Judge John Deed

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''Judge John Deed'' is a British

legal drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

television series produced by the

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in association with One-Eyed Dog for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. It was created by

G.F. Newman Gordon Frank Newman (born 22 May 1947) is an English writer and television producer. In addition to his two earlier series ''Law & Order'' and '' The Nation's Health'', each based on his books, he is known for more recent TV series including ''Ju ...

and stars

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series '' The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the title roles in '' ...

as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars

Jenny Seagrove Jennifer Ann Seagrove (born 4 July 1957) is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and first came to attention playing the lead in a television dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's '' A Woman of Substance'' ...

as the barrister Jo Mills QC, frequently the object of Deed's desire. A pilot episode was broadcast on 9 January 2001, followed by the first full series on 26 November 2001. The sixth and last series concluded on 18 January 2007. The programme then went on an indefinite break after Shaw became involved in another television programme (

Inspector George Gently ''Inspector George Gently'' (also known as ''George Gently'' for the pilot and first series) is a 2008 British television crime drama series produced by Company Pictures for BBC One, set in the 1960s and loosely based on some of the Inspector G ...

), and he and Seagrove expressed a wish for the format of the series to change before they filmed new episodes. By 2009, the series had officially been cancelled. The factual accuracy of the series is often criticised by legal professionals and journalists; many of the decisions taken by Deed are unlikely to happen in a real court. The romanticised vision of the court system created by Newman caused a judge to issue a warning to a jury not to let the series influence their view of trials—referring to an episode where Deed flouts rules when called up for jury service. A complaint was made by a viewer about one episode claiming biased and incorrect information about the MMR vaccine, leading the BBC to unilaterally ban repeats of it in its original form. All six series (with the exception of the two banned episodes from Series Five) have been released on DVD in the UK.

Premise

Sir John Deed (played by

) is a recently appointed High Court judge who actively seeks justice in the cases before him, while at the same time trying to rekindle an old romance with former pupil Jo Mills QC (played by

), who regularly appears in his court. Deed is described by creator and writer

as a character who "speaks out against all the petty rules and bureaucracy that frustrates us all but that most of us don't speak out against". Because of Deed's unorthodox actions, he is often hampered in his pursuit of justice by several more conventional-minded characters, including his ex-wife, barrister Georgina "George" Channing QC (played by

Caroline Langrishe Caroline Langrishe (born 10 January 1958) is an English actress. Early life Born in London, Langrishe is the elder daughter of Patrick Nicholas Langrishe (1932–2022), of The Manor House, Sellindge, Kent, a Lieutenant in the 11th Hussars, late ...

); her father

Appeals Court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

Judge, Lord Justice (Sir Joseph) Channing (played by Sir

Donald Sinden Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was a British actor. Sinden featured in the film ''Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including ''The Cruel Sea (195 ...

), fellow High Court Judges Mr Justice (Sir Monty) Everard (played by

Simon Ward Simon Anthony Fox Ward (16 October 194120 July 2012) was a British stage and film actor. He was known chiefly for his performance as Winston Churchill in the 1972 film ''Young Winston''. He played many other screen roles, including those of Sir ...

) and Mr Justice (Sir Michael) Nivan (spelt as Niven in later series credits - played by Trevor Bowen), the Permanent Secretary to the

Lord Chancellor's Department The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales. Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chancel ...

(LCD, later

Department of Constitutional Affairs The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) was a United Kingdom government department. Its creation was announced on 12 June 2003; it took over the functions of the Lord Chancellor's Department. On 28 March 2007 it was announced that the Dep ...

) Sir Ian Rochester (played by

Simon Chandler Simon Chandler (born 1953) is a British film, television and theatre actor. He often plays senior establishment figures such as Members of Parliament and senior civil servants. Biography Born in 1953 and educated at Bedford School, Chandler's ...

