Netflix dropped both seasons of the BBC drama Accused to little fanfare earlier this week, but the anthology series has already raced up to the second spot on the streamer’s top TV ranking.
The drama boasts a stacked cast of British acting talent: Stephen Graham, Sean Bean, Olivia Colman, Anna Maxwell Martin and Sheridan Smith, besides many more.
From the mind of screenwriting veteran Jimmy McGovern, the bleak anthology tells the stories of different people accused of crimes and awaiting their verdict in court.
Each of the tremendously well-acted tales plunges the audience into morally murky territory as we try to pick apart whose side we’re actually on.
Over every hour-long special, the accused person involved first makes their way to the courtroom for the jury’s verdict on their case. But before they can get there – and, crucially, we find out what exactly they’re in for – we jump back to the set-up and fallout of the incident that landed them in the dock.
One episode stars the rebooted Doctor Who himself, Christopher Eccleston, as Willy the plumber, in the midst of an angry midlife crisis, while another sees The Office star Mackenzie Crook nail his role as a sadistic army officer.
A stand-out is Lord of the Rings icon Andy Serkis as an obsessive taxi driver called Liam, pushed to the brink of desperation.
Show creator McGovern has become synonymous with grim, desolate, but highly compelling drama. His most recent IMDb entry, Unforgivable, took child sexual abuse as its subject for a subtle examination.
At the time Accused was first released on the Beeb, McGovern gave an interview taking aim at much of modern TV fare, including Doctor Who and Downton Abbey, for being drama that ‘didn’t matter’.
McGovern said he believed the best writing takes itself seriously, as well as taking its audience seriously.
‘I just can’t handle the tongue-in-cheek approach, the kind of thing you see on Dr Who,’ he said, adding, ‘though there are millions who can, I know.’
The screenwriter went on to say that he deliberately steered clear of predictable police procedural fare and instead concentrated on crime and punishment with Accused.
Despite its undeniably glum subject matter, Accused has a 92% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a user rating of 7.9 out of 10 on IMDb.