Hello everyone
Have you watched Showtrial?
On the face of it, the series has all the elements of a plodding police procedural, with a few twists here and there. However, what could be a pedestrian story is elevated to something quite special which is very worth watching.
How the story begins
Without getting into details (and definitely without any plot spoilers that can’t be gleaned from the trailer), the story is about the murder of a student, Hannah Ellis. She was friends with another student, Talitha Campbell. Before the murder, there had been a falling out between the two and Campbell becomes the suspect for the murder.
The telling of the story differs from a more conventional police procedural in that we don’t simply follow the police—we see the story from many other perspectives (the Crown Prosecution Service, the lawyers, the families) as each tries to make sense of what has happened.
Talitha Campbell
The seeming villain is Talitha Campbell, played by Celine Buckens. Again, without disclosing anything that isn’t already in the trailer, Talitha is arrested for murder.
Outwardly, Talitha is a dislikeable character. She is rude, combative, condescending, unconcerned by the offense she causes, and uncaring about how she is perceived. And when she is being offensive, she knows exactly what she is doing.
She is a pampered little rich girl, but Talitha also has her own demons. She is intelligent and manipulative, while still being fragile and damaged, and desperately trying to be independent of her manipulative father. When interviewed by the police, she seems more intent on causing offense than on trying to help solve the murder of her fellow student and former friend.
What elevates the series?
As viewers, so much of the reason we stay with a character as challenging as Talitha is because she is so well written and so well played. Celine Buckens delivers a standout performance that should be winning awards and Ben Richards’ script is worthy of note for its masterful characterization.
Beyond Talitha and the performance by Buckens, there are several other elements which elevate the show.
The first element I have already hinted at and is the way the story is put together. While the police investigation is important, this is not a police procedural. Instead, we see all elements of the story and a broader range of characters, not just those necessary for Talitha’s arrest.
The other big factor elevating the series is Talitha’s lawyer Cleo Roberts who is played by Tracy Ifeachor. The lawyer is perhaps the only person who is willing to believe Talitha’s story, but we’re never quite certain whether she does believe or is just doing the job of representing her client really well. In any event, this is another combination of a complex character and a standout performance.
The last element that elevates the story is the time that is taken to tell the story. The last two episodes (out of a total of five) could be pedestrian in any other series. Instead, they are well handled and keep the tension to the very end.
The end
At the end, my feeling was that the jury’s decision was expected and we, the audience, believe that they reached the “correct” decision. But then there’s a very subtle twist…and it has left me wondering what the truth of the case was.
For those of you in the UK, Showtrial is available on the BBC iPlayer. If you haven’t already seen it, go and binge now—you won’t be disappointed.
Until 2022
That’s me done for 2021. Thank you for reading me for another year.
If you’re celebrating over the next few weeks, I hope you and yours have an enjoyable time.
I’ll be back in January 2022.
Until then, all the best
Simon