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Lila Pettitt has just been appointed Britain’s youngest ever female judge: as well as being famously ‘gobby’ and super smart, she’s also squeaky clean and scrupulously fair. Or at least she would be if men – yes, in their entirety – weren’t giving her such endless grief.
On her first day, she has a tricky case dumped on her by a workshy boss, her mentor takes a turn for the sexually aggressive and, er, her son forgets his PE kit. Tension is high in this pilot, which forms part of a season of new Sky Living material under the banner ‘Drama Matters’. There are twists and turns, moody lighting and a suitably strung-out performance from Suranne Jones as the put-upon Lila.
There’s certainly pace in ‘Torchwood’ writer Jacquetta May’s first episode, and the end does leave you keen for a follow-up. Ultimately, though, ‘Lawless’ turns the spotlight on the least interesting person in any court room: the judge. And there’s only so much drama you can squeeze out of that.