mission in early 2026, most of those series moved wholesale to AMC+. But not Showtrial – Season 1 disappeared from streaming altogether. Turns out that’s because the BBC took back the rights to resell the series to a platform where it might actually attract an audience: BritBox.
Showtrial will re-debut in America on BritBox in September, with the two seasons released in a staggered order over the month. (Showtrial was never available in Canada, so both seasons are brand new debuts up north.) Here are the two cases the series presented.
Season 1
Here’s the synopsis for Season 1:
When Talitha Campbell, the arrogant daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur, is arrested following the disappearance of a fellow student, the case grips the nation, whipping up a media storm. On Talitha’s side is brilliant solicitor Cleo Roberts. Can Cleo control the narrative of a case that is fast becoming tangled up in the nation’s debates over privilege, wealth, and politics? From arrest to the jury’s final verdict, Showtrial examines both sides of the legal battle, as the defense and prosecution fight for their version of what really happened to Hannah, and the truth about Talitha: Falsely accused? Or callous murderer?
Season 1 stars Céline Buckens (The Ex-Wife) as the accused, Talitha Campbell, and Tracy Ifeachor (Mayflies) as her solicitor, Cleo Roberts. The first season also features Sinead Keenan (Unforgotten), Sharon D Clarke (Inspector Ellis), Kerr Logan (How to Get to Heaven from Belfast), Christopher Hatherall (Trigger Point), Lolita Chakrabarti (Vigil), James Frain (Orphan Black), Amy Morgan (Mr. Selfridge), Rupert Holliday-Evans (Grantchester), Amy Marston (The Nevers), Abra Thompson (Trying), and Angus Castle-Doughty (Shadow & Bone).
Season 2
Here’s the Season 2 synopsis:
When high-profile climate activist Marcus Calderwood is left for dead in a violent hit-and-run, he uses his dying moments to apparently 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’ death a tragic accident or pre-meditated murder? As public outrage reaches fever pitch, the series asks what happens when a trial is dominated by cultural divisions and whether the truth is ever clear-cut. Is a fair trial even possible when tensions are riding so high?
Season 2 stars Michael Socha (What It Feels Like For a Girl) as the accused, PC Justin Mitchell, and Adeel Akhtar (Sherwood) as his solicitor, Sam Malik. The second season also features Francesca Annis (The Forsytes), Nathalie Armin (Maigret), Joe Dempsie (Get Millie Black), Kerrie Hayes (The Responder), Fisayo Akinade (Heartstopper), Tom Padley (Silent Witness), Barney Fishwick (The Buccaneers), Nina Toussaint-White (Bodyguard), Zoe Telford (The Lazarus Project), and Ali Khan (A Haunting in Venice).
Showtrial Season 1 will debut as a binge on BritBox on Thursday, September 3, 2026. Season 2 will follow as a weekly release, starting with a two-episode premiere on Thursday, September 24, 2026, and run through the end of October.
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