Accused

Excellent show, acting, scripts, excellent.

Be warned...if your a sensitive soul and allergic to injustice I suggest you don't binge watch this series.

I'm not one to usually write reviews, but this show is excellent. Each episode is a separate storyline and each is riveting.

This series is not light, it's heavy, there is pretty much no comic relief... The acting is excellent, the story-lines often gut wrenching reflecting on the real trials of being human, making bad mistakes and the like. It sounds like a downer, and it might be for some. I watched this for the first time on flix a couple of years ago, and basically binged through both seasons. Saw it again this year, and it's still completely riveting. If you are looking for a "cozy BBC mystery" like Miss Marple this isn't it.

It took a long time for this series to reach where I live, thus the late review. The writing, the acting, the settings, the cinematography ... absolutely brilliant. And (not "but") it is sooo hard to watch. Why is that? It's nearly impossible to guess before the very end how any trial will turn out, though you will have spent the previous hour trying. As other reviewers have noted, this is not light viewing, really. But well worth the effort.

Each of these individual one hour stories are captivating from start to finish. Jimmy McGovern excels in tight scripts which gripped me with their realism and pace. The series is further enhanced by fine English acting.

Each episode begins with a person in a prison cell awaiting trial. Flashbacks build up to a crescendo as to why the accused is on trial and whether or not they will be found guilty. The concept is great for those who love a whodunnit type scenario, only this time it's did they didn't they. And even if they did, the complexities of the back story provides moral angles which make you the judge too. Lovely armchair stuff.

In a year when the BBC has had to generally tread carefully in its broadcasting post the faux pas by Ross and Brand on radio which caused thicker red tape to be introduced, this miniseries is one of the few stars in an otherwise cloudy darkness.

It is one of the few, if only, must see fictional programmes on British television today and I thoroughly recommend it.