Trial & Retribution (2)

The second night moves the action from the incident room to the courtroom, and Michael Dunn's trial does not start well for the police. The washing line presented as the thing that strangled Julie turns out to be tainted, possibly planted. Right away the prosecution is on the back foot, and physical evidence that once looked solid starts to feel like sand.

Then an alibi surfaces. Dunn, played by a young Rhys Ifans with all his nervy charm on show, suddenly has an account of his movements, and a Not Guilty verdict begins to look likely. But the relief is temporary. Walker and his team pick the alibi apart and find the gaps: it cannot account for Dunn's whereabouts at the time of the murder itself. That detail matters, and it sends the inquiry off in a new direction. There is mention of a blue sherry bottle supposedly used in the crime, and the hunt is on to find it, in the hope that it will put the case back on its feet.

The drama here is procedural in the truest sense. Lynda La Plante and Vaughan Kinghan wrote it, with Aisling Walsh directing, and the casting is a pleasure. Helen McCrory pops up as Anita Harris and gives everything a bit more weight; Kate Fahy's Meg Richards does quiet, worried things with very little screen time. Around them the police side is well served, with Dorian Lough's Satchell, Hakeem Kae-Kazim's Cranham, and the three PCs played by Jake Wood, David Kennedy and Daniel Ryan all doing the low-key legwork that rarely gets the credit.

The fascination of this half is watching a case come apart in public. Evidence that looked watertight develops cracks, and the courtroom exposes every one of them. For Walker it is a long, uncomfortable wait. The viewer gets the rare pleasure of seeing the machine grind on regardless. Rhys Ifans makes the whole thing feel lived-in, and that is no small thing.