# The Escape Artist (2013)

> A brilliant junior barrister who has never lost a case finds his talent for freeing clients turning dangerously against him.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/42303

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 3
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, thriller
- Created by: David Wolstencroft
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: David Tennant, Toby Kebbell, Sophie Okonedo, Ashley Jensen, Brid Brennan, Tony Gardner, Alistair Petrie, Robert Foster
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2649522/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: chilling, bloody, tense, dread-filled, morally uneasy

## What critics say

Audience reception is positive, with viewers rating this three-part BBC legal thriller well for its tense courtroom plotting and David Tennant's lead performance.

## Synopsis

The Escape Artist (2013) is a British legal thriller miniseries created by David Wolstencroft for BBC One. David Tennant plays Will Burton, a junior barrister of peerless intellect and winning charm who has never lost a case and specialises in pulling people out of tight legal corners. His talent becomes a liability when he secures the acquittal of a notorious prime suspect in a horrific murder trial, and the consequences reach into his own life. Toby Kebbell plays Liam Foyle, and Sophie Okonedo plays Maggie Gardner, with Ashley Jensen as Kate Burton among the principal figures around him. The engine of the story is the tension between a courtroom win and the cost that follows it, as Burton must confront what his cleverness has set in motion. Told across three one-hour episodes, the drama is a single continuous arc rather than a case of the week. It is set in present-day London courtrooms and back streets, with a dark, bloody, unsettling register and a steady current of dread. Its tone is chilling and morally uneasy, with a shocking twist shaping its final stretch. Fans of Criminal Justice, Silk and Broadchurch will find resonance in its British courtroom tension and its interrogation of how far a clever advocate should go.

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