); and later the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

Neil Haughton MP (played by Nick Reding and later

Aneirin Hughes Aneirin Hughes (born Aneurin Hughes, 8 May 1958) is a Welsh actor and singer known for playing Chief Superintendent Brian Prosser in the BBC4 Welsh police drama ''Hinterland''. He won a Best Actor BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA Wales) for his appearance ...

). Other recurring characters include Deed's rebellious, animal rights activist daughter Charlie (played by Louisa Clein), who is initially a law student but later progresses to the courts; Deed's police friend, deputy assistant commissioner Row Colemore (played by Christopher Cazenove); and his clerk, Rita "Coop" Cooper (played by Barbara Thorn), who is often on hand to temper some of his more radical ideas. Rita "Coop" was involved in many scenes of the show and was shown frequently in ''Judge John Deed'' advertisements. The first three series of the programme have a self-contained structure, with a trial reaching its conclusion by the end of an episode. In later years, the series added a serialised format, with stories running over a number of episodes and a greater focus on the personal lives of characters other than Deed, with the main case concluding in each episode.

Production

Newman devised his new series to highlight what he believed to be an out-of-touch judiciary and show "solutions" (a style that is different from, yet paradoxically similar to his previous work, such as his 1970s series ''

Law and Order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

'', which was heavily critical of the police, with Judge John Deed being heavily critical of the corrupt Establishment). Newman wrote the series intending to give the audience an exploration of the law without patronising them or getting caught up in an explanation of legal proceedings. A full series was commissioned before the pilot was broadcast. The series has been credited with renewing the " cop genre" by moving the story from a "maverick detective" to a high court judge, though as a comparison to Newman's previous work, a '' Guardian'' writer called it "rather soft" and doubted, from seeing the pilot, whether it would provoke questions in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

like ''Law and Order'' did, while the show went on to provoke much hostility from many groups which it portrayed as corrupt or negligent. Sets were constructed on the soundstages at

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow ...

, Hertfordshire for the courtroom, Deed's chambers and the main characters' houses. Exterior court scenes were filmed at the Crown Court in Aylesbury. Location filming was also done at West Herts College for scenes in " My Daughter, Right or Wrong" (2006) and at various locations, including The Hague City Hall, (as film location for the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...

building in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

) for " War Crimes" (2007). The robes worn by Deed in the sixth series were authentic ones from Stanley Ley, a specialist legal outfitters, and cost £7,600. Theme music was composed for the series by

Debbie Wiseman Debbie Wiseman, OBE (born 10 May 1963) is a British composer for film and television, known also as a conductor and a radio and television presenter. Biography Wiseman was born in London. She studied at Trinity College of Music Junior Depart ...

. The music, entitled "Judge John Deed", was performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and is described as a "stunning march-like theme that echoed throughout each of the programmes supplying pageantry to the Judge's sometimes-nefarious activities". It was released commercially on Wiseman's compilation album, ''Something Here'', and as a single piece on online music retailers. From 2005 to 2007, television promotions for the series have been accompanied by the piano hook from " Sinnerman" by

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...

. 29 episodes were produced; the pilot, three series of four episodes, two series of six episodes and one series of two two-part serials. All episodes were written and produced, and occasionally directed, by Newman. At the time the sixth series concluded, the future of the series was in doubt; the BBC had announced an intention to use Martin Shaw in a range of new projects and it was apparent that the one-off adaption of Alan Hunter's ''Inspector Gently'' novels (starring Shaw as the eponymous inspector) would be commissioned for a full series. Jenny Seagrove clarified the situation, stating that the producers wanted to continue but she and Shaw were "taking a sabbatical" until the formula of the series was changed, implying that its future lay in the multi-part format introduced in series six. In April 2009, Shaw told BBC Breakfast that the series had been officially cancelled by the BBC because of financial cutbacks across the corporation. The six years the series was broadcast makes it the longest-running BBC legal drama.

