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TV PREVIEWS
Criminal Justice, Monday 9pm, BBC1 
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Anyone who's ever read one of those articles about the hot young British thespians who are going to be massive Hollywood A-listers any minute now will be familiar with the name Ben Whishaw. But for those fortunate enough to have missed the substandard Perfume, he's probably best remembered for his minor role as Pingu, the set-upon play-thing of Nathan Barley in Channel 4's comedy of the same name.
Now, with this new BBC1 drama, consisting of five hour-long episodes shown every night this week, the skinniest man alive gets the chance to prove his acting chops – and he does so with quivering aplomb.
Whishaw plays Ben Coulter, a 21-year-old who, on a whim, borrows his dad's taxi one evening and randomly meets a beautiful stranger. The enigmatic girl takes him on a wild, carefree night out, culminating in a liaison at her house.
Unfortunately, when Ben wakes up, he's sitting naked at the kitchen table; his companion's body is upstairs in bed with a large knife wound to the chest. Ben reacts as any reasonable person would – by grabbing the knife and running round in a panic, smearing blood everywhere. Then he legs it. Then he comes back and tries to clean up the mess. Then he legs it again, crashes his taxi and passes out.
Ben's arrest, time in prison and subsequent trial are shown in torturous but brilliant detail, with no attempts to glam things up or Americanise. The mechanics of the justice and prison systems get a thorough going- over, as lawyers, police, jailers and cons work the system for all it's worth, while a terrified suspect flounders at the centre.
This is compulsive and unpredictable TV: either cancel every evening activity you have planned this week or get ready to hit the BBC's iPlayer hard on Saturday.
by Will Parkhouse, Monday 30 June 2008
