Alex McBride
- Writer
Press clippings
Defending The Guilty's second series cancelled because of coronavirus
Defending The Guilty will not be returning for a second series. The BBC Two legal comedy was commissioned to shoot further episodes last year, but due to cast availability being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic the show has now been cancelled.
British Comedy Guide, 30th March 2021Defending The Guilty Series 2 confirmed
BBC Two has ordered a second series of Defending The Guilty, the legal-based sitcom starring Will Sharpe and Katherine Parkinson.
British Comedy Guide, 23rd October 2019Defending the Guilty: review
Though the plot is engaging, it feels as if it ends too quickly.
Jasna Mason, The Student Newspaper, 3rd October 2019The fate of the inept, self-obsessed barristers and their lowlife clients didn't seem to matter much when the six-part comedy Defending The Guilty started a couple of weeks ago.
Who cared which of the four trainees landed the coveted post in chambers? They were all as selfish and shallow as each other. But after three episodes, a more compelling story has started to take shape as shy student barrister Will (Will Sharpe), who wanders around in a millennial daydream with his headphones on, has accidentally fallen in love with a juror.
Katherine Parkinson is especially good as his needy pupil-master Caroline, ordering him to call her 'Mummy' and fetch her sticky pastries.
The show is based on the autobiography of a real-life legal trainee, Alex McBride, and although some of the incidents do feel too closely cribbed from real life, it is all shaping up to be much better than it originally seemed.
Worth a second look.
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 2nd October 2019TV review: Defending The Guilty
Given the Supreme Court deliberations are dominating the news today, this is either the best or worst day to launch a comedy about lawyers.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 17th September 2019Defending the Guilty: overstuffed with stereotypes
A new adaptation of Alex McBride's memoir is not quite as funny as it thinks it is.
Alistair McKay, Evening Standard, 17th September 2019The show that celebrates lawyers who aren't heroes
A candid legal memoir has inspired a new BBC sitcom featuring hapless pupil barristers fighting for a job.
Sarah Hughes, The Guardian, 14th September 2019BBC Two is Defending The Guilty in new courtroom comedy
Will Sharpe and Katherine Parkinson are the stars of a new comedy about the legal profession, ordered by BBC Two.
British Comedy Guide, 30th April 2018