Criminal Justice (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Criminal Justice is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television drama series produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and first shown in 2008. Written by Peter Moffat
Peter Moffat
Peter Moffat is a British playwright and screenwriter. His first play was called Fine and Private Place and was broadcast on BBC Radio in 1997. His best-known plays are Nabokov's Gloves and Iona Rain....
, each five-episode series follows the journey of an individual through the justice system and was first broadcast over five successive nights on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
.
The first series, first shown in 2008, starred Ben Whishaw
Ben Whishaw
Benjamin John "Ben" Whishaw is an English actor who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Whishaw is perhaps best known for his breakthrough role as Hamlet, and his role as the lead character in Tom Tykwer's film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.-Early life:Whishaw was born and raised in...
as Ben Coulter, a young man who is accused of murder after a drunken and drug-filled night out, though is unable to remember committing the crime. It was directed by Otto Bathurst and Luke Watson
Luke Watson
Luke Asher Watson is a South African rugby union footballer who can play at flank or eighthman. He has represented and captained the South African Schools rugby team , South Africa's under-19 and under-21 teams, as well as the Springbok Sevens team...
. In 2009, the second series featured Maxine Peake
Maxine Peake
Maxine Peake is an English stage, film and television actress known for playing Veronica in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless, Twinkle in Victoria Wood's sitcom Dinnerladies, and, most recently, barrister Martha Costello in BBC legal drama Silk.-Early life:Peake is the second of...
as troubled housewife Juliet Miller whose husband was stabbed in their bed. Yann Demange and Marc Jobst directed the second series.
The first series won two British Academy Television Awards
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
for Best Drama Serial and Best Writer, three Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Awards and an International Emmy.
Series one
The first series was composed of five episodes, which were broadcast nightly from 30 June to 4 July 2008 on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. The first series starred Ben Whishaw
Ben Whishaw
Benjamin John "Ben" Whishaw is an English actor who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Whishaw is perhaps best known for his breakthrough role as Hamlet, and his role as the lead character in Tom Tykwer's film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.-Early life:Whishaw was born and raised in...
as Ben Coulter, a young man who is accused of murder after a drunken and drug-filled night out, though is unable to remember committing the crime. As well as Whishaw, the show starred Pete Postlethwaite
Pete Postlethwaite
Peter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
, Con O'Neill
Con O'Neill (actor)
Robert "Con" O'Neill is a British actor. He began his acting career at Liverpool's Everyman Youth Theatre....
, Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...
, David Westhead
David Westhead
David Westhead is a British actor. He is notable as having been a member of the regular cast of Criminal Justice, Life Begins, The Lakes and The Time of Your Life...
, Ruth Negga
Ruth Negga
Ruth Negga is an Ethiopian-Irish actress who has starred in Irish films such as Capital Letters , Isolation and Breakfast On Pluto...
and Bill Paterson.
Overview
Ben Coulter takes his parents' black cab out for the night. At a traffic light, a young woman gets into the cab. Despite telling her he does not take fares, she insists on going to the seaside. While there, she offers Ben ecstasyMethylenedioxymethamphetamine
MDMA is an entactogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of drugs. In popular culture, MDMA has become widely known as "ecstasy" , usually referring to its street pill form, although this term may also include the presence of possible adulterants...
, which he accepts. The pair go back to her house, and after sleeping together, Ben awakes downstairs, seeing a knife on the table at which he was sleeping. He goes upstairs to find the girl dead, with a stab wound to the chest.
Police stop Ben after he crashes the taxi in shock. They later find he matches a description given by a neighbour, who saw Ben break into the girl's house to wipe his DNA off the house. They also find a knife in Ben's pocket. He is arrested on suspicion of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
. He is later charged and refused bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
.
Ben spends his first day in prison. He seeks protection from a feared inmate, after being beaten up by Milroy, a feared jailbird. In return for being protected, Ben must smuggle an item past the prison guard. He also re-employs his former lawyer. This episode sees the first appearance of Vineeta Rishi
Vineeta Rishi
Vineeta Rishi , is a British actress of Indian descent.-Biography:Rishi trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and is best known as PC Kapoor on ITV's The Last Detective...
as Frances Kapoor.
