The launch of Criminal Justice, series 2, London, September 16th

To London’s Soho last night to the launch of the brand new series of BBC1’s Criminal Justice.
You might recall almost a year ago the first series of this hard-hitting drama, which starred Ben Whishaw as a young man who wakes up next to the dead body of the girl he picked up. In his panic he fled the scene, but the law soon catches up with him and so begins his nightmare passage through the deeply flawed British justice system.

This time around the series stars Maxine Peake as an abused woman driven to knife her horrific control freak of a barrister husband, played by Matthew McFadyen. We were shown the first episode and it’s tense, edgy stuff you can’t take your eyes off. You will jump everytime someone so much as puts down a coffee mug.

Without giving too much away, many questions arise – does the husband have a double life, did the wife pre-plan her actions, what will happen to their daughter and most importantly why did they get to this stage in the first place? The story follow’s the wife’s journey through the system: the courts, prison, her contact with social services and everything else committing such a hideous crime entails.

The two leads are magnificent, but sadly couldn’t make the screening. Those that did include Stephen Mackintosh and Kate Hardie, the actress daughter of Bill Oddie and whom you might recognise from her role as Francis Kray in The Krays.

The real star of the show though, is going to be young actress Alice Sykes, who plays the couple’s daughter. While her parents’ worlds change, hers will never be the same again.
The series also stars Sophie Okenado and Dennis Lawson.
Don’t miss it!