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Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Sarah-Jane Mee to review ‘I Fought the Law’, a true crime drama.

Starring Sheridan Smith as mother-of-three Ann Ming, the four-part drama follows Ming after the murder of her daughter Julie Hogg, by her neighbour in 1989.

Julie’s killer was originally acquitted by a jury. He confessed to her murder ten years later, believing he was safe from retrial because of the “double jeopardy” law. Julie’s family successfully campaigned to change the law, and William Dunlop was jailed for life.

What do the Must Watch reviewers make of it?

Sarah-Jane: “This is an incredible, true story. And I know that Sheridan Smith, when she's been interviewed about this, has said she couldn't believe that this hasn't been told on screen before. It is jaw-dropping. Hayley, is this a must watch?”

Hayley: “It is for me. I think Sheridan Smith is brilliant in this role and so much of the series is just watching her withstand the emotional blows. At the end of the first episode, when she finds her daughter's body under the bath which was missed by the police, it's particularly harrowing.

“And it's also, this will sound weird, but it's kind of an irritating watch too, because she has to make a nuisance of herself in order to be heard. No one was listening to her. She's getting upset constantly. So, you kind of get wound up when you're watching it, not only by watching what is happening around her, but you're always in a state of high stress watching it. It's only years later that she can calm down and speak in a measured way.

“The series itself doesn't do anything weird or unusual or daring. I think it tells the story as it happened. And maybe if the role of Ann wasn't played by Sheridan Smith, it might not have been as successful, but Sheridan Smith brings something to it, as she always does, and you really get a sense of how much strength and anger it took, but also love, to not only fight something that was so immovable, but also so draining.

“And she's right to say that it's shocking that this story hasn't been told on screen, because it not only changed stuff for her own case, but also for the future. It's a story that did change the world in a very specific way. And I think this is a really good telling of it.”

Sarah-Jane: “I interviewed Ann Ming on 5 Live a couple of weeks ago, and she summed it up perfectly when she said, you know, a little lady like me from Middlesbrough overturning an 800-year-old law. She was told it couldn't be done by legal professionals, by House of Lords, MPs, anyone she spoke to.

“But she said it's just not right. If you get unjust conviction, that gets overturned. If you get off with a crime unjustly, that should be overturned as well. And she just saw the common sense in it. And it took her 13 years to do.

“Sheridan Smith, I mean, again, I asked Ann what it was like to watch Sheridan Smith, a national treasure, play her. And she said, she did her proud. She said she watched some of the filming without Sheridan Smith knowing. And she said it was just uncanny how Ann was just like, that's me. That's my emotion. And that's my characteristics, it's me to a T.”

Scott: “I think this is the, I mean, I would say Sheridan Smith's sort of probably, she's done many roles brilliantly. I think that this is top tier. I mean this is one of the best portrayals I think she's ever done in any drama.

“And I think as Hayley pointed out, she is the best bit of it because she is so compelling and it's a matter of her being irritating, it's a matter of her persuading, highlighting just the injustice of it.

“I think it's also continuing on something that ITV have been really good at in the last few years, which is looking at true crime and looking at what it says about our society, about the people who, due to laws that are very long-lasting or due to injustice by police in action, are left to pick up the pieces. And I think it's a fact that I remember, as you pointed out Sarah-Jane, at the start.”

“I'm surprised that there hasn't been a drama like this on TV before, because I remember the coverage that this had when the ‘double jeopardy’ law was overturned, I think in 2003, 2004, I remember the news coverage, and normally there would be a drama directly after that, and it's taken us to sort of 2025 for there to go and be one. I think the fact that it highlights how this 800-year-old law was to stop countless trials of the same person.

“But as Ann pointed out, it was just purely not fit for purpose. But the fact that this person who had admitted to the crime was essentially able to walk as a free person despite being able to boast about it.

“So, I think that the strength of this drama, as Hayley pointed out, was that it didn't use any stylish tactics. It was very in the tradition of British true crime drama, basically telling you everything that had happened from the start.

“I think a challenge with this drama to some extent was the pacing because it only gets into, I think the most interesting part of it which is about the ‘double jeopardy’ part, only really in episode three. I think also for the first two…”

Hayley: “That's the only time it's mentioned..”

Scott: “The only time it's mentioned but I think like that's where the trajectory changes perhaps from many other police dramas that are on ITV, I think for the first two depressingly that this has to be pointed out, but it highlights the failures of the police investigation, the victim's family is not being heard.

“I mean that feels quite commonplace in the genre that we've seen many times, with this I feel the difference in the ground that it's covering comes much forward through in the third episode, which will certainly pique a lot of people's interest.”

“But this is still, I think, very much, and the reason why it works is down to Sheridan Smith's portrayal, because you just see the anger that is constantly underneath of the fact that Ann was overlooked and put down and judged aside. Time and time and again and she just never let up because of the fact that she wanted justice for her daughter. And I think that is the thing that really shines through here is this is a story very much about Ann.”

Sarah-Jane: “And the first two episodes, as you said, you didn't get into the ‘double jeopardy’ until later. But the first two episodes really, I mean, I know the story. I know the story inside out.

“But for me, the first two episodes were about building up that frustration and that emotion, taking you on that journey with Ann, Sheridan Smith in the series.

“And, you know, I didn't discuss it in the interview with Ann about how she found her daughter, because that's been documented, and you don't want to go into that. But I did wonder how the series... would handle that because it's well documented. Ann found her daughter's body herself months after she'd gone missing, hidden behind the bath panel in her daughter’s house and as we got to the end of the episode, I knew it was coming and I was like how are they going to handle this and Sheridan Smith and those that did this drama handled it perfectly to the point where I burst into tears because I think the tension is being built up even though I know what's going to happen and it was just... You become emotionally invested.

“I think that's why perhaps the drama takes two episodes to get to the legalities of it. Because you need to invest in Ann and this story is horrific and what she went through in that sheer amount of time, 13 years, to even get to the point where they're talking about changing ‘double jeopardy’. I think they dealt with it really well.”

Hayley: “Yeah. It's exhausting going with her on that journey as well, and you see her marriage suffering for it, you see other people around her not being able to handle the fact that she won't drop it.

“I thought it was really well done but the end of that first episode, it's all in her voice. I love that you just hear her.”

All four episodes of ‘I Fought the Law’ are available to watch now on ITVX.

But before all that, why not contact Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.

This week, the team reviewed ‘The Guest’ and ‘The Inheritance’.

Listen to the full show on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Sounds now.