Wednesday, 7 October 2009

Criminal Justice: Will Juliet beat the system?

Two episodes into BBC1's gripping 5-parter, nothing is what it seems

Maxine Peake | Celebrity Gossip | Pictures

Maxine Peake stars as Juliet in Criminal Justice

When Criminal Justice opened on Monday it seemed pretty clear cut from the start.

Brilliant barrister Joe Miller QC (Matthew Macfadyen) had just won a conviction against a racist killer, showing that he was one of the good guys.

If more proof were needed he was running a marathon for charity and helping his fragile wife Juliet (Maxine Peake) through a nervous breakdown.

But not so fast. Joe was also a scary control freak - checking not only his running times but whether Juliet had cleaned the bathroom of their pristine home properly and even the mileage in their Chelsea Tractor.

Maxine was flaky and forgetful. But was that because her husband was trying to help her or because he was bullying her.

We found out later when he demanded degrading sex, a regular abuse, and she finally snapped and stabbed him.

After Tuesday's episode Juliet's charge was upgraded to murder after Joe died in hospital while she was on remand.

She's been let down by the police, her 13 year old daughter Ella (Alice Sykes) doesn't want to see her and a close friend of her husband's is going to try the case.

Not even Juliet herself thinks she's innocent because she's been so downtrodden she believes she should have been nicer to Joe.

Her one hope is her crusading solicitor Jack (Sophie Okonedo) who's determined to save her.

If last year's Criminal Justice season is anything to go by we'll discover a lot more secrets before we're through.

But at the moment it's looking bad for Juliet and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Criminal Justice, BBC1 9pm until Friday