The Trial on 5: Meet the cast of this gripping legal drama

The idea of a child committing a terrible crime seems so unnatural that for most of us, it’s one of the worst things we can imagine. That’s one reason why Netflix’s Adolescence is one of the year’s biggest TV hits: viewers were horrified and gripped by the revelation of a teenage boy’s terrible transgression, and could relate to the impact it had on those in his community, particularly his family.

But what if the impact on the perpetrator’s family was more direct and even more devastating? What if the parents were held responsible for their child’s crime? 

This is what one family faces in the powerful new one-off drama The Trial, which is on Thursday 8 May at 9pm on 5 HD (CH 105). In 2035, there’s a new law known as Milligan’s Law, which holds parents criminally liable for the actions of their children – so the parents are the ones punished after a guilty verdict.

When Dione Sinclair (Claire Skinner) and her husband David (Ben Miles) are arrested, their humiliation is public but it’s the least of their concerns. They’re charged with a grave crime allegedly committed by their teenage daughter Teah (India Fowler), and the couple find themselves investigated by the Office of Judicial Inquisition, a new branch of the Ministry of Justice.

In this chilling near-future world, Dione and David must undergo a tribunal in a repurposed magistrates’ court used to prosecute legal guardians for juvenile crimes. There, they face severe examination from prosecutor Sarah Willis (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), who is relentless in her attempts to uncover every flaw in their parenting. This is the part that will make all parents shudder. Jamie’s parents in Adolescence were able to have a private conversation about the role they might have played in their son’s actions. In The Trial, that information is put on public display, and no detail of their past is off-limits.

Dione and David face a life sentence for crimes they didn’t commit. Is this justice? Is it persecution? And most of all, is it realistic? Following the drama on 5 HD is a documentary, The Real Adolescence: Our Killer Kids, which explores the rise in murders committed by young people and asks what might be driving it – another question that will unsettle parents.

One of the most unnerving aspects of The Trial is that it stars actors who we’re used to seeing in comic roles. Seeing people we’re used to laughing along with helps to reinforce the idea – also present in Adolescence – that this kind of ordeal can happen to anyone, and you can never be prepared for it. Read on for more about the cast of The Trial.

Skinner is best known for Outnumbered, the family sitcom that ran from 2007 to 2014 and has returned for two specials. As perpetually flustered mum Sue, dealing with two boisterous sons and the eternally curious Karen – whose endless questions might have inspired the inquisitor’s interrogations in The Trial – she was the heart of the Brockman household, just about holding things together to get the family through the day.

What else do I know her from? Last year’s drama Coma, as Chief Superintendent Ormond in McDonald & Dodds, the 2018 adaptation of Vanity Fair and the recent movie Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.

Miles’s first big TV role was in Coupling, the heavily Friends-influenced early-2000s comedy about the love lives of a group of six friends, in which he starred alongside Jack Davenport and Sarah Alexander. He was also in last year’s generation-clash comedy Douglas Is Cancelled – which like Coupling was written by Steven Moffat – as a smart TV producer navigating a tricky situation.

What else do I know him from? Star Wars series Andor, as scandal-hit minister John Profumo in The Trial Of Christine Keeler and as Peter Townsend in The Crown, as well as a role in historical movie drama Napoleon.

Young actor Fowler was in bizarre slapstick comedy series Man Vs Bee on Netflix, playing Maddy, who must deal with her hapless father Trevor (Rowan Atkinson) while he copes with a seemingly vindictive bumblebee.

What else do I know her from? Also on Netflix, she’s appeared in Safe and White Lines, while in the past year she’s been in two Paramount+ dramas: Insomnia with Vicky McClure and The Agency with Michael Fassbender.

Derry Girls is one of the most beloved comedy series of recent years, with its mix of sharp wit, 90s nostalgia and ludicrous face set incongruously against the backdrop of political turmoil – and Derry-born Jackson is at the heart of it as Erin Quinn. Well-meaning but awkward and somehow always thwarted in her ambitions, Erin is a classic relatable sitcom lead, and the role was Jackson’s springboard to success.

What else do I know her from? The Decameron on Netflix and recent BBC hit drama This City Is Ours (Jackson now lives in Liverpool, where it’s set), plus a role in superhero movie The Flash.

The Trial  is on Thursday 8 May at 9pm on 5 HD (CH 105), and will also be available on catch-up in On Demand > 5 and Apps > 5. The Real Adolescence: Our Killer Kids is on the same night at 10pm on 5 HD (CH 105) and on demand.