Adeel Akhtar represents something quietly revolutionary
The actor returns to lead the long-awaited second season of Showtrial, elevating a series with plot holes and well-worn thriller tropes
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One of the perks of being designated a character actor is that it comes with a fluidity of public perception and roles. Adeel Akhtar has taken full advantage of a chameleonic reign and shone in a range of shows, from thrillers and period dramas to slapstick comedies and arthouse. Now, he has returned to lead the second season of the long-awaited Showtrial, in which he plays defence solicitor Sam Malik, a brilliant but anxious figure known for getting shady individuals off from seemingly unbeatable charges.
The season concludes on Sunday 3 November on BBC1, following the fallout from the murder of a high-profile climate activist, Marcus Calderwood (Barney Fishwick), in a hit-and-run. There are no witnesses, but in his dying moments Calderwood identifies the slippery and arrogant policeman Justin Mitchell (Michael Socha) as his killer. Mitchell has plenty of grudges to bear against the activist, who heads up Stop Climate Genocide, which operates as a fictitious, more extreme version of Just Stop Oil. The case provides ample fodder for a media frenzy, but in order to stop it from becoming a full-blown media circus and have some sense of justice prevail, it’s down to Malik (Akhtar) to battle prosecutor Leila Hassoun-Kenny (Nathalie Armin).
Showtrial exists in a heightened world that feels like a gripping beach read brought to life. There are plot holes, fortuitous twists and well-worn thriller tropes, though the conclusion still has a few surprises up its sleeve. But really, it is Akhtar as Malik who truly elevates this series. Akhtar’s character embodies a moral ambiguity around crime and the justice system itself, believing in only the immutable principle that everyone is entitled to a defence. He and Armin portray complex characters grappling with their personal demons. No matter the verdict, there’s a sense that both will be scarred by the events and the part they’ve played in a legal system built upon a rotting foundation.
Though diversity on screen has crept forward over the past few decades, Akhtar still represents something quietly revolutionary. Behind his thick beard there’s a breadth that is still not normally afforded to actors of South Asian origin. He’s been both the butt of jokes and the instigator of them, the straight man and a romantic love interest, always showing multilayered and sensitive character development. His wide-eyed, expressive face is equally adept at playing the most clever or the most naive person in the room. In Showtrial, Akhtar leans into the former as the high-flying lawyer troubled by his own ability to manipulate the system.
It’s a stark contrast from his first major role in the film Four Lions in 2010. Akhtar played the inept Faisal, who comes to a blackly comic end, his entrails scattered across a field after the transportation of homemade explosives goes wrong. Chris Morris’s film, which launched the careers of Oscar-winner Riz Ahmed and Kayvan Novak of What We Do in the Shadows, has aged remarkably well, despite taking on the taboo subject of suicide bombings. It is still dark and funny but satirically nuanced.
In the time since Four Lions, Akhtar became the first British-Asian actor to win a Bafta for Murdered By My Father (shockingly, that was in 2017), and was later nominated for his performance in the Channel 4 TV thriller Utopia. He also turned up in supporting Hollywood movie roles in Pan, The Big Sick, Murder Mystery and three series of Netflix’s whimsical family drama Sweet Tooth.
Akhtar’s role in Clio Barnard’s Ali & Ava (2021) — a film tracing the tentative friendship between his character and Claire Rushbrook’s Ava as it evolves into an enchanting romance — was my favourite of all his performances. As Ali, he eschewed the stereotypes of the British Asian community, not playing the overly conservative man from the “wrong” side of the tracks, but instead was a dream come true for Ava. The pair face prejudices and cultural clashes, with Ali’s friends and family not comprehending the appeal of falling in love with an older working-class white woman, but Akhtar and Rushbrook’s performances present a sensitive and life-affirming love story.
One of the greatest things about being a fan of Akhtar is he has never been in an average film, series or role. Knowing he’s on board tells you at least one person in the cast will be bringing nuance and complexity to the script. After Showtrial concludes, he will be seen playing Hamza in the Apple TV thriller Down Cemetery Road, alongside Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, as well as Richard in the Netflix spy drama Black Doves with Keira Knightley. He’s an actor I’ll always tune in for, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that he’ll circle back to comedy and romance. As the past 14 years have shown, he can genuinely do it all.
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