EXCLUSIVE: Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones) and BAFTA winner Francesca Annis (Fresh & Blood) are amongst a number of stars boarding season 2 of Ben Richards’ BBC authorized drama Showtrial.
The pair are becoming a member of the beforehand introduced Adeel Akhtar, Nathalie Armin and Michael Socha within the five-part season from Line of Duty maker World Productions. Dempsie will play DI Miles Southgate, whereas Annis will play a personality known as Dame Harriet Kenny.
Other excessive profile solid revealed right now embody Nina Toussaint-White (Bodyguard) and Fisayo Akinade (Heartstopper). Tom Padley (The Lost Pirate Kingdom), Kerrie Hayes (Blue Jean), Ali Khan (A Haunting in Venice), Daniel Kendrick (Inside Man), Frankie Wilson (Against the Ice), Anna Próchniak (The Tattooist of Auschwitz), Anna Wilson Jones (Victoria), John Light (Around the World in 80 Day), Aidan McArdle (Spy Master), Daisy Badger (The Sandman), Flora Montgomery (The Crown), Pearce Quigley (Detectorists), John Marquez (Doc Martin), Anna Healy (Mother’s Day) and Barney Fishwick (Living) have additionally landed roles.
“Watching new cast added is always one of the most rewarding elements of creating a show,” stated Richards. “It is truly a privilege to have actors of such variety and talent.”
Showtrial‘s first season aired in October 2021 on BBC One and starred Tracy Ifeachor and Céline Buckens. It adopted a homicide trial that explodes within the nationwide consciousness and was picked up by Sundance Now and Acorn TV for the U.S. final yr.
Synopsis for season two reads: “When the high-profile climate activist Marcus Calderwood is left for dead in a violent hit and run, he uses his dying moments to 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’s death a careless accident or cold-blooded murder?”
The collection tracks the case from the sufferer’s final breath to the jury’s closing verdict, following cocky officer Justin Mitchell (Socha), anxious protection solicitor with a repute for successful misplaced causes Sam Gill (Akhtar) and Leila Hassoun-Kenny (Armin), a rigorous CPS lawyer main the case in opposition to the accused. The collection will once more discover public outrage and query what occurs when a trial is dominated by contentious points.
“I’m such a fan of everyone involved in this, and can’t wait to bring Ben Richards’ compelling scripts to life with all of them,” stated Dempsie.
“Ben is a wonderful writer and I am thrilled to bring the complex character of Dame Harriet Kenny to life,” added Annis. “I was enamored by the scripts and left guessing until the final page.”
Julia Ford (Everything I Know About Love, Safe) is directing season 2 with Ken Horn (Line of Duty, The Moorside the producer. Executive producers are Simon Heath and Emma Luffingham for ITV Studios-owned World and with Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC. Showtrial is filming now in and round Belfast and is made with help from Northern Ireland Screen, in affiliation with ITV Studios, which may even deal with worldwide distribution.