Judge John Deed
Encyclopedia
Judge John Deed is a British legal drama
television series produced by the BBC
in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One
. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw
as Sir John Deed, a High Court
judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars Jenny Seagrove
as the barrister
Jo Mills, 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, 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 six series produced make it the longest-running BBC legal drama.
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 duty. Another episode led to complaints about biased and incorrect information about the MMR vaccine
, leading the BBC to ban repeats of it in its original form. The first five series have been released on DVD in the UK.
) 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
, who regularly appears in his court. Deed is described by creator and writer G.F. Newman as a character that "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 (played by Caroline Langrishe
); her father Sir Joseph Channing (played by Sir Donald Sinden
), Sir Monty Everard (played by Simon Ward
), the Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department
(LCD, later Department of Constitutional Affairs); Sir Ian Rochester (played by Simon Chandler
); and later the Home Secretary
Neil Haughton MP (played by Aneirin Hughes
).
Other recurring characters include Deed's rebellious, activist daughter Charlie (played by Louisa Clein
), who is initially a law student but later progresses to the courts; Deed's friend, police commissioner Row Colemore (played by Christopher Cazenove
); and his clerk, Rita "Coop" Cooper (played by Barbara Thorn
), who is often on hand to talk him out of his more ludicrous ideas. 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 shifted to a serialised format, with cases running over a number of episodes and a greater focus on the personal lives of characters other than Deed.
" 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 it would provoke questions in the House of Commons like Law and Order did.
Sets were constructed on the soundstages at Bushey
, Hertfordshire
for the courtroom, Deed's chambers and the main character's 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
building in The Hague
) 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
. 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
.
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 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.
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
. Occasionally, due to a clash with regional programming, it has aired at different times on BBC One Scotland; 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 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
and BBC Prime
. In 2004, Variety
reported an American remake was set to be produced for NBC
; Michael Chernuchin was to produce the series, which would follow a federal court judge in Washington, D.C.
who would preside over terrorism and civil rights cases. There have been no further developments since the announcement was made in 2004.
's Screenonline
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 practice 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
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".
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
.
Television pundits have criticised the writing of the programme; Robert Hanks of The Independent
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" (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
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" 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 incestual 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
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 to the ladies. These are chappishly called Georgie, Charlie, Jo and—when Rita defies abbreviation—Coop".
Awards, though lost to an episode of Doctors
.
The pilot and first series received a North American release on 9 March 2010.
Legal drama
A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...
television 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...
in association with One-Eyed Dog for 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...
. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw
Martin Shaw
Martin Shaw is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in shows such as The Professionals, The Chief, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently.-Theatrical background:...
as Sir John Deed, a High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars Jenny Seagrove
Jenny Seagrove
Jennifer Ann Seagrove is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and rose to fame playing the lead in a TV dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance and the 1983 film Local Hero...
as the 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...
Jo Mills, 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, 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 six series produced make it the longest-running BBC legal drama.
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 duty. Another episode led to complaints about biased and incorrect information about the MMR vaccine
MMR vaccine
The MMR vaccine is an immunization shot against measles, mumps, and rubella . It was first developed by Maurice Hilleman while at Merck in the late 1960s....
, leading the BBC to ban repeats of it in its original form. The first five series have been released on DVD in the UK.
Premise
Sir John Deed (played by Martin ShawMartin Shaw
Martin Shaw is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in shows such as The Professionals, The Chief, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently.-Theatrical background:...
) is a recently-appointed High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
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
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, who regularly appears in his court. Deed is described by creator and writer G.F. Newman as a character that "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 (played by Caroline Langrishe
Caroline Langrishe
Caroline Langrishe is an English actress.In 1976, Langrishe appeared in the BBC production of The Glittering Prizes. In 1977 she played the role of Kitty in a BBC adaptation of Anna Karenina. Her first big part was in the 1978 British adaption of Les Misérables...
