Period Drama 'The Law According to Lidia Poët' Sets a Return Date to Italy

As anyone who has watched British television in the past two decades can tell you, mystery series are a dime a dozen, with lead characters ranging from regular detectives and beat cops to more outlandish crime solvers like vicars and booksellers. But while these shows are popular, far too few of these stories are led by women. Fewer still — outside of shows like Miss Scarlet or Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries or maybe D.I. Ray, for a more contemporary example — are about the specific female experience of working in such a field. For those craving such a series, it's time to check out the delightful Italian period drama The Law According to Lidia Poët.

Granted, it's a legal drama rather than a straight mystery series, but the titular Lidia certainly solves her fair share of cases on behalf of her clients, and her story is stridently and unapologetically feminist throughout. Moreover, this is the perfect time to start, as the series' highly anticipated second season is officially set to arrive at the end of October 2024.

Based loosely on the life of Italy's first female lawyer, who fought a successful legal battle to be allowed to practice law after she was forbidden to do so by court order. The drama stars Matilda De Angelis (The Undoing) as Lidia, who takes a job at her brother's law firm following her public disbarment, where she assists with cases even as she's writing an appeal to try and regain her license.