Broadcast

''Judge John Deed'' regularly formed the backbone of the

winter schedule. The pilot and first series were broadcast on Tuesday evenings at 8 p.m., with the second, third and fourth series moving to Thursday evenings (8:30 p.m. for the first two and 8 p.m. for the latter, though one episode in series three was postponed for over a month). The fifth series moved to Friday nights, and the sixth was shown two nights a week, with the first part of the story on Tuesday nights and concluding the following Thursday. This series was also the first to be simulcast on

BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...

. Occasionally, due to a clash with regional programming, it has aired at different times on

BBC One Scotland BBC One Scotland is a Scottish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Scotland and is a Scottish variation of the UK-wide BBC One. For all of the time the channel is referred to on screen as ''BBC One Scotland'', sometimes us ...

; series two was delayed for sometimes over a week while series three began a half-hour earlier. Series five had a six-day delay. Ratings for the series peaked with its

first episode A series premiere is the first aired installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. In the United States, many series premieres are aired in the fall time or, for mid-season replacements, either in the spring or ...

at 9.1 million but it continued to regularly draw in around 6 million viewers for later episodes. The series has been shown internationally by, amongst others, Canvas (Belgium),

BBC Canada BBC Canada was a Canadian English language specialty channel that mostly broadcast television series originally produced by the BBC, the public-service broadcaster of the United Kingdom. The channel was owned by Corus Entertainment (80% & manag ...

and

BBC Prime BBC Prime was the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Asia Pacific from 30 January 1995 until 11 November 2009, when it was replaced by BBC Entertainment. Launch BBC Prime was launched at 19: ...

. In 2004, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reported an American remake was set to be produced for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

; Michael Chernuchin was to produce the series, which would follow a federal court judge in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

who would preside over terrorism and civil rights cases. There have been no further developments since the announcement was made in 2004.

Reception

Depiction of law

''Judge John Deed'' presents a fictionalised version of the English legal system. The

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lo ...

notes that "Almost every week, Deed is seen presiding over cases being prosecuted by his ex-wife or defended by his on-off girlfriend (with occasionally help from his daughter)", highlighting how unlikely it would be for a real judge to have so many conflicts of interest in his court. It also notes that Deed's faults, such as his affairs with his therapist and with Francesca Rochester, prevent him from being "a completely idealised heroic figure", and the fact that because all of his family and friends practise law, he is firmly entrenched in the legal system that he is constantly fighting against. Deed has been accused of hypocrisy, particularly for using his connections to bail Charlie after she destroyed GM crops in " Exacting Justice". There is a belief in some legal circles that, although ''Judge John Deed'' is arguably the most unrealistic of contemporary legal dramas, viewers see Deed as an aspirational character taking on a corrupt establishment. Despite being picked apart by legal professionals, the cast and Newman were invited to the annual dinner of the Association of Women Barristers in 2006 as part of a drive to raise the profile and attract new members to the group. The series' creative interpretation of the law has led to a misconception by the public of what real law is like (''cf''. CSI effect); in the second

Damilola Taylor Damilola Adegbite (born Oluwadamilola Adegbite; 18 May 1985) is Nigerian actress, Model, and Television personality. She played Thelema Duke in the soap opera ''Tinsel'', and Kemi Williams in the movie '' Flower Girl''. She won Best Actress in a T ...

trial, the presiding judge warned the jury that if they copied Deed's actions in the then-recent episode " One Angry Man" (2006), in which Deed investigated a case and interviewed witnesses while sitting on a jury, they would "simply derail the whole process".

Critical reaction

The 2006 series caused controversy for the misguided information presented in " Silent Killer" (2006), which suggested a link between

TETRA Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA; formerly known as Trans-European Trunked Radio), a European standard for a trunked radio system, is a professional mobile radio and two-way transceiver specification. TETRA was specifically designed for use by ...

radio emissions and motor neurone disease. Statements were released by the TETRA Industry Group and the MND Association, the latter emphasising that while there is some evidence to suggest a link, it is not a single contributory factor. " Heart of Darkness" (2006) was criticised for portraying a causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism, and the BBC received complaints on the matter. The Editorial Complaints Unit ruled that the episode had contravened the BBC's "obligation of due impartiality on matters of public controversy" and that the episode would not be repeated in its original form. The episode was cited in ''From Seesaw to Wagon Wheel'', an internal BBC report on impartiality in its output that was published in June 2007, a section of which highlighted that the name of the Westwake character bore more than a passing resemblance to that of Dr

Andrew Wakefield Andrew Jeremy Wakefield (born September 3, 1956) is a British anti-vaccine activist, former physician, and discredited academic who was struck off the medical register for his involvement in ''The Lancet'' MMR autism fraud, a 1998 study that ...

