Dione and David Sinclair seem like your typical middle class working parents – so they don't take too kindly when they're hauled in front of a Judicial Inquisitor in 5 drama The Trial.
In this not-too-distant future, and after a series of uprisings in schools by students, a new law has been implemented to make parents partially responsible for what their kids have done, unless they can prove they're good parents.
With the Sinclairs' daughter Teah (India Fowler) sitting in custody, David (Ben Miles) and Dione (Claire Skinner) know she's done something bad, but have no idea what. Regardless, they have to defend their parenting skills or go down with her.
But with Judicial Inquisitor Sarah Willis (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) digging into every inch of their past and personal lives, truths are set to come to light which could tear the family completely apart.
So what exactly did Teah do? And is it fair to place blame on both David and Dione?
Here's what exactly happened.
What happens in The Trial?
Judicial Inquisitor Willis is definitely a woman on the mission. With this new law put in place only two years ago, she is solely in charge of the Sinclairs case, and deciding on whether they can be charged as accessories to their daughters crime.
Dione and David are both furious at even being brought in, and while they agree to put on a united front, it becomes clear quickly they are complete opposites in nearly every way.
While Dione is extremely career-focused, David is somewhat of a slacker – with his official job title being 'unemployed', though he insists he's a freelance landscape gardener and photographer.
Willis combs every inch of their relationship – starting with them meeting in college in 2000, a full 35 years before the events of the case. She judges them for splitting and reconnecting 17 years later, noting it a year after Dione's first husband died.
David, who was 'in between homes' after splitting with his partner who couldn't have kids, moved in just a month after they started dating. Willis also questions why they decided to have a child, despite the fact Dione had two prior terminations.
As they're presented with recorded diaries, text messages and videos, it's revealed Dione never wanted to be a mum, called her pregnancy a 'f**king disaster' and referred to the baby as an 'energy sucking vampire'. She had also told Teah when she was just seven that she regretted being a mother, though insists she didn't regret having her.
In turn, David had allowed his daughter to watch news of devastating natural disasters at the age of five, causing Teah to have nightmares that the world will end.
This quickly elevated into her becoming an eco-advocate, something which later escalated as a teen into her joining climate change protest groups.
What crime did Teah actually commit?
Inquisitor Willis takes her sweet time telling the frustrated parents what exactly Teah did wrong, teasing them it will be revealed 'when necessary'.
As the lies held between David and Dione fall apart, the Inquisitor reveals, rather than being unemployed like he claims, David has been working as an informant for the police, infiltrating Teah's eco-group Earth Warriors to gain information for any upcoming criminal acts.
However, Earth Warriors had caught on, and had asked Teah to keep track of her dad for them. In doing so, she had traced his every move – including to a 12 Maple Close in Clapton, where his mistress, Aurora Miller lives.
Dione is furious about David's affair, but it gets worse when it's revealed Teah attempted to kill Aurora after finding the information out.
When David asks if "they're" OK, Dione thinks the mistress is gender neutral... but is then dealt the double blow of discovering Aurora was actually seven months pregnant with his child.
Thankfully, Aurora – a yoga instructor and MMA expert – only sustained a minor injury before restraining Teah, with the police arresting her shortly afterwards.
How does The Trial end?
At the end of the episode, Teah tells her parents she's already willingly signed a confession about the attack.
Oddly calm about what she's done, Teah says she's 'at peace' with her decision, arguing she wasn't trying to murder Aurora Miller, but chillingly was 'trying to liberate the poor parasite inside her womb’.
Teah tells her horrified parents she considers what she did as an act of mercy, as bringing a child into a destructive world is wrong.
She further dismisses her father as a 'tourist' of the cause.
Guilty to attempted child obstruction, Teah faces a life sentence – which she's requested to serve sentence in punitive coma, as she ‘doesn’t have to watch the world die in front of her’.
Both parents are officially charged with gross psychological, emotional and empathetic neglect of a minor, and taken into prison as well.
As the day winds down, Lieutenant Simons finds a pencil in Teah's cell. She's etched onto the metal bed frame the quote: "So long and thanks for all the fish", a line from the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Inquisitor Sarah explains to him it was the message to humanity left behind by dolphins as the world ended.
The pair then embrace, and as Simons rests his hand on Sarah's belly, it's revealed she's pregnant with their baby, and they vow they will "do better" than the Sinclairs.
The Trial is available now on 5 on Demand.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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