Ben's expensive new barrister persuades him to plead self-defence despite his misgivings, he then takes to the witness box before returning to prison and getting into a brawl. Ben's barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, Frances Kapoor, appears to be the only person who believes Ben's pleas of innocence and so tries to free him. However, Ben's solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
persuades him to appeal on the grounds of inappropriate relationship with his (female) barrister, therefore perhaps ruining Frances' career as a barrister. Ben is freed when CCTV evidence is eventually released, of a man who committed another murder in the area on the same night, chasing the girl Ben is accused of killing. Ben wants to withdraw the chamber's inquiry against Frances, but his solicitor says it is too late, as the ball was already rolling, and Ben should get on with his life.
Cast and crew
| Character | Description | Actor |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Coulter | Young teenager, accused of murder after a night out | Ben Whishaw Ben Whishaw Benjamin John "Ben" Whishaw is an English actor who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Whishaw is perhaps best known for his breakthrough role as Hamlet, and his role as the lead character in Tom Tykwer's film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.-Early life:Whishaw was born and raised in... |
| Barry Coulter | Ben's father | David Westhead David Westhead David Westhead is a British actor. He is notable as having been a member of the regular cast of Criminal Justice, Life Begins, The Lakes and The Time of Your Life... |
| Mary Coulter | Ben's mother | Juliet Aubrey Juliet Aubrey Juliet Aubrey is a British actress, best known for her role as Helen Cutter on Primeval .-Career:Aubrey attended to King's College London, where she studied Classics and Archaeology... |
| Melanie Lloyd | The murder victim | Ruth Negga Ruth Negga Ruth Negga is an Ethiopian-Irish actress who has starred in Irish films such as Capital Letters , Isolation and Breakfast On Pluto... |
| Frances Kapoor | Ben's junior defence barrister | Vineeta Rishi Vineeta Rishi Vineeta Rishi , is a British actress of Indian descent.-Biography:Rishi trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and is best known as PC Kapoor on ITV's The Last Detective... |
| Ralph Stone | Ben's solicitor | Con O'Neill Con O'Neill Con O'Neill may refer to:* Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone , King of the Irish* Con O'Neill , British actor* Con O'Neill , British ambassador... |
| Harry Box | Police Detective Superintendent | Bill Paterson |
| Alison Slaughter | Ben's senior defence barrister | Lindsay Duncan Lindsay Duncan Lindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:... |
The series was written by Peter Moffat, and produced by Pier Wilkie. Otto Bathurst directed the first three episodes, with Luke Watson
Luke Watson
Luke Asher Watson is a South African rugby union footballer who can play at flank or eighthman. He has represented and captained the South African Schools rugby team , South Africa's under-19 and under-21 teams, as well as the Springbok Sevens team...
directing the final two.
Ratings
| Date | Episode | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 30 June 2008 | 1 | 5.62 |
| 1 July 2008 | 2 | 4.67 |
| 2 July 2008 | 3 | 5.35 |
| 3 July 2008 | 4 | 5.06 |
| 4 July 2008 | 5 | 5.10 |
Reception
The first series was generally praised by critics, The Sunday Telegraph calling it "nerve-shreddingly exciting". However, the series received complaints from lawyers and solicitors over the way they were portrayed over the five episodes - the character of Stone (played by Con O'Neill) being particularly controversial for his attitude, saying that, in the criminal justice system, "the truth can go to hell."'Sally Kinnes' of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
wrote that Criminal Justice "takes the worn-out formula of the cop show and demonstrates there is something new to be said." and that the show offers an "inventive critique of the criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
system".
'Jasper Rees' of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
calls Criminal Justice a "Great creation," though John Cooper
John Cooper
John Cooper may refer to:* John A. D. Cooper , American physician & educator* John B.R. Cooper , California pioneer* John Cooper, current director of the Sundance Film Festival...
says the series "fails to address the real dilemmas of the criminal justice system." and that there is "little excuse for implausible plot and dialogue." The same paper says the drama has "devastating performances and the stench of authenticity."
Series two
A second series of the drama was commissioned by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and was broadcast from 5–9 October 2009 as part of the BBC's autumn drama line-up. It returned with another five episodes, starring Maxine Peake
Maxine Peake
Maxine Peake is an English stage, film and television actress known for playing Veronica in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless, Twinkle in Victoria Wood's sitcom Dinnerladies, and, most recently, barrister Martha Costello in BBC legal drama Silk.-Early life:Peake is the second of...
as Juliet Miller. The series follows Juliet as she struggles to lead a normal life and, after stabbing her abusive husband, following her trail through the criminal justice system. Matthew Macfadyen
Matthew Macfadyen
David Matthew Macfadyen is an English actor, known for his role as MI5 intelligence officer Tom Quinn in the BBC television drama series Spooks and for starring as Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.In June, 2010 Macfadyen won a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting...
plays Joe, a barrister at the height of his professional powers. He is married to Juliet who is fragile and isolated at home. They have one daughter, 13-year-old Ella, played by Alice Sykes. Other cast members include Sophie Okonedo
Sophie Okonedo
Sophie Okonedo, OBE is a British actress, who has starred both in successful British and American productions. In 1991, she made her acting debut in the British critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama, Young Soul Rebels...
