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Judge John Deed
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 Mr Justice 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 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), 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.
Sir John Deed (played by Martin Shaw) 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 Jenny Seagrove), who regularly appears in his court. Deed is described by creator and writer G.F. Newman 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); her father, Appeals Court Judge Lord Justice (Sir Joseph) Channing (played by Sir Donald Sinden); fellow High Court Judges Mr Justice (Sir Monty) Everard (played by Simon Ward) 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 (LCD, later Department of Constitutional Affairs), Sir Ian Rochester (played by Simon Chandler); and later the Home Secretary Neil Haughton MP (played by Nick Reding and later Aneirin Hughes).
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.
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, 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 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, 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 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 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.
Judge John Deed regularly formed the backbone of the BBC One winter schedule. The pilot and first series were broadcast on Tuesdays at 8 p.m., with the second, third and fourth series moving to Thursdays (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.
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Judge John Deed
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 Mr Justice 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 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), 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.
Sir John Deed (played by Martin Shaw) 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 Jenny Seagrove), who regularly appears in his court. Deed is described by creator and writer G.F. Newman 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); her father, Appeals Court Judge Lord Justice (Sir Joseph) Channing (played by Sir Donald Sinden); fellow High Court Judges Mr Justice (Sir Monty) Everard (played by Simon Ward) 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 (LCD, later Department of Constitutional Affairs), Sir Ian Rochester (played by Simon Chandler); and later the Home Secretary Neil Haughton MP (played by Nick Reding and later Aneirin Hughes).
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.
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, 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 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, 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 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 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.
Judge John Deed regularly formed the backbone of the BBC One winter schedule. The pilot and first series were broadcast on Tuesdays at 8 p.m., with the second, third and fourth series moving to Thursdays (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.