); her father Sir Joseph Channing (played by Sir Donald Sinden
Donald Sinden
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden CBE is an English actor of theatre, film and television.-Personal life:Sinden was born in Plymouth, Devon, England, on 9 October 1923. The son of Alfred Edward Sinden and his wife Mabel Agnes , he grew up in the Sussex village of Ditchling, where their home doubled as the...
), Sir Monty Everard (played by Simon Ward
Simon Ward
Simon Ward is an English stage and film actor.-Early life:Simon Ward was born in Beckenham, Kent, near London, the son of a car dealer. From an early age he wanted to be an actor. He was educated at Alleyn's School, London, the home of the National Youth Theatre, which he joined at age 13 and...
), the Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department
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....
(LCD, later Department of Constitutional Affairs); Sir Ian Rochester (played by Simon Chandler
Simon Chandler
Simon Chandler is an English television actor; his career began in 1976, and more recently he usually plays senior establishment characters such as Members of Parliament or senior civil servants. He has appeared in lead roles in Judge John Deed and other dramas, as well as appearing in theatre...
); and later the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
Neil Haughton MP (played by Aneirin Hughes
Aneirin Hughes
Aneirin Hughes born , is a Welsh television and film actor and a singer.Born in Aberystwyth in Wales as Aneurin Hughes, Hughes studied music at the University College of Wales Aberystwyth under Professor Ian Parrott. As a student Hughes's first acting experience was gained when he appeared in...
).
Other recurring characters include Deed's rebellious, activist daughter Charlie (played by Louisa Clein
Louisa Clein
Louisa Miranda Clein is a British actress. Her mother is a professional violinist, her sister is the cellist Natalie Clein and her cousin is the author Julia Pascal. Clein played viola as a youth and was a violist with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in 1995-1996.Clein is a 2000...
), who is initially a law student but later progresses to the courts; Deed's friend, police commissioner Row Colemore (played by Christopher Cazenove
Christopher Cazenove
Christopher Cazenove was an English cinema, television and stage actor.-Early life and career:He was born Christopher de Lerisson Cazenove, the son of Arnold de Lerisson Cazenove and Elizabeth Laura in Winchester, Hampshire, but was brought up in Bowlish, Somerset...
); and his clerk, Rita "Coop" Cooper (played by Barbara Thorn
Barbara Thorn
Barbara Thorn is an actor based in Britain.She is known for playing the role of Inspector Christine Frazer in the long running ITV drama The Bill and Rita "Coop" Cooper in the BBC legal drama series Judge John Deed.-External links:...
), who is often on hand to talk him out of his more ludicrous ideas. 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 shifted to a serialised format, with cases running over a number of episodes and a greater focus on the personal lives of characters other than Deed.
Production
Newman devised his new series to highlight what he believed to be an out-of-touch judiciary and show "solutions" (a style that differed from his previous work, such as his 1970s series Law and Order, which was heavily critical of the police). 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 genrePolice procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
" by moving the story from a "maverick detective" to a high court judge, though as a comparison to Newman's previous work, a Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
writer called it "rather soft" and doubted it would provoke questions in the House of Commons like Law and Order did.
Sets were constructed on the soundstages at Bushey
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
for the courtroom, Deed's chambers and the main character's houses. Exterior court scenes were filmed at the Crown Court in Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
. 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
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
building in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
) 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
Debbie Wiseman MBE is a composer for film and television. She studied at Trinity College of Music Junior Department, and then piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama....
. The music, entitled "Judge John Deed", was performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national 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
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
.
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 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
Alan Hunter (author)
Alan Hunter was an English author of crime fiction. All of his 46 novels feature Inspector George Gently and are mainly set in East Anglia....
'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
BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...
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 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...
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
BBC HD is a high-definition television network 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...
. Occasionally, due to a clash with regional programming, it has aired at different times on BBC One Scotland; 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 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
BBC Canada is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel. It presents programming primarily from the BBC. BBC Canada is a joint venture between Shaw Media and BBC Worldwide.-Programming:Main article: List of programs broadcast by BBC Canada...
and BBC Prime
BBC Prime
BBC Prime was the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe and the Middle East from 30 January 1995 until 11 November 2009, when it was replaced by BBC Entertainment.-Launch:...