, Denis Lawson
Denis Lawson
Denis Stamper Lawson is a Scottish actor and director. He is known for his roles as John Jarndyce in the BBC's adaptation of Bleak House and as Gordon Urquhart in the film Local Hero, but is best known for playing the part of Wedge Antilles in the original Star Wars trilogy.-Early life:Lawson was...
, Steven MacKintosh
Steven Mackintosh
-Personal life:Mackintosh was born in Cambridge, the son of Dorothy and Malcolm Mackintosh. He has a sister, Lynda Ellingham .He is married to the actress Lisa Jacobs and the couple have two children, Martha and Blythe.-Film:...
, Eddie Marsan
Eddie Marsan
Edward Maurice C. "Eddie" Marsan is an English actor.-Early life:Marsan was born in Stepney, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady and teacher's assistant...
, Zoe Telford
Zoe Telford
-Television:Telford has appeared in the following:Absolute Power, Teachers, Agatha Christie's Poirot - Death on the Nile, Afterlife, Cutting It, The Golden Hour, Lewis, Agatha Christie's Marple - The Sittaford Mystery, as Eva Braun in Hitler: The Rise of Evil, as Abigail Thomas in The Palace, as...
and Kate Hardie
Kate Hardie
Kate Hardie is a British actress, who has appeared in a number of film and television roles.-Biography:Hardie's stage name is derived from those of both her parents: Jean Hart and comedian turned naturalist Bill Oddie.-Career:...
.
Overview
Juliet prepares for her husband, Joe's, return from work. He arrives with flowers and greets wife and daughter but both seem jumpy. Unsettling clues as to what might be going on are revealed and that night, Juliet stabs Joe. She calls the emergency services but leaves the house and her daughter finds Joe seriously injured and removes the knife, before being instructed not to. The police and paramedics take Joe to hospital and Ella is taken to the police station. Juliet eventually arrives at the hospital where Joe is in intensive care and arrested. While in custody, she behaves abnormally, leading her solicitor to question her mental state but admits stabbing Joe in a second interview, without her solicitor.Juliet's solicitor asks that Juliet be released on bail but this is refused due to fears of her absconding or attempting contact with Ella and/or Joe. Ella goes into emergency care but soon moves in with her best friend's family, suffering nightmares about the way she found Joe. She visits Juliet in prison but the visit only makes matters worse, thanks to Juliet's lack of remorse. Her solicitor tries to get Juliet to talk about her and Joe's marriage but get nowhere so her legal team try prompting her. They question if she was raped but that is revealed not to be the case and that she is pregnant. Only after Juliet gives birth to her second daughter and deemed a risk to the baby does she open up about her marriage.
Joe's condition, meanwhile, worsened and he died in hospital. Juliet was charged with murder but pleaded not guilty, due to provocation. She was found not guilty after revealing the domestic abuse she suffered at Joe's hands but did, however, plead guilty to manslaughter.
