Written by Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice, North Square), the six-part series follows a group of barristers on the front line of criminal law and begins at 9pm on Tuesday 22nd February.

Penry-Jones told the BBC Press Office that his character, Clive Reader, is “very clever and comes out with witty comments. I think the audience will love to hate him really. He comes out with comments that are so outrageous you can’t help but like him!”.

He continued: “Clive Reader doesn’t really care about the people he’s representing, he just cares about winning. It’s his job and he’s less interested in whether they’re guilty or not. In his eyes he is always doing the right thing.”

Rupert Penry-Jones played Section D chief Adam Carter in Spooks from 2004 until the character was killed by a car explosion in 2008’s Series 7.