Former SNP MP Mhairi Black is set to make her TV acting debut in the upcoming BBC series Counsels, playing Detective Inspector Bridges in four episodes. The Glasgow-based drama, co-created by Skins writer Bryan Elsley, follows young lawyers navigating high-stakes careers. Black, who left politics in 2024, expressed excitement about the role and filming in her hometown.
Announcement Details
Mhairi Black, the former Paisley MP who stepped away from Westminster after the July 2024 General Election and left the SNP in 2025, is transitioning into acting with her first TV role. Following a comedy tour of her show Politics Isn’t For Me and a workshop at the Edinburgh Fringe earlier in 2025, Black joins the cast of Counsels, an eight-episode drama set and filmed in Glasgow.
Black will portray Detective Inspector Bridges across four episodes. In a statement, she said: "I've been relishing trying different things since politics, this is my first TV acting role and I really enjoyed auditioning for the part. To work on a series which is set and filmed in Glasgow is an amazing opportunity – what a brilliant show to be a part of."
Series Overview
Co-created by Scottish writer Bryan Elsley, known for the hit series Skins, and Gillian McCormack, Counsels explores the lives of twentysomething lawyers in Glasgow as their post-university careers intensify. The BBC described it as: “Counsels follows the lives of a group of twentysomething lawyers in Glasgow in the crucial moment when a few years out of university their careers finally become serious. Working across the legal landscape as public prosecutors, slick representatives of glossier commercial interests or the good-hearted last resort of those with nothing left to lose, each one of them is out to win. Whether they’re colleagues jostling for a promotion, lovers trying to hold onto one another as ambitions accelerate or pure adversaries professionally and personally, now’s the time things are going to catch fire.”
The lead roles are played by Brandon Grace (My Lady Jane, Hamlet Hail to the Thief), Ro Kumar (Traces S2, Accidental Death of an Anarchist), Eilidh Park (Wind of Change), George Prentice (The Pendragon Cycle), Alyth Ross (Last Light, Dirty Angels), and Rebecca Bell (Outlander: Blood of My Blood). No release date has been announced yet.