. Television pundits have criticised the writing of the programme; Robert Hanks of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' calls the scripts "often corny, even painfully so", using Monty Everard's line "You'll come to regret crossing swords with me, sir!" from "

Health Hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would allow them, even just theoretically, to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probabi ...

" (2003) as an example. Hanks also wrote about what he called "moral oversimplification" of the storylines; the same episode featured "a wealthy and self-important businessman—who had already been banned from talking on a mobile phone while driving—ran over and killed a mother and her two small children while talking on his mobile phone to his mistress, to whom he was explaining that he had to take his wife to a function at—the icing on this shabby cake—Downing Street. He then legged it and subsequently faked mental illness to avoid a trial; a gambit that might have worked had Deed not cunningly threatened to send him to Broadmoor, at which point the man stood up and started protesting vociferously". The series is frequently lampooned for its dialogue and unlikely scenarios.

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

called the dialogue "the funniest on TV" and David Mitchell selected it as his "TV hell" in the series '' TV Heaven, Telly Hell''. Deed's "

swashbuckling A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, guile and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, ...

" persona has been satirised on the sketch series '' Dead Ringers''. Despite the criticism given to the programme, the series is praised as being at its best when tackling topical issues, such as the MMR vaccine, human exposure to telephone masts and incestuous relationships. The production style also rates highly; writing in ''The Guardian'', Mark Lawson called the pilot "glossier and more populist than Newman's earlier work". Wry reference is made to Deed and Jo's relationship, with Lawson writing that Deed "is desperate to conduct his own forensic investigation of the body fluids of the attractive defence QC". Writing on the programme's accessibility to an audience,

Nancy Banks-Smith Nancy Banks-Smith (born 1929) is a British television and radio critic, who spent most of her career writing for ''The Guardian''. Life and career Born in Manchester and raised in a pub, she was educated at Roedean School. Banks-Smith began her ...

of ''The Guardian'' calls it "talkative in the way television plays used to be when they had something to say. But it is notable that, in a profession famous for obfuscation, Deed uses only the most pellucid English". Banks-Smith has also drawn attention to the masculine skew the programme has; "Judge John Deed ��is

catnip ''Nepeta cataria'', commonly known as catnip, catswort, catwort, and catmint, is a species of the genus '' Nepeta'' in the family Lamiaceae, native to southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of China. It is widely ...

to the ladies. These are chappishly called Georgie, Charlie, Jo and—when Rita defies abbreviation—Coop".

Awards and nominations

Stephen Roach received the Award of Merit at the 2005 Guild of Television Cameramen Awards for his work on the series. The series was nominated in the Diversity in Drama Production category at the 2006 Screen Nation Awards, though lost to an episode of '' Doctors''.

Home release

The first series was released as a 3-disc set on 8 May 2006 and the second series as a 2-disc set on 12 February 2007. The third and fourth series were released on 14 January 2008 in a 5-disc set. All the DVDs were published by 2 Entertain Video. A series 5 DVD was released on 8 February 2010, omitting the controversial fifth and sixth episodes. A Series 6 DVD was released on 21 February 2011, which contained two double length episodes. The pilot and first series received a North American release on 9 March 2010.Judge John Deed Season 1; Amazon
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References

External links

*
''Judge John Deed''
at the

* * * {{Good article 2001 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series 2000s British legal television series BBC high definition shows BBC television dramas English-language television shows Television shows set in England