. In 2004, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
reported an American remake was set to be produced for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
; Michael Chernuchin was to produce the series, which would follow a federal court judge in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
who would preside over terrorism and civil rights cases. There have been no further developments since the announcement was made in 2004.
Depiction of law
Judge John Deed presents a fictionalised version of the English legal system. The British Film InstituteBritish Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
's Screenonline
Screenonline
Screenonline is a Web site devoted to the history of British film and television, and to social history as revealed 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 Lottery New Opportunities Fund.Reviews...
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 practice 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
CSI Effect
The CSI effect, also known as the CSI syndrome and the CSI infection, is any of several ways in which the exaggerated portrayal of forensic science on crime television shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation influences public perception...
); in the second Damilola Taylor
Damilola Taylor
Damilola Taylor was a ten-year-old Nigerian schoolboy who died in the United Kingdom. Several young boys were cleared of murder charges after a lengthy trial, and later two brothers were convicted of manslaughter....
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 TETRATetra
thumb|right|250px|Pristella tetra — [[Pristella maxillaris]].thumb|right|250px|Golden Pristella tetra, a [[morph |morph]] of [[Pristella maxillaris]].thumb|right|250px|[[Silvertip tetra]] — Hasemania nana....
radio emissions and motor neurone disease. Statements were released by the TETRA Industry Group and the MND Association
Motor Neurone Disease Association
The Motor Neurone Disease Association is a British charity, operating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, established in 1979 by a group of volunteers to coordinate care, support, and research for people affected by motor neurone disease .The aim of the MND Association is a world free of MND.The...
, 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
MMR vaccine
The MMR vaccine is an immunization shot against measles, mumps, and rubella . It was first developed by Maurice Hilleman while at Merck in the late 1960s....
and autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
, 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 Wakefield
Andrew Wakefield is a British former surgeon and medical researcher, known as an advocate for the discredited claim that there is a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, autism and bowel disease, and for his fraudulent 1998 research paper in support of that claim.Four years after...
.
Television pundits have criticised the writing of the programme; Robert Hanks of 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...
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" (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
Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is the best known of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth and Rampton...
, at which point the man stood up and started protesting vociferously". The series is frequently lampooned for its dialogue and unlikely scenarios. Andy Hamilton
Andy Hamilton
Andrew Neil Hamilton is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter and radio dramatist.-Early life:...
called the dialogue "the funniest on TV" and David Mitchell
David Mitchell (actor)
David James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the...
selected it as his "TV hell" in the series TV Heaven, Telly Hell
TV Heaven, Telly Hell
TV Heaven, Telly Hell is a comedy television show on Channel 4, presented and produced by Sean Lock. The format is similar to Room 101, with guests discussing their likes and dislikes of items on television....
. Deed's "swashbuckling" persona has been satirised on the sketch series Dead Ringers
Dead Ringers (comedy)
Dead Ringers is a UK radio and television comedy impressions broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and later BBC Two. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. It starred Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell, Kevin Connelly and Mark Perry...
. 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 incestual relationships.
The production style also rates highly; writing in The Guardian, Mark Lawson
Mark Lawson
Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author.-Life and career:Born in Hendon, London, Lawson was raised in Yorkshire and is a Leeds United fan. He was educated at St Columba's College in St Albans and took a degree in English at University College London, where his lecturers...
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
Nancy Banks-Smith is a British television critic; she began writing for The Guardian in 1969. In 1970 she was recommended for the Order of the British Empire, which she declined.*1951- 1955: Northern Daily Telegraph, reporter...
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 to the ladies. These are chappishly called Georgie, Charlie, Jo and—when Rita defies abbreviation—Coop".
Awards 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 NationScreen Nation
The Screen Nation Film & TV Awards was founded in 2003 by , as a platform to raise the profile of black British and international film and television talent....
Awards, though lost to an episode of Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
.
DVD 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.The pilot and first series received a North American release on 9 March 2010.
External links
- Judge John Deed at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- Judge John Deed at the British Film InstituteBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...