Reputation: Everything We Know About The BBC’s Upcoming Legal Drama

Everyone loves a legal drama, real or fictional – especially a high profile one. The paparazzi cameras, the headlines spilling out of the courtroom, the dark shaded sunglasses for the character at the centre. Think OJ Simpson’s real trial and the subsequent American Crime Story series, The People vs OJ Simpson – or our endless fascination with the Wagatha Christie trial, both on TV and playing out on social media.

And now it’s time for something from the BBC. Centering on a global pop star in the middle of the celebrity legal battle of the decade is everything so far about Reputation.

Reputation: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

Led by Academy Award nominee Naomie Harris and Mad Men star Christina Hendricks, after being first announced to be in production on 1 May 2026, filming on the BBC’s splashy new legal drama Reputation is officially underway. With the court of public opinion spiralling on social media and messy tactics deployed for clicks and rage bait, it’s the quintessential 21st-century legal drama.

Described by the BBC as ‘glossy’ and ‘audacious’, the six-part drama was penned by Anya Reiss, who is best known for her playwriting. In 2010 at just 17 years old, she became the youngest writer to have a play, Spur of the Moment, staged in London, following her graduation from the Royal Court’s Young Writers Programme. Since then, she has staged plays at Southwark Playhouse, the National Theatre, Regents Park Open Air Theatre and more, as well as writing for the screen, including on EastEnders and Ackley Bridge and penning her own historical drama, Becoming Elizabeth.

As star Harris puts it: ‘I was hooked from page one of Reputation. It’s so rare to read scripts with the wit and flair of Anya’s writing and I knew straight away that I wanted to play Lena.’

Fresh from Apple TV’s The Buccaneers, Christina Hendricks (right) will star as pop star Davina Knight in Reputation. (Apple TV)

The Plot

Reputation centers on pop star Davina Knight (Hendricks), who enlists a formidable lawyer, Lena (Harris), to fight her libel battle. It all kicks off when Davina releases a provocative song accusing her ex-husband Billy (Kyle Soller) of abusive behavior, and the fellow singer retaliates in kind.

Not only does their private relationship break down, it all erupts into a very public legal battle. As a true case of the modern age, PR machines are deployed, legal loopholes are sought, and everyone becomes a judge in the courtroom of social media.

For Davina – who Hendricks describes as ‘a fantastic, fierce character’ – it’s all about protecting her reputation. And for lawyer Lena, the high-profile case puts her own personal life on the line – but how far will she go to win, and what will it cost her?

The Cast

Harris and Hendricks lead the series as Lena and pop star Davina respectively, joined by Kyle Soller as Davina’s singer boyfriend Billy. They are joined by stars from everything spanning Rivals to The Crown to The Diplomat.

The full cast we know so far is as follows:

• Naomie Harris as Lena
• Christina Hendricks as Davina Knight
• Alex Jennings
• David Gyasi
• Emily Atack
• Kyle Soller as Billy
• Marli Siu
• Alex Heath
• Tilly Keeper
• Corey Johnson
• Aidan McArdle
• Ernest Kingsley Jnr
• Jodie Campbell
• Kayla Meikle
• Mike Noble
• Enzo Cilenti
• Kat Ronney

Is It A True Story?

While Reputation isn’t based on any specific true story, you will recognise plenty of the tropes of a modern libel case. Speaking on her inspiration for writing the series, Reiss says: ‘When I found out London was the global capital of high stakes libel cases – where the rich, powerful and famous come to fight in public for their reputations – I was in.’

London is widely recognised as the libel capital of the world due to the UK’s strict legal system, which places the burden of proof on the defendant rather than the plaintiff. In simple terms, this means if someone makes a false statement about you that could cause substantial harm to your reputation, you can take them to court where they will have to prove their statement is true in order to win. The result can be messy, explosive, headline-making legal wars where all dirty laundry is aired – much more than is typically intended.

Consider Johnny Depp’s high-profile libel case against The Sun in 2020: after the tabloid labelled the disgraced actor a ‘wife-beater’, he sued The Sun and it was up to the newspaper to prove their statement was true. Subsequently, Amber Heard was called into the courtroom to help The Sun prove, over the course of three weeks worth of high-profile hearings, that Depp assaulted her, reaching a civil standard of substantial truth. In 2020, Depp’s libel claim was dismissed, and the actor was refused permission to appeal. In 2021, the Court of Appeal agreed and again denied his application to overturn the judgment.

It’s a prime example of the defamed party coming off worse than they went in. But this is far from typical, and the UK system has been criticised for putting the burden on publishers, who usually cannot afford to face off against wealthy plaintiffs, and typically have to settle out of court instead.

Release Date

Filming is officially underway on Reputation, but no news just yet on when we’ll get to see it. We expect it to air in 2027. When it does, it will premiere on BBC One and be available to stream on iPlayer.