The Rainmaker, the acclaimed American legal thriller series based on John Grisham's best-selling novel, aired its opening episode on ITV on Friday 28 August. The programme will continue on a weekly basis following ITV's acquisition of the star-studded production, with episodes also available on demand via ITVX.
Plot and US success
A synopsis for the legal thriller reveals: "Based on the best-selling novel by John Grisham, Rudy Baylor, who is fresh out of law school, goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond as well as his law school girlfriend, Sarah. Rudy, along with his boss, Bruiser, and her disheveled paralegal, Deck, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client's son."
The Rainmaker originally launched in the US in 2025 to glowing reviews, and has now made its way to British screens on ITV.
Karen Bryson on ITV debut
Speaking exclusively about the series' ITV debut, actress Karen Bryson, who portrays Dot Black in the show, said: "I'm absolutely thrilled. I think ITV is the perfect home for The Rainmaker. I'm thrilled, obviously a Londoner, I grew up with ITV so this is really thrilling."
Bryson, 51, is perhaps best recognised for her roles in Shameless, The Bill, Holby City, The Split, Zack Snyder's Justice League, The Teacher and Happy Valley, among other notable productions. Although she has already seen the series during its American run, she intends to watch it again on ITV so her husband, Chris, can enjoy the drama for the first time.
Reflecting on watching herself, Bryson said: "Yeah, really good but really scary for me. What I remember about viewing it the first time is I actually forgot it was me, I know that sounds weird because normally the reason why I don't generally watch my work is I end up being over critical. It could be age, maybe I've gotten over it but generally I'm like that with pillows or scream. When I first watched myself on something 28 years ago all I did was scream, every time I was on screen, which isn't helpful."
Avoiding spoilers and what to expect
Bryson revealed her husband has been deliberately avoiding spoilers, preferring to experience the show as a regular viewer would. She explained: "You know what's really interesting about my husband Chris is generally he likes to go along with it so he's not a 'tell me what happens' type of guy. So he'll literally, if it looks like I'm about to say, he'll go 'shush, let me enjoy it how everybody else will.' So weirdly, throughout rehearsals, I didn't talk about it because I knew he wanted to enjoy it fresh even though we kind of know what the story is but there were moments when I was auditioning, where Chris went through the lines with me, so there are going to be certain scenes where he'll remember the dialogue for sure."
Offering a glimpse of what audiences can look forward to, Bryson said: "Right so it's a wonderful David and Goliath type story, where the underdog does good. Generally the book we know what kind of happens in this sort of scenario. It's an underdog who wins but it's the how and what we've done with our production is we've taken John Grisham's amazing source materials and run with it. So there are slight differences so if you've read the book or even watched the film it's not the same. You're in for a completely different experience because obviously it's 10 episodes. There are twists and turns like nobody's business, which is really thrilling!"
The Rainmaker is available to watch on ITV and ITVX from Friday 28 August.
