Series synopsis
Trial & Retribution is a British crime drama television series that premiered on ITV1 on October 19, 1997. It ended on February 13, 2009. It was created by Lynda La Plante. It stars David Hayman, Victoria Smurfit, Gemma Jones and Dorian Lough.
Devised and written by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect, this vast police procedural follows police detectives in England as they investigate crimes and the trials that come about as a result.
Premise
Devised and written by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect, this vast police procedural follows police detectives in England as they investigate crimes and the trials that come about as a result.
Premise: From the creator of PRIME SUSPECT
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- David Hayman as Michael Walker
- Victoria Smurfit as Roisin Connor
- Gemma Jones as Dr Jean Mullins
- Dorian Lough as David Satchell
- Kate Buffery as Pat North
- Inday Ba as Lisa West
- Richard Durden as Dr John Foster
- Sarah Ozeke as Lisa West
Supporting cast
- Mitchell Ray as Jason Harris
- James Simmons as Doug Collins
- Sandra James-Young as Vivien Watkins
- Deborah Findlay as Jill Ashton
- George Pensotti as Judge Geoffrey Winfield
- Barbara Thorn as Barbara Mackenzie
- Vince Leigh as Sam Palmer
- Nicholas Blane as Derek Waugh
- Corin Redgrave as Robert Rylands, QC MP
- Martin Heathcote as Sgt West
- David Fleeshman as Willis Fletcher
- Millie Ricks as Julie Harris
Guest cast
- George Pensotti as Judge Geoffrey Winfield
- Barbara Thorn as Barbara Mackenzie
- Vince Leigh as Sam Palmer
- Nicholas Blane as Derek Waugh
- Corin Redgrave as Robert Rylands, QC MP
- Martin Heathcote as Sgt West
- David Fleeshman as Willis Fletcher
- Millie Ricks as Julie Harris
- Helen McCrory as Anita Harris
- Lee Ross as Peter James
- Peter McNamara as Tom Harris
- Josh Harris as Tony Harris
Episodes
This series spans 12 seasons with 44 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 2 | October 19, 1997 | October 20, 1997 |
| Season 2 | 2 | October 18, 1998 | October 19, 1998 |
| Season 3 | 2 | October 7, 1999 | October 14, 1999 |
| Season 4 | 2 | October 4, 2000 | October 5, 2000 |
| Season 5 | 2 | June 19, 2001 | June 20, 2001 |
| Season 6 | 2 | October 5, 2002 | October 7, 2002 |
| Season 7 | 2 | August 30, 2003 | September 2, 2003 |
| Season 8 | 2 | October 11, 2004 | October 12, 2004 |
| Season 9 | 2 | November 7, 2005 | November 8, 2005 |
| Season 10 | 10 | January 14, 2007 | February 13, 2007 |
| Season 11 | 10 | January 16, 2008 | March 27, 2008 |
| Season 12 | 6 | January 8, 2009 | February 13, 2009 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Trial & Retribution I (Part 1) Five-year-old Julie Harris goes missing after being seen playing at the local playground. Suspicion immediately falls on Julie's mother's new boyfriend, Peter James. But when her body is found inside a sewage pipe, evidence points towards local misfit Michael Dunn. |
October 19, 1997 |
| 2 |
Trial & Retribution I (Part 2) When items relating to the case are found in Dunn's flat, Walker has no doubt that Dunn is responsible. However, when it's revealed that a frantic young officer who found Julie's body planted evidence, Dunn's trial is thrown into jeopardy. |
October 20, 1997 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Trial & Retribution II (Part 1) When Susan Harrow does not return home, her mother reports her missing to the police. Her body is later discovered on wasteland and an investigation is launched, once again headed by Walker. Following a second murder, the team realise that they have a serial killer on their hands. |
October 18, 1998 |
| 2 |
Trial & Retribution II (Part 2) Marilyn Spark's identification of Morton as her attacker is given credence when the severed breasts of the dead victims are discovered on Morton's premises and he is set for trial. He is defended by the formidable Corinna Maddox, known as 'Batwoman' for her tenacity, whilst the prosecutor is supercilious but wily Rupert Halliday, whose best line of attack is to work on Morton's cowed wife Cindy, who tolerated his young mistress being brought home and is doubtless providing a false alibi. |
October 19, 1998 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Trial And Retribution III (1) A fifteen year old girl goes missing and her blood-stained clothes are found. Det. Supt. Walker heads the investigation into her murder. Meanwhile, D.I. North is sent to see a persistent complainer, Warrington, who has been hounding the station. North begins to get stalked and Walker has a prime suspect for the murder. But then they find a connection between Warrington and Walker's prime suspect. |
October 7, 1999 |
| 2 |
Trial And Retribution III (2) A fifteen year old girl goes missing and her blood-stained clothes are found. Det. Supt. Walker heads the investigation into her murder. Meanwhile, D.I. North is sent to see a persistent complainer, Warrington, who has been hounding the station. North begins to get stalked and Walker has a prime suspect for the murder. But then they find a connection between Warrington and Walker's prime suspect. |
October 14, 1999 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Trial And Retribution IV (1) D.I. North re-investigates an eight-year-old murder case and finds that Det. Supt. Walker was in charge of the inquiry. She begins to suspect that he's covering something up and he is suspended from duty. He returns to his roots to find new evidence to prove his innocence, in order to save his career, relationship and reputation. |
October 4, 2000 |
| 2 |
Trial And Retribution IV (2) D.I. North re-investigates an eight-year-old murder case and finds that Det. Supt. Walker was in charge of the inquiry. She begins to suspect that he's covering something up and he is suspended from duty. He returns to his roots to find new evidence to prove his innocence, in order to save his career, relationship and reputation. |
October 5, 2000 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Trial And Retribution V (1) Walker is assigned to investigate the discovery of a 17-year-old skeleton, which he isn't too happy about - especially as he's working with D.I. North's ex-boyfriend. They soon discover more skeletons buried at the house. |
