ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ announces new Glasgow-set legal drama Counsels

Counsels follows five young lawyers who once trained together at one of Scotland’s elite law schools, but are now scattered across the profession and find themselves facing each other in the courts of Glasgow

Published: 18 March 2025
Two headshots - on the left, a man in a dark blue jumper smiles for the camera against a white background. On the right, a woman dressed in black rests her chin on her hand, smiling.
Bryan Elsley and Gillian McCormack
Bryan and Gillian have immersed themselves in the Glasgow legal scene to create this new world of brilliant young lawyers whose personal dramas outside of the courtroom are just as big as what happens inside it.
— Lindsay Salt, Director of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Drama

The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ has commissioned Counsels, an original high-stakes legal drama, co-created by Scottish writers Bryan Elsley (The Crow Road, Skins) and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Writers’ Drama Room graduate Gillian McCormack. Set and filmed in and around Glasgow, the eight-part series is made by Balloon Scotland (Champion, Clique, Newark Newark) for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ iPlayer, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One.

Counsels follows five young lawyers who once trained together at one of Scotland’s elite law schools, but are now scattered across the profession and find themselves facing each other in the courts of Glasgow. Some will rise to the top, while others risk losing everything as their careers teeter on the edge when they lock horns in their biggest cases yet. The ambitious lawyers must navigate a legal battlefield where their friendships begin to fracture, love affairs crumble, and the fight for justice threatens to tear them all apart.

Bryan Elsley says: “I am delighted to be creating a show with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland, where my career as a writer started many years ago. We have had unique access to the lawyers of Glasgow, and their experiences which will translate into a punchy, fast-moving show, based on their incredible and characterful stories.â€

Gillian McCormack says: "I'm super excited to be working with the incredible team at Balloon to bring my hometown of Glasgow to life on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and show off a city as dynamic, gritty and humorous as the characters we’ve created."

Louise Thornton, Head of Commissioning for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland, says: “Bryan and Gillian have created a fast-paced ensemble drama that will showcase Scotland to the UK and beyond in a new style as we delve in to the glossy, high-octane world of Glasgow lawyers. We’re delighted to see this new creative partnership of Scottish writers flourish and we hope audiences will enjoy the gripping dramatic cases and the tricky toxic relationships the characters have to face as they battle the system from within.â€

Lindsay Salt, Director of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Drama says: “Bryan and Gillian have immersed themselves in the Glasgow legal scene to create this new world of brilliant young lawyers whose personal dramas outside of the courtroom are just as big as what happens inside it. Counsels is the legal drama reinvented for today, mixing brilliantly drawn characters with edge-of-your-seat stories that we know will keep ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ viewers hooked.â€

Counsels (8x60’) was commissioned by Lindsay Salt, Director of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Drama, and Louise Thornton, Head of Commissioning for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland. It is co-created, written and executive produced by Bryan Elsley and Gillian McCormack, with further episodes written by Maryam Hamidi (Vigil) and Jingan Young (Red Eye). Gaynor Holmes is executive producer for the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, with Gavin Smith for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland, and Daniel Donnelly for Balloon Scotland.

GK/LH2

 

Latest from the Media Centre

All news

Search by Tag:

Rebuild Page

The page will automatically reload. You may need to reload again if the build takes longer than expected.

Useful links

Demo mode

Hides preview environment warning banner on preview pages.

Theme toggler

Select a theme and theme mode and click "Load theme" to load in your theme combination.

Theme:
Theme Mode: