When it comes to legal dramas, they don’t get much better than The Split – or, at least, that’s what we thought. It turns out the BBC has been hard at work on another brilliant legal series that’s about to seriously stir things up. Reputation is the glossy new drama that shows what happens when a celebrity legal battle spirals out of control and, judging by the details, it’s set to be the best BBC series since The Split.
At the centre of it is hot shot lawyer, Lena (played by Naomie Harris), who finds herself immersed in a very public libel battle thanks to her latest client global pop star Davina Knight (Christina Hendricks). Described by Director of BBC Drama, Lindsay Salt, as “high-stakes, intoxicating and hugely entertaining”, it seems The Split finally has some competition.
Ahead of Reputation’s arrival on our screens, here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming series, including the plot, cast and how to watch it.
What is Reputation about?
WWD
The six-part series centres around Lena (played by Naomie Harris), a formidable lawyer who gets pulled into the celebrity case of the decade. Lena has built her career defending free expression and now the stakes are higher than ever as she represents global pop star Davina Knight (Christina Hendricks)
When Davina releases a provocative new song accusing her ex-husband, Billy (Kyle Soller), of abusive behaviour and he retaliates in kind, their private relationship breakdown quickly erupts into a very public libel battle. The BBC’s official synopsis continues: “The case is fought far beyond the courtroom, as PR machines are deployed, laws are bent and social media platforms become judge, jury and battleground – driving outrage for clicks and warping the truth.
“For Lena, the case puts her own personal life in the line of fire. How far will she go to win and at what cost? And for Davina, how far will she go to protect her reputation?”
BBC
Anya Reiss, writer of Reputation, says of the series: “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. I’ve loved writing this world and now I’m excited to get it off the page and onto the screen.”
Naomie Harris added that she was instantly drawn in by Reiss’s scripts: “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.”
Who’s in the cast of Reputation?
BBC
The cast of Reputation includes:
- Naomie Harris (Moonlight, Skyfall)
- Christina Hendricks (Mad Men, The Buccaneers)
- Alex Jennings (The Crown, The Lady in the Van)
- David Gyasi (The Diplomat, Interstellar)
- Emily Atack (Rivals, Inbetweeners)
- Kyle Soller (Andor, Bodies)
- Marli Siu (Twenty Twenty Six, Everything I Know About Love)
- Alex Heath (Serpent Queen, Prime Target)
- Tilly Keeper (You, Queenie)
- Corey Johnson (Digger, The Day of the Jackal)
- Aidan McArdle (Sherlock & Daughter, Showtrial)
- Ernest Kingsley Jnr (Washington Black, The Sandman)
- Jodie Campbell (Boarders, Bitch Boxer)
- Kayla Meikle (Transaction, Time 2)
- Mike Noble (This City is Ours, Dirty Business)
- Enzo Cilenti (Black Mirror, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell)
- Kat Ronney (Dinosaur, Finding Emily)
How can I watch Reputation?
The BBC hasn’t yet shared a release date for Reputation, but we’re expecting it to air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer towards the end of 2026 at the earliest. As soon as we have a confirmed release date, we’ll update you here.
What other legal dramas can I watch now? 
Channel 5
If you haven’t yet seen Channel 5’s The Trial, it’s well worth a watch. The series introduces us to parents, Dione (Claire Skinner) and David Sinclair (Ben Miles) who find themselves facing a chillingly plausible situation: their daughter has committed a serious crime and under a radical new law, parents are held directly accountable for their child’s actions. You can watch The Trial now on 5. For a drama rooted in real-life, we’d recommend I Fought the Law. The series stars Sheridan Smith as Ann, the heartbroken mother who campaigned to overturn the Double Jeopardy Law and ensure that her daughter’s murderer was convicted. You can watch I Fought the Law now on ITVX.