June 19, 2001 |
| 2 |
Trial And Retribution V (2) Walker is assigned to investigate the discovery of a 17-year-old skeleton, which he isn't too happy about - especially as he's working with D.I. North's ex-boyfriend. They soon discover more skeletons buried at the house. |
June 20, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Trial And Retribution VI (1) D.I. North investigates when a girl is snatched from a wood, but the confession of a local sex offender complicates matters. Detective Chief Superintendent Walker is little help, as he has worries of his own. |
October 6, 2002 |
| 2 |
Trial And Retribution VI (2) D.I. North investigates when a girl is snatched from a wood, but the confession of a local sex offender complicates matters. Detective Chief Superintendent Walker is little help, as he has worries of his own. |
October 7, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
VII: Suspicion (1) A severed female hand is found in the Thames, which brings D.C.I. Conner in contact with Walker (who is now back in uniform). No body is discovered, and the case soon becomes a battle of wits against the killer. |
September 1, 2003 |
| 2 |
VII: Suspicion (2) A severed female hand is found in the Thames, which brings D.C.I. Conner in contact with Walker (who is now back in uniform). No body is discovered, and the case soon becomes a battle of wits against the killer. |
September 2, 2003 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Trial And Retribution VIII: Blue Eiderdown (1) A young prostitute, Angela Dutton, plunges to her death from the eleventh floor balcony of a block of flats. The police begin a murder enquiry and discover that she was the daughter of a seventies TV star who was also found murdered twelve years earlier, wrapped in blue eiderdown. The killer was never found. D.C.S. Walker heads the investigation into the two murders, with the aid of D.C.I. Connor and the rest of the team. They investigate to find out why Angela Dutton died - did she find her mother's killer, or did one of her three high-paying clients kill her? |
October 11, 2004 |
| 2 |
Trial And Retribution VIII: Blue Eiderdown (2) A young prostitute, Angela Dutton, plunges to her death from the eleventh floor balcony of a block of flats. The police begin a murder inquiry and discover that she was the daughter of a seventies TV star who was also found murdered twelve years earlier, wrapped in blue eiderdown. The killer was never found. D.C.S. Walker heads the investigation into the two murders, with the aid of D.C.I. Connor and the rest of the team. They investigate to find out why Angela Dutton died - did she find her mother's killer, or did one of her three high-paying clients kill her? |
October 12, 2004 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trial And Retribution IX: The Lovers (1) | November 7, 2005 |
| 2 | Trial And Retribution IX: The Lovers (2) | November 8, 2005 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Sins Of The Father (1) The apparently happy Harrogate family is torn apart when they return home to discover their daughter, Emily, dead. Connor and Satchell begin to sift through the case and discover that the family isn't as stable as it first appeared. Connor appeals to Walker for some backup, who is having problems of his own with his own son Richard. Secrets are soon discovered and fragile relationships are tested in the process of ensuring justice is done. |
January 14, 2007 |
| 2 | Sins Of The Father (2) | January 15, 2007 |
| 3 |
Closure (1) A young school girl is raped and murdered, but D.C.I. Connor still has no leads a month into the investigation. When Walker orders a review of unsolved cases, they turn up similar cases of raped and murdered teenage girls over the last ten years, and they find themselves searching for an apparent serial killer. |
January 21, 2007 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Rules of the Game (1) A suitcase is found abandoned at Heathrow Airport, and panic ensues, but it is soon discovered to be no terrorist threat. Inside is the naked body of Sofia Petrenko, a high-class prostitute, who has been strangled to death. The suitcase is traced to Vitali Malikov, a Ukrainian billionaire who admits to hiring Sofia's services, but he claims she was alive when she left him and that the case was a gift. D.C.S. Walker arrests Malikov on suspicion of murder, but later has to release him, and soon realises he has become a pawn in a much bigger game. |
January 17, 2008 |
| 2 |
Rules of the Game (2) Another working girl, Maryna, is put on trial for assaulting Malikov. She claims self-defence but the trial is mishandled and walker is even more adamant then before that he will get the Ukrainian. Roisin, however, believes that his obsession with Malikov is blinding him to the identity of the real killer of Sonya and takes the investigation down a different route. |
January 24, 2008 |
| 3 |
Kill the King (1) When well-known paediatric surgeon Jonathan Carlisle is found dead, DCI Connor uncovers conflicts stirred by a recent operation that resulted in a young girl's death. The team soon learn that the girl's father, Gary Webster, was the subject of a restraining order issued by Carlisle, and had been stalking him for months. But before he can be questioned, Webster absconds. After a tense game of cat and mouse, the police corner Webster at the zoo - but what will be the outcome of the stand-off? |
January 31, 2008 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Siren (1) An ambulance is forced off the road as it is carrying a famous patient in the back. The patient is then shot in the head. |
January 9, 2009 |
| 2 |
Siren (2) Imogen's mother makes a plea for her daughter's safe return. Things happening between McGill and Connor threaten the investigation. |
January 16, 2009 |
| 3 |
Ghost Train (1) When a girl falls to her death from a ferris wheel, it is thought to be a tragic accident - until DS Satchell's aunt comes forward with suspicions of foul play. |
January 23, 2009 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | ITV1 |
|---|---|
| First aired | October 19, 1997 |
| Last aired | February 13, 2009 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Friday |