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Judge John Deed

2001

Seasons & Episodes

  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0

EP1 War Crimes (1) Jan 09, 2007

Deed's involvement in the case of a far-right British National Party councilor brings him to the notice of terrorists who decide to send a woman to kill him. When the assassin meets Deed, she has a surprise in store, but she still plans to carry out her orders. Meanwhile, The Lord Chancellor sends Deed to sit on an International Tribunal in the Hague, as the British government sees him as a mischief maker at home. Deed finds himself judging the case of a British soldier accused of war crimes by killing eleven Iraqi civilians.

EP2 War Crimes (2) Jan 11, 2007

Continuing the story of a war crimes trial in The Hague. Deed finds the defendant is a victim of the British government's attempts to develop an exit strategy out of the continuing occupation of Iraq by western forces, and he has to balance the interests of justice against the possibility of saving British lives.

EP3 Evidence of Harm (1) Jan 16, 2007

Deed risks a constitutional crisis in pursuit of justice for a soldier?s family. Jo Mills asks him to review the withdrawal of Legal Aid funding in the case of the soldier, who committed suicide after being made ill by vaccines given to him by the British Army. Deed is reluctant, as the case has been heard and closed by another judge. His only course is to accuse the other judge of bias. When he does so, he causes consternation in the British government.

EP4 Evidence of Harm (2) Jan 18, 2007

Deed delves deeper into why funding for the soldier to sue the pharmaceutical company was withdrawn and makes ever more sinister discoveries. Then the forces of reaction move to stop him.
7.7| 0h30m| NR| en
Synopsis

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. All six series have been released on DVD in the UK.

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Reviews

Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?
CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Parker Lewis One of the criticisms of Judge John Deed is its lack of realism, but look, Judge John Deed isn't a documentary. It's entertainment of course but all credit to creator G.F. Newman for using the series to explore social issues, and the power of the government, as well as corruption and cronyism amongst the elite.It's a show where not all the good guys win, but some of the bad guys do unfortunately. Sure Judge Deed has some flaws in his relationships and love life but that doesn't stop him from seeking justice for the underprivileged and those who don't have the money and power to have a voice to stand up for themselves.One thing that fascinated me was the guest house that Judge John Deed lodged in when hearing cases. I'd like to know more about the staff working in the lodge - the cooks, the cleaners, etc. These are the people who keep the guest house in order and keep their honors comfortable.
TheLittleSongbird I saw Judge John Deed as I like legal dramas and I love Martin Shaw. Judge John Deed is not bad, but it is not perfect. And I admit I prefer Rumpole of the Bailey and Kavanagh QC. Judge John Deed is wonderfully photographed and the locations and scenery are stunning, and the music is great. In the first four seasons or so, the writing has in general been excellent and the stories are engrossing, with exception of the baby episode which is easily one of the weaker episodes for me. And the acting is fine, Martin Shaw is brilliant in the title role, and he has a good chemistry with the lovely Jenny Seagrove who plays Jo, while the direction is pretty solid and the courtroom scenes on the whole compelling. However, I do have to agree that some parts of Judge John Deed is unrealistic such as the sinister government schemes, making Deed a womaniser and such. Also the pacing can be a little slow at times, and in seasons 5 and 6 the writing and story lines sadly aren't as strong, with the writing lacking the intelligence of the earlier seasons and the stories becoming a tad unoriginal and repetitive. And there were some characters that came across as cardboard, on occasions Judge John Deed and Jo are the only well-developed characters. To conclude, it is good thanks to Shaw, but it has lost its quality. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Thorsten-Krings Okay: we have a judge who takes the law into his own hands in terms of manipulating court cases. I wouldn't want to appear in court when he presides. His eco-warrior daughter keeps getting in trouble which daddy irons out by pulling strings in the legal world. The message seems to be that there is a law for common people and for Jugde Deed. Apart from the fact that part of bringing up a child is making him/ her to accept responsibility. So he is not the nicest person on earth. Shaw acts fairly extrovert. Overall you get the impression it's Shaw's character Doyle acting as a judge. You keep expecting a silver Capri to appear. In fact it's a silver Porsche. His womanizing is completely over the top. The stories are fairly boring but the insights in the British legal system are interesting.
Sulla-2 The person who stated that this is s realistic portray of the British legal system is surely being sarcastic. Having experienced the workings of the Courts ( not as an offender I might add) I believe that Rumpole of the Bailey is far more realistic and far more enjoyable. It certainly doesn't take itself as seriously as this silly programme. Judge John Deed,( actually played reasonably well by Martin Shaw ) is a smug, pompous, stupid hypocrite who is a loose canon in the judicial system. I am amazed that the writer would think that such a man would ever be made a judge which is normally a role reserved for boring failed barristers. He continually does the job of the barristers by conducting most of the witness questioning himself. He is also having a sexual liaison with a female barrister who tends to conduct most of the cases in his court ! Some of his judgements are also farcical.In his spare time he helps his daughter escape being prosecuted for the odd felony