Cast and crew
| Character | Description | Actor |
|---|---|---|
| Juliet Miller | Fragile and isolated wife | Maxine Peake Maxine Peake Maxine Peake is an English stage, film and television actress known for playing Veronica in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless, Twinkle in Victoria Wood's sitcom Dinnerladies, and, most recently, barrister Martha Costello in BBC legal drama Silk.-Early life:Peake is the second of... |
| Joe Miller | Successful barrister | Matthew Macfadyen Matthew Macfadyen David Matthew Macfadyen is an English actor, known for his role as MI5 intelligence officer Tom Quinn in the BBC television drama series Spooks and for starring as Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.In June, 2010 Macfadyen won a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting... |
| Ella Miller | Daughter to Joe and Juliet | Alice Sykes |
| Jackie Woolf | Juliet's solicitor | Sophie Okonedo Sophie Okonedo Sophie Okonedo, OBE is a British actress, who has starred both in successful British and American productions. In 1991, she made her acting debut in the British critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama, Young Soul Rebels... |
| Anna Klein | Criminal barrister, defending Juliet | Zoe Telford Zoe Telford -Television:Telford has appeared in the following:Absolute Power, Teachers, Agatha Christie's Poirot - Death on the Nile, Afterlife, Cutting It, The Golden Hour, Lewis, Agatha Christie's Marple - The Sittaford Mystery, as Eva Braun in Hitler: The Rise of Evil, as Abigail Thomas in The Palace, as... |
| Bill Faber | Detective Chief Inspector, leading the police investigation | Denis Lawson Denis Lawson Denis Stamper Lawson is a Scottish actor and director. He is known for his roles as John Jarndyce in the BBC's adaptation of Bleak House and as Gordon Urquhart in the film Local Hero, but is best known for playing the part of Wedge Antilles in the original Star Wars trilogy.-Early life:Lawson was... |
| Chris Sexton | Detective Inspector, assisting Faber with the investigation | Steven MacKintosh Steven Mackintosh -Personal life:Mackintosh was born in Cambridge, the son of Dorothy and Malcolm Mackintosh. He has a sister, Lynda Ellingham .He is married to the actress Lisa Jacobs and the couple have two children, Martha and Blythe.-Film:... |
| Flo Sexton | Detective Sergeant, married to Sexton | Kate Hardie Kate Hardie Kate Hardie is a British actress, who has appeared in a number of film and television roles.-Biography:Hardie's stage name is derived from those of both her parents: Jean Hart and comedian turned naturalist Bill Oddie.-Career:... |
| Norma | Social worker | Nadine Marshall |
| Joao | Prison Inmate | Imdad Miah |
| Saul | Clerk, former assistant to Joe Miller and Ella's godfather | Eddie Marsan Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice C. "Eddie" Marsan is an English actor.-Early life:Marsan was born in Stepney, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady and teacher's assistant... |
Peter Moffat wrote the series, with Steve Lightfoot producing. Yann Demange directed the first three episodes, with Marc Jobst directing the final two.
Ratings
| Date | Episode | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 October 2009 | 1 | 4.94 |
| 6 October 2009 | 2 | 5.24 |
| 7 October 2009 | 3 | 4.84 |
| 8 October 2009 | 4 | 4.77 |
| 9 October 2009 | 5 | 5.06 |
Reception
The second series also garnered a positive reception from critics. John Preston of The TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
praised the first episode for successfully ratcheting up the tension with "Hitchcockian precision", and how writer Peter Moffat allowed "the weight of the character's dilemmas to drive the narrative forward". He also acclaimed Maxine Peake's performance as a "marvel".
In The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
Brian Viner hailed the serial as a "well written" and "superbly acted" drama, and noted Moffat's script as "particularly clever" in how it "manipulated [audience] sympathies".
Awards and nominations
Series One- British Academy Television AwardsBritish Academy Television AwardsThe British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
2008- Won Best Drama Serial
- Won Best Writer - Peter Moffat
- Nominated Best Actor - Ben Whishaw
- Nominated Best Director (Fiction/Entertainment) - Otto Bathurst
- Nominated Best Editing (Fiction/Entertainment) - Sarah Brewerton
- International Emmy Awards 2009
- Won Best Performance by an Actor - Ben Whishaw
- Royal Television SocietyRoyal Television SocietyThe Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Awards 2008- Won Best Actor (Male) - Ben Whishaw
- Won Best Music (Original Score) - John LunnJohn LunnJohn Lunn is a British composer, known for his soundtrack work for television. He was formerly a member of "systems music" band Man Jumping....
- Won Best Tape & Film Editing (Drama) - Sarah Brewerton
- Nominated Best Drama Serial
- Nominated Best Writer - Peter Moffat
- Nominated Best Sound (Drama) - Billy Quinn
Series Two
- British Academy Television AwardsBritish Academy Television AwardsThe British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
2010- Won Supporting Actor - Matthew MacFayden
DVD releases
The first series of Criminal Justice is available on DVD. Series Two was released on the 28th December 2009. Both titles are distributed by Acorn Media UKAcorn Media UK
Acorn Media UK is a DVD publisher which distributes and sells home video products with a particular focus on British television.- Company history :The company was founded in 1997 when Lesley Fromant set up a branch of parent company Acorn Media in the UK....
.