# Trial & Retribution (1997)

> A long-running British police procedural that follows English detectives from investigation through to the courtroom.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/10759

## Facts

- Seasons: 12
- Episodes: 44
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Lynda La Plante
- Network: ITV1
- Cast: David Hayman, Victoria Smurfit, Gemma Jones, Dorian Lough, Kate Buffery, Inday Ba, Richard Durden, Sarah Ozeke
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1511543/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gritty, sober, tense, grounded, procedural

## Synopsis

Trial & Retribution (1997-2009) is a British police procedural series created by Lynda La Plante for ITV1. Devised as a follow-on from her earlier hit Prime Suspect, it runs twelve seasons and forty-four hour-long episodes, following English police detectives as they work crimes and then watch the cases move into court. David Hayman plays detective Michael Walker, with Victoria Smurfit as Roisin Connor and Dorian Lough as David Satchell among the principal investigators, while Gemma Jones plays Dr Jean Mullins. The engine of the show is methodical casework: each story starts with a crime, builds through interviews, forensic evidence and tense conflicts within the team, and then tracks the trial that results. Its shape is a long, mostly self-contained case format rather than one continuing arc, so each episode stands on its own. The tone is grounded and sober, with an emphasis on procedure, moral weight and the human cost of crime. Fans of Prime Suspect, Silent Witness and Cracker will find resonance in its British realism and its interest in how investigations reach a verdict.

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