Christopher Stevens

The 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.

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