The 'Showtrial' Season 2 Trailer Deals Head On With Police Violence

One of the BBC's more surprising hits during the lockdown era was Showtrial, a five-episode series that, while not particularly subtle in its themes, was a propulsively watchable legal drama, diving into the kind of case that gets called "Trial of the Century," even when there have already been multiple "Trials of the Century" in the last decade. (I joked at the time since lockdown meant no high-profile trials, the BBC had to invent one.) Originally meant as a standalone miniseries, the ratings were so high that the BBC commissioned it to become a multiple-season anthology, each season featuring a different controversial case with the sort of details that cause a media circus.

Season 1 was about the disappearance and murder of a college-age white girl whose wealthy roommate, Talitha Campbell (Céline Buckens), is accused of killing her. Sinead Kenan (Unforgotten) played the cop convinced of Talitha's guilt, and Tracy Ifeachor (Doctor Who) as Talitha's solicitor, Cleo Roberts, paid to keep the girl out of jail. The mix of class, race, violence, and money drew viewers to the series like it would a real case.

Season 2 hopes to pull the same trick with the show's second case, featuring an entirely new cast. Much like Season 1 felt like a mashup of several high-profile cases rolled into one, this season bases its controversies on the style of street demonstrations that sprang up during the pandemic. The clashes between law enforcement and protestors over Black Lives Matter and racial prejudice in policing sometimes felt like they took on a personal edge, especially when it came to the cops' response. While this case chooses to have the protests be over the more timely issue of climate change, that "taking it personally" angle is a dominant theme.