Australian courtroom drama The Twelve follows the '12 ordinary lives' of jurors in a controversial case, as star Sam Neill tells Rachael Davis.

"There's something about courtroom dramas... people are drawn to them, usually because there's an interesting crime involved. People love a good crime!" says pre-eminent actor Sam Neill when we sit down to talk about The Twelve, the Australian drama he stars in which is soon to land on ITVX.

The Twelve, which has already had a successful run in Australia, is a new take on the classic courtroom drama and follows the lives of 12 jurors, 12 ordinary people, during a case in which a woman is accused of murdering her teenage niece, whose body has not been found.

While in the courtroom, the jurors should be impartial, objective observers of the evidence and accounts presented to them, and have to make the difficult decision of whether the defendant, Kate Lawson, played by Hunters' and Lambs Of God's Kate Mulvany, is guilty of murder.

The Twelve explores how, outside of the courtroom, these dozen people have individually complex lives, giving an insight into the human side of the justice system and raising questions about how fallible this system really is.

Neill, 75, best known for playing Dr Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, plays defence lawyer Brett Colby.

He is tasked with advocating for Kate's innocence, who denies the murder of her niece.

"It's always 12 ordinary women and men and 12 ordinary lives - but of course, no life is ordinary," says Neill.

"Everyone has their own story, and there's some very graphic stories in this drama.

"The idea to explore the lives simultaneously with that of the crime itself is pretty unusual."

"That's a departure from what we usually see," he adds.

"And something to ponder, you know... 12 is an interesting number, isn't it, when you consider it?

"And I suppose it's that many because someone worked out at some point that that was probably enough, so you could get a reasonably objective decision out of people. If it was any less than that, or any more, it would be chaos.

"Twelve is a good number, Christ had 12 apostles, he'd probably worked out it was a smart number as well!

"But the idea that those lives (are) intersecting the case itself and ultimately influencing the decision that they make is something worth exploring, and I think makes for pretty good drama."

The Twelve raises questions about the reliability of how we do justice in society, and the influence that life outside of the courtroom can have on decisions made within it.

One of the interesting facets of this discussion is that of the female murder defendant: as Neill points out, Kate is judged differently, perhaps more harshly, because of her gender.

"It's interesting how she is judged," says the actor.

"I think one of the things that the series discusses is how differently, I think, women are perceived, are judged by people, and that would include juries.

"The idea of a woman murdering someone seems somehow doubly abhorrent to people.

"And while, of course, any murder is abhorrent, they shouldn't be judged differently because they're women. I mean, that's misogynistic.

"And she doesn't make things easy for herself! She's a difficult person to like, but that shouldn't make any difference.

"That should not make any difference - one, that she's unlikable, and two that she is a woman.

"So that's one of the contemporary issues that's being dealt with here."

As Kate's lawyer, Neill's character must unequivocally argue for her innocence, whether he personally believes in it or not.

Defending a child killer, too, adds a whole other layer to this task.

"I'm actually not sure if he does believe in her innocence, or not, at the beginning," Neill says of Colby.

"And the thing about being a defence lawyer is it doesn't really matter. It's sort of a matter of indifference. It shouldn't influence you in any way whatsoever.

"Because your job is to do the best you can for your client, and whether or not they're guilty is not your concern.

"What your concern is that they get the best possible hearing, and that justice is served.

"So I think in point of fact, he's neutral at the beginning. And of course, you get more involved, just as the jury do, as things unfold. And he gets to learn more and more as the 10 hours go on.

"The matter of guilt, or not, is not something that concerns him, particularly, nor should it."

Of course, those who are concerned with the matter of guilt are the jury, which is why it is interesting that The Twelve is a drama about the lives behind these anonymous men and women.

What are they dealing with outside of the courtroom, and how does this influence their opinions within it?

"I think every one of these jurors has a very, very different story - some of them are more dramatic than others, and some of them are very troubling," Neill says.

"And it's a troubling idea that those troubles are brought into court, but of course they will be.

"It's pretty compelling television, I think, because you really want to follow those different stories, those different threads, and see how people get on.

"Courtroom dramas are always good, compelling, because you've got a good crime, and you've got a concentration of people dealing with that crime and the issues that surround it, but you never really think about who are these people on the jury, and what are their lives?"

The Twelve was well-received in Australia when it was released in the summer of 2022, and Neill says he is excited for UK viewers to be able to watch the boxset in one go on ITVX, rather than having to wait a week between episodes like Australian fans.

"I was very surprised by how many people would stop me in the street on my way to coffee and say: 'What happens next?

"I want to know what happens next week... I'm frustrated that it's taking 10 weeks to release this thing one at a time!'," Neill says.

"The great thing in Britain on ITVX is that you can actually properly binge it, and I think it's a show that's really meant for that.

"It works really well if you keep watching."

The Twelve is available exclusively on ITVX from Thursday.