When it comes to legal dramas, they don’t come much better than BBC One’s The Split… or so we thought. While we've all been happily distracted by the recent spin-off The Split Up, the BBC has been hard at work on a gritty new legal series known as Counsels – and it’s set to seriously shake things up!
The new drama puts the spotlight on five young lawyers who are scattered across the profession – and, having previously trained together, they now find themselves locking horns in the courts of Glasgow. With their careers on the line, let’s just say things are likely to get a little nasty.
Ahead of Counsels’ arrival on our screens, here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming series, including the plot, cast and how to watch it.
What is Counsels about?
The eight-part series is described by the BBC as a "high-stakes" legal drama, which is co-created by Scottish writers Bryan Elsley (The Crow Road, Skins) and BBC Writers’ Drama Room graduate Gillian McCormack. Set and filmed in and around Glasgow, the drama follows five young lawyers who once trained together at one of Scotland’s elite law schools, but are now scattered across the profession and find themselves facing each other in the courts of Glasgow.
According to the official synopsis, "Some will rise to the top, while others risk losing everything as their careers teeter on the edge when they lock horns in their biggest cases yet. The ambitious lawyers must navigate a legal battlefield where their friendships begin to fracture, love affairs crumble, and the fight for justice threatens to tear them all apart.”
Co-creator Bryan Elsley has shared some more insight into what we can expect from The Split-esque series. “I am delighted to be creating a show with BBC Scotland, where my career as a writer started many years ago,” he says. “We have had unique access to the lawyers of Glasgow, and their experiences which will translate into a punchy, fast-moving show, based on their incredible and characterful stories.”
Gillian McCormack added: "I'm super excited to be working with the incredible team at Balloon to bring my hometown of Glasgow to life on the BBC and show off a city as dynamic, gritty and humorous as the characters we’ve created."
Who’s starring in Counsels?
The cast of Counsels includes:
- Brandon Grace (My Lady Jane, Hamlet Hail to the Thief)
- Ro Kumar (Traces S2, Accidental Death of an Anarchist)
- Eilidh Park (Wind of Change)
- George Prentice (The Pendragon Cycle)
- Alyth Ross (Last Light, Dirty Angels)
- Rebecca Bell (Outlander: Blood of My Blood)
- Michelle Gomez (Doom Patrol, The Flight Attendant)
- Derek Riddell (Happy Valley, Industry)
- Laura Haddock (What It Feels Like For A Girl, The Recruit)
- Daniela Nardini (This Life, Sunset Song)
- Michael Nardone (Traces, The Night Manager)
- Sally Howitt (River City, Dinosaur)
- Stuart Bowman (Department Q, Only Child)
- Neshla Caplan (The Rig, Rebus)
- Stephen Purdon (River City, Sweet Sixteen)
- Mhairi Black
Is Counsels based on a true story?
While Counsels isn’t based on a true story per se, its creators have drawn on the real-life experiences of various lawyers in Glasgow. According to Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, the process of creating it has been a truly immersive one.
“Bryan and Gillian have immersed themselves in the Glasgow legal scene to create this new world of brilliant young lawyers whose personal dramas outside of the courtroom are just as big as what happens inside it,” she says. Counsels is the legal drama reinvented for today, mixing brilliantly drawn characters with edge-of-your-seat stories that we know will keep BBC viewers hooked.”
Louise Thornton, Head of Commissioning for BBC Scotland, added: “Bryan and Gillian have created a fast-paced ensemble drama that will showcase Scotland to the UK and beyond in a new style as we delve in to the glossy, high-octane world of Glasgow lawyers. We’re delighted to see this new creative partnership of Scottish writers flourish and we hope audiences will enjoy the gripping dramatic cases and the tricky toxic relationships the characters have to face as they battle the system from within.”
How can I watch Counsels?
The BBC hasn’t yet shared a release date for Counsels, but we do know that it will air on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Scotland in early 2027. As soon as we have a confirmed date, we’ll share it here.