Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I agree with pretty much everyone else that the later seasons aren't as good as the early ones and that the Roisin character is not an adequate replacement for North...not sure why they did that, I'm guessing the original actress wanted out for some reason? Otherwise it would have been madness to do this. But I want this to have a really good rating here on IMDb, because despite the flaws in the later seasons, it is still a million times better than anything American TV has to offer!! Gritty, realistic (for the most part), gripping and horrifying. Everything a good police drama should be, unlike it's US counterparts. So I'd highly recommend watching this!

There are 3 series on TV that I would vote the best ever and Trial and Retribution is one of them, however I would only apply this to the first 6 stories. Everything about it is superb. The stories are really interesting and gripping, good acting from the main characters, and the 'guest' actors for each story line are also excellent. Actors like: Helen McCrory, Iain Glen, Richard E.Grant, Tim Mcinnerny, Charles Dance. From T&R 7 onward the series definitely misses D.I Pat North, played superbly by Kate Buffery. I enjoyed the personal story lines, with all the great supporting characters like Lynn Walker, Satch, as well as Mike Walkers family; his mother, Violet and brother, Jimmy. I would have liked DI North to have been in future episodes and preferably would have liked to have seen Mike and Pat married. There was no real explanation why they split up and Pat's quiet, yet no-nonsense personality was perfect for Mike. To replace the wonderful Kate Buffery with the awful Victoria Smurfitt was a travesty. Her character is very irritating and she is just not as good an actress as Kate Buffery.Although the later stories are not in the same class as the first 6, Charles Dance was brilliant in No. 7 and 'The Lovers' No. 8 were excellent to which I would give 9/10.The remaining episodes, I would give 6-8/10.

If law and order in Britain were anything like this series, they'd get it wrong even when the evidence jumped into their arms and grabbed the ubiquitous scotches and cigs. Well-acted intriguing characters -- always LaPlante's forte -- are worth watching, even if rampant incompetence among police, lawyers, judges and juries seems to be what drives the stories rather than clever twists. Some of the gap between concept and execution should probably be overlooked because this is the first series, and extra points granted for roaming outside the well-defined lines of the genre. The irascible DCI Walker (Hayman) commands the screen and the squadron and the well-fleshed minor characters are hold it well when Walker's not around. Fans of LaPlante's style won't be disappointed, but casual viewers might want to tune in to later series.

Linda LaPlante is a terrific writer, and the first episode of this series was fairly well done and interesting. The second episode, however, about the brutal murders of 3 women, was badly written, badly directed, and badly acted. The endless, busy camera work, with the screen divided into 3 parts, was distracting and ineffective. The trial scenes were interminable, with endless pontificating and bad acting by both the actor playing the lawyer for the defense and the actor playing the lawyer for the prosecution, to the point that I thought it was some sort of bad joke, but unfortunately, it was not. Linda LaPlante usually produces work much better than this. I have no idea why this was so below her usual high mark, but if you're a LaPlante fan, don't waste your time on this; it's sure to disappoint.