Vardy v Rooney opens debate among UK viewers

Channel 4's "Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama" premiered on Wednesday night and was met with mixed reviews. Some viewers described it as "awful" while others went in the opposite direction by labelling the series as the "best TV all year."

For those who aren't familiar, the show is a dramatised account of the UK High Court trial over the defamation case between football WAGs Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney.

The actual trial took place back in the summer, and it has been so well publicised that everybody knows by now that Rebekah lost her libel case against Coleen. The two women are married to Leicester City star Jamie Very and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney, respectively.

Rebekah filed a case against Coleen after the latter claimed that her fellow WAG was leaking information about her to British tabloids. Coleen confirmed her suspicions by posting a fake story on Instagram and configured it so that only Rebekah could see it. When it ended up in the tabloids, she saw this as proof and publicly called out Rebekah, thus leading to the court case. The High Court judge ruled in favour of Coleen after finding her statements to be "substantially true."

The series used real court transcripts, giving viewers an inside look at what took place inside the court house. The first installment of the series focused largely on Rebekah's testimonies while on the stand.

Chanel Cresswell was cast as Coleen, while Game of Thrones and Harry Potter veteran Natalia Tena played the role of Rebekah.

Some viewers were unhappy about the casting, claiming that there was hardly any resemblance between the actors and the two WAGs. Meanwhile, others were simply not amused by the dramatisation itself.

On the other hand, others were unbothered by the casting. They found the retelling of the case to simply be riveting and "brilliant."