Is This Upcoming BBC Drama The New Industry?

Premiering in 2020, Industry has been a surprise hit on both sides of the Atlantic, centring on a group of young graduates entering the cutthroat world of investment banking in London. Brimming with frustrated ambition and conflicting loyalties, it’s often like watching a car crash you can’t quite pull your eyes away from – and we can’t wait for season 4.

In the meantime, word of a new drama in development at the BBC has caught our attention – but this time we are swapping investment bankers for budding young lawyers. Here’s everything we know so far about Counsels.

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Counsels: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

Meet Jamie, Bav, Nadine, Alasdair, Katie and Karina. Set in Glasgow, Counsels follows these six young lawyers as they enter the cutthroat world of work, having all previously trained together at one of Scotland’s elite law schools. But now they find themselves scattered across the industry – and head to head in the courtroom.

It is hugely challenging – but undeniably thrilling. And while some rise to the occasion, others find themselves teetering on the edge of career doom. Deeply familiar with one another but now split by a chasm of professionalism, these ambitious lawyers tackle a legal battlefield alongside fracturing friendships and crumbling love affairs, making for a messy, gripping watch.

Co-created by Scottish writers Brian Elsley and Gillian McCormack, Counsels is one of three new dramas commissioned by BBC Scotland to bring more attention to the talented nation after the cancellation of the long-running River City after two decades. Joining Counsels is dark comedic thriller Grams penned by Glasgow local James Price, and The Young Team written by Graeme Armstrong and based on his best-selling 2020 debut novel of the same name.

Elsley is best known for creating E4 teen drama Skins with his son in the noughties, so is no stranger to crafting authentically complicated adolescent drama.

Additional writers on Counsels include Maryam Hamidi who has previously worked on Vigil series 2 and Sky’s recent Lockerbie drama, as well as Jingan Young who worked on ITV’s 2024 thriller Red Eye.

‘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 into the glossy, high-octane world of Glasgow lawyers,’ BBC Scotland’s head of commissioning Louise Thornton says. ‘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.’

Filming is officially underway in Glasgow, with Elsley hoping ‘to bring the city vividly to life and fill it with arresting stories and characters’.

Karina (REBECCA BELL), Jamie (BRANDON GRACE), Nadine (EILIDH PARK), Katie (ALYTH ROSS), Bav (RO KUMAR), Alasdair (GEORGE PRENTICE) on the set of Counsels, now filming in Glasgow. (© BBC/Balloon/Mark Mainz)

The Cast

Fresh and familiar faces collide in Counsels, which is led by a cohort of youngsters and grounded by an impeccable range of established talent. At the fore we have Brandon Grace, Ro Kumar, Eilidh Park, George Prentice, Alyth Ross and Rebecca Bell as Jamie, Bav, Nadine, Alasdair, Katie and Karina – all early career stars boasting credits across the likes of My Lady Jane, Traces and Outlander: Blood of My Blood.

They will be joined by stars from the likes of Doctor Who to Happy Valley, Downton Abbey to River City. The full cast we know so far is as follows:

• Brandon Grace as Jamie
• Ro Kumar as Bav
• Eilidh Park as Nadine
• George Prentice as Alasdair
• Alyth Ross as Katie
• Rebecca Bell as Karina
• Michelle Gomez
• Derek Riddell
• Laura Haddock
• Daniela Nardini
• Michael Nardone
• Sally Howitt
• Stuart Bowman
• Neshla Caplan
• Stephen Purdon

 

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What Is It Based On?

Counsels is an original drama from the minds of Brian Elsley and Gillian McCormack, though Elsley tells the BBC the duo 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’.

‘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,’ adds BBC Drama’s director Lindsay Salt.

So while Counsels is not biographical, we can expect it to be pretty true to life – making it all the more stressful when Jamie, Bav, Nadine, Alasdair, Katie and Karina’s lives implode.

Release Date

Filming is officially underway on Counsels, and while there is no official date from the BBC just yet, we expect it to premiere in 2026.

While we wait, you can stream every episode of Industry on BBC iPlayer.