Trial & Retribution

The series was written and devised by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect.

The show's format evolved over time: the first seven series each had two two-hour episodes telling one story, series eight reduced this to two 90-minute episodes, series ten introduced multiple stories per series, and the final two series shortened episodes to 60 minutes.

Each episode makes frequent use of split-screen scenes, usually showing three images at once from different perspectives such as the suspects' viewpoint, behind or in front of characters, the crime scene, or different parts of town.

Similar split-screen effects to those used in Trial & Retribution were also used in other series such as 24, Spooks, and later episodes of The Bill.

Series five was originally recorded and scheduled for broadcast in October 2001, but was pulled from the schedule due to special programming related to the September 11 attacks and was not rescheduled in the UK until June 2002, though some territories like Australia still aired it in 2001.

In series eleven, DCI Connor takes leave in the episode "Conviction" and is absent from "The Box", returning in "Tracks"; this was arranged to accommodate actress Victoria Smurfit's pregnancy, since "The Box" was actually the first episode filmed.