Hannah Ellis (Abra Thompson) gained admission to Oxford, but couldn’t accept because of the cost. Instead she’s attending a local college. Talitha Campbell (Celine Buckens) and Dhillon Harwood (Joseph Payne) failed to get into Oxford and they take out their anger by taunting Hannah. At the student ball, where alcohol and drugs play a prominent role, Hannah is working, while Talitah and Dhillon indulging. The next day, Hannah is reported missing by her mother (Claire Lams). Talitha is brought in for questioning when the police uncover threatening text messages she sent to Hannah. 

James Frain as Damian Campbell

Although Talitha’s father, Damian (James Frain), is a billionaire real estate developer, the two have been estranged for years. Rather than ask her father for help, she agrees to have the duty solicitor, Cleo Roberts (Tracy Ifeachor), defend her. 

During the initial police interview, Talitha does her best to alienate Detective Inspector Paula Cassidy (Sinéad Keenan). Talitha admits that she and Hannah were once friends, but had a falling out, over what, she won’t say. She also admits that she sent the texts to Hannah, but dismisses them as just venting her anger, not being serious about harming anyone. Talitha may not take advantage of her father’s wealth – she tells the officers she survives financially by running a sex site – but her entitlement is on full display. She talks down to Cassidy and exhibits no fear about any charges she might be facing. She believes Hannah is hiding to attract attention and will turn up soon. The young woman’s cavalier attitude fuels Cassidy’s motivation to find any evidence that would tie Talitha to Hannah’s disappearance.

Another possible suspect is Dhillon Hardwood, who was friends with both Talitha and Hannah. His mother, Meera, (Lolita Chakrabarti) is a member of the shadow cabinet, whose members are from the political party that is out of power. Although she still has influence in British circles, there’s not much she can do to thwart the investigation. She’s not encouraged when her son evades her questions and then goes to the family’s country cottage to complete a paper. The police see it as a way to hide out.

Sinéad Keenan as DI Paula Cassidy and Christopher Hatherhall as DC Andy Lowell

Hannah’s body is found in the water. She was wrapped in her sleeping bag, weighed down with a kettle bell, and stuffed into a trash bin. This is now a murder investigation. Cassidy and her associates redouble their efforts to track Hannah’s movements after the ball. The medical examiner determines that Hannah was strangled. Attention turns to a green scarf that Talitha was seen wearing in videos of the ball. 

Dhillon also was seen with the scarf. When Cassidy and her associates show up at the Harwood country home, they find a fire in the main room even though it’s quite warm outside. Probing the fire, Cassidy pulls out fabric, possibly the remains of that green scarf.

During an interview at the police station, Dhillon breaks down and confesses that he and Talitha went to Hannah’s house after the ball. They continued to drink vodka and did more drugs. Under Cassidy’s questioning, he says they had a threesome and, at one point, they wound the scarf around Hannah’s neck, hoping to increase her climax. Sobbing, he tells them Hannah’s death was an accident. Disposing of her body, however, was intentional and at the least would bring charges. 

When told by Cleo what Dhillon said, Talitha continues to deny that she went to Hannah’s house after the ball. Since Hannah’s mother cleaned her daughter’s house when she visited the morning after her disappearance, there’s no DNA or other evidence to be collected. Based on Dillion’s testimony, both he and Talitha are charged with Hannah’s murder.

Celine Buckens as Talitha Campbell and Tracy Ifeachor as Cleo Roberts

Even though Talitha refuses to see her father, she agrees to have him pay Cleo. With the additional funds, Cleo is able to bring on board an experienced silk to serve as lead defense counsel.

Although Cassidy is leading the investigation, she’s being pushed by James Thornley (Kerr Logan), and Virginia Hoult (Sharon D. Clarke), from the Crown Prosecution Service. Hoult is concerned because there’s no physical proof that Talitha was ever in Hannah’s apartment. And while the green scarf was hers, video taken at the ball shows Dhillon taking it away from Talitha. Was he the last to have the scarf? Is he attempting to shift the blame for Hannah’s death to Talitha, playing the role of a victim who was also bullied by Talitha?

Showtrial doesn’t disappoint as a compelling legal thriller. The scenes in the courtroom are riveting. The cast is more than up for the challenge. Ifeachor succeeds as a solicitor who wants to win, to make up for mistakes she made during a previous case. I was disappointed that Dhillon was described as being on the spectrum, as if that can explain his violence towards another. I’m sure parents of autistic children would find that categorization hurtful.

The star of the first season is Celine Buckens as Talitha. We realize that her hard shell results from the sexual abuse she endured as a child. Although she appears tough in public, in private moments she soothes herself by singing a French lullaby she learned as a child. She may be damaged because of the abuse, but doesn’t blame what she went through as an excuse for her behavior towards Hannah. She wasn’t the friend Hannah needed, she insists, but she also didn’t kill her.

There are no winners in Showtrial, only survivors. 

Photos courtesy of BritBox
Top photo: Abra Thompson as Hannah Ellis, Celine Buckens as Talitah Campbell, and Joseph Payne as Dhillon Harwood.

The second season of Showtrial will soon be available on BritBox.