The drama centres on a group of ambitious lawyers and is from Balloon Entertainment

New legal drama Counsels has begun filming in Glasgow with support from Screen Scotland.

A Balloon Entertainment production, the series is co-created by Scottish writers Bryan Elsley and BBC Writers’ Drama Room graduate Gillian McCormack, for delivery to BBC One and BBC Scotland in association with All3Media International and in co-production with ZDFneo.

Counsels centres on a group of twenty-something lawyers in Glasgow, a few years after graduation when their careers begin to become crucial. As the colleagues jostle for position, across a range of legal roles, ambitions ramp up and enemies are made.

The leading cast comprises Brandon Grace, Ro Kumar, Eilidh Park, George Prentice, Alyth Ross and Rebecca Bell, with support from Michelle Gomez, Derek Riddell, Laura Haddock, Daniela Nardini, Michael Nardone, Sally Howitt, Stuart Bowman, Neshla Caplan and Stephen Purdon.

Counsels (8 x 60’) is co-created, written and executive produced by Bryan Elsley and Gillian McCormack, with further episodes written by Maryam Hamidi and Jingan Young. Gaynor Holmes and Stephanie Fyfe are executive producers for the BBC with Gavin Smith for BBC Scotland and Daniel Donnelly and Dave Evans for Balloon.

The producer is Brian Kaczynski and the directors are Lynsey Miller and Siri Rødnes.

It was commissioned by Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, and Louise Thornton, head of commissioning for BBC Scotland. The series will be distributed by Balloon Entertainment’s international partner All3Media International and is a coproduction with ZDFneo. Katharina Kremling is the commissioning editor for ZDFneo. Counsels is supported by Screen Scotland.

Thornton said: “We’re delighted to see the cameras start rolling on Counsels. Bryan and Gillian have created a wonderful world showcasing brilliant young lawyers whose professional and personal lives are as dramatic as the cases they represent. Counsels is part of the single biggest BBC investment in drama in Scotland for over a decade and we can’t wait for audiences to get to know these new exciting characters and to get caught up in their lives, loves and dramas.”

Image L-R: Karina (Rebecca Bell), Jamie (Brandon Grace), Nadine (Eilidh Park), Katie (Alyth Ross), Bav (Ro Kumar), Alasdair (George Prentice) (Image: Balloon Entertainment/BBC/Mark Mainz).