Ben Richards’s legal drama Showtrial makes a welcome return to BBC One this month, offering viewers more state-of-the-nation musings, fizzing, witty dialogue and meaty acting.

First time around, in 2021, a wealthy female student was in the dock; now it’s cocky PC Justin Mitchell, played with real verve by Michael Socha, who is accused of the hit-and-run death of a climate activist.

Defending him is anxiety-ridden lawyer Sam Malik, portrayed by RTS award winner Adeel Akhtar (Sherwood); the prosecutor is Leila Hassoun-Kenny (Nathalie Armin, Home). All three were at the RTS premiere of the five-part Showtrial’s first episode.

Showtrial is an anthology show, so the cast for series 2 is entirely different from series 1. “It was an all or nothing thing… another case in another town, different lawyers,” said Richards, the show’s creator and writer. “You’ve just got to kill ’em and move on.”

He continued: “Trials are a great way of bringing in all kinds of other issues – you can use the courtroom to explore [them].” Rather than being prescriptive, the BBC gave Richards licence to bring his irreverence into the courtroom. “It’s such a brilliant format to allow you to explore character and to have fun with the characters as well.”

Socha, who made his breakthrough in Shane Meadows’s film This Is England, was attracted to the role by the accused officer’s “ups and downs, and vulnerability. He can be cocky and arrogant, but there are reasons for the behaviour.”

He “really enjoyed working with Adeel” and this shows in their scenes together with the two actors “riffing” off each other. “We had so much fun doing them,” said Akhtar. “Obviously we had our lines, but how Michael delivered them was so unexpected… and if you’re riding the wave of good writing, it becomes more than the sum of its parts and something really special.”

Executive producer Simon Heath, from World Productions, welcomed the hot-button topics Showtrial addresses, such as climate activism and police corruption. “We pride ourselves on being a bit provocative and upsetting people. I don’t think we’re doing our job if we’re not,” he said.

“The worry with climate change is that people think you’re going to do something a bit worthy, a bit wholemeal bread and a bit woke. What Ben has done, as the best drama should, is he’s not taken a position; he’s put in all the voices and then let the audience decide.”

Showtrial is largely shot in Belfast, with some scenes filmed in Brighton where the drama is set. It begins with a huge demonstration, set up so realistically by producer Ken Horn (Line of Duty) that it fooled some Belfast locals.

Heath said: “We weren’t able to achieve total crowd control and a couple of ­passers-by started having a go at our climate protesters… it was pretty authentic.”

“You can always tell with a Ben script what he got pissed off about in the news the day before,” said Emma Luffingham, who also executive produces for World Productions.

Richards said: “There is a lot to be angry and upset about in the world… not from [taking] any side in the culture war – and I’m going to sound ridiculous now – but from the point of view of basic morality.”

The tone of the drama, though, is far from didactic. Richards said his intention was to “try not to wag fingers at people or lecture people, and see the humour and humanity in situations.

“The internet is such a horrible place, full of people screaming at and abusing each other, and I always think that in the real world people tend to have much more relaxed and humorous conversations.”

Richards added: “The trick is always to not just show the police as a bunch of corrupt, lying murderous bastards.”

He admitted, though, that he has “lists of things I hate, just like Sam. Two-factor verification codes – they drive me fucking crazy.”

Showtrial started on 6 October on BBC One and iPlayer. The RTS event at the Curzon Bloomsbury, London, on 23 September was hosted by Heat magazine’s Boyd Hilton and produced by BBC Drama.