Defending the Guilty Season One Review

Based on Alex McBride’s memoir, Defending the Guilty is a sitcom that looks at the lives of a group of young barristers competing to become the full-time member of their chambers.

Will Packham (Will Sharpe) is a naïve young barrister under the tutelage of Caroline Bratt (Katherine Parkinson). She hardens the young man up to become a criminal barrister. Within the chambers are three other young barristers who Will forms a friendship and rivalry with as they compete for a job.

Defending the Guilty had three main storylines. The first being the aforementioned competition for the barrister job, the second was about Will’s infidelity, and Caroline and Ashley (Prasanna Puwanarajah) apply to become QCs. The big theme of the show was Will’s degradation from an idealistic lawyer to a man willing to do anything it takes.

Numerous British sitcoms are episodic in nature. Most episodes were one-off adventures and if there was any series-long storyline it was usually in the background. Defending the Guilty was a series that has been influenced by binge-watching culture that has developed over recent years. There were long-running goals for the characters. It makes Defending the Guilty a great fit for streaming.

Defending the Guilty obviously focused on the English legal system and shows it to be a competitive world. Caroline sums it up perfectly: a barrister’s job is to win. It doesn’t manner if their client is guilty or innocent. Justice was a dirty word to Caroline. Within chambers, the young barristers were all fighting each other to get the work on the juicy cases, work with the senior barristers, and get the one job going at the chambers. Because of this, all the characters were unlikeable due to the competitive nature of their world.

This competitive spirit was shown from the outset. At the office, the full-term barristers were placing bets on which pupil would get the job. Danielle (Gwyneth Keyworth) states to Will she’s from a poor background and has no backup plan so would do anything to get the job. The worst action three of the pupils do in the series was work together to take down Pia (Hanako Footman). Pia was a nice young woman who happened to be a workaholic, which makes her a serious threat. In the fifth episode, the other pupils had broken her and led her to have a mini-breakdown.

Whilst it could be argued that everything is fair in love and war in pursuit of the job, Will’s actions with his girlfriend (Claudia Jessie) were really scummy. In the first episode, he kisses a random woman at the pub, and he becomes obsessed with her, despite living with his girlfriend. When Nessa does find out about Will’s cheating, Will uses his barrister training against her so he can cause doubt.

Although the characters were shown to be pretty horrid the show did have the good sense to show their softer side. This was done through Liam (Hugh Coles), who started off as an over-confident public-school preppy, but his vulnerability was shown as the series progresses.

The series also looks at the issues affecting the English legal system. The first episode mentioned that the government were proposing cuts to legal aid which is a big issue in the legal community. Ashley was campaigning against the cuts saying that it would limit people’s access to justice. Caroline was told if she wanted to become a QC she had to network and present herself: she needed to be more than a good lawyer. Will’s role as a trainee allowed Caroline to teach the young man the ropes like how to question a witness.

Defending the Guilty is a classed as a sitcom the humour was genteel and subtle. It had the right mix of verbal jokes and jabs, visual gags, and legal situation. Katherine Parkinson was a sitcom legend due to her work on The I.T. Crowd and she was a scene-stealer in Defending the Guilty due to her sardonic delivery, biting comments, and ‘tells it as it is’ attitude. Danielle also had some comedic delight due to her ruthless nature and her thick Welsh accent.

Defending the Guilty was a strong first season and the BBC already commissioned a second season. It will be interesting to see what happens next with the pupils being fully qualified barristers.