Janus

A decade on and this show stands as an opus of Australian talent and intellect. A gritty human driven drama in the true sense of the word drama. It doesn't need the backdrop of early 21st century forensics as a crutch. Nor does it need Ice T. It is a tragedy Simon Westaway's lead role could not go on more years. The man is a genius, and the crippled Australian film and TV industry is so crippled, the poor guy is reduced to sprewking about 'lost' on network promos. Oh my. I like to remember the gold this show and Pheonix were. I think there should be a remake or a resurrection of some kind with Sergeant Peter Faithful on the nine network, weekly one hour, this show could captivate the nation. A decade on, we are more hungry for quality stalwart series' and viewers would reward Nine's investment. They axed stingers, they need local dramas.

15 years on, this show continues to set the bar higher than any other courtroom/crime drama can achieve. No gratuitous sex, violence, bad language etc. Both the main plot and the "cameo" plots are brilliantly carried out, highlighting both the majesty and the failures of the justice system.

Simon Westaway again plays Peter Faithful from Pheonix, and again is a love-hate character. The Hennesseys are a great characterisation of a certain Melbourne family (and where real life has more recently imitated fiction) One of the all time Aust classics and with Phoenix represent the zenith of police/court/crime drama - no dramatics, just great plots and story lines. Thankfully it is now on DVD and is still brilliant

Janus makes The Practice look like Judge Judy and Judge Judy look like Ally McBeal. There has only ever been one show as compelling and realistic as Janus, Phoenix it's predecessor. Together the two combine to give a complete account of the police and courts in Australia. The corruption, the backroom dealings, the injustice and the never ending tricks used by defense and prosecution to disadvantage the other side. Law & Order, Murder One, LA Law, all these shows are NOTHING compared to Janus. If you get the chance to see even five minutes of this show I suggest you take it, it will be more eye opening than an entire season of any other show out there.

I was living in Hong Kong through the 1980s and 90s, so missed some fine Australian movies and television dramas. However, one morning in 2002 I caught Janus on the ABC at about 3.00am and was totally blown away. I then set up my recorder to tape every episode, even while I was once again overseas. But Dubya invaded Iraq and the resulting non-stop coverage for several weeks pre-empted Janus and my taping went all awry.

Since then I have been able to watch Phoenix (from the same team) on DVD and been highly impressed.

Now Janus has been released on DVD and I have been able to watch the entire first series, including episodes I have not seen previously. It is even better than I recalled. Realism, subtlety, grittiness, the underhanded behaviour of both prosecution and defence lawyers are all there, along with some seriously menacing crims.

What a series. But a word of warning; if your attention span is limited to just ten or 15 minutes, forget it.

This is by far the best legal/courtroom drama I have ever had the pleasure to watch. If you ever have the opportunity to view only one episode of this series I implore you to watch it. Chris Haywood as the barrister Michael Kidd is outstanding and so is the portrayal of Sgt Peter Faithful by Simon Westaway. Westaway after this series became one of the most under utilized actors of the last 20 years and it was great to see him appear recently in the much lauded mini-series Underbelly. Once you have watched Janus, or its equally good predecessor Phoenix, you will have been spoiled for life as no other TV series of this genre can match this gem. The one thing that I recall being unbearable about this show was having to wait another week for the next episode.

I long for a DVD release of this series and I hope that the ABC puts me out of my misery soon. I may not have to wait long as I received the first series of Phoenix two days ago. If only all TV was as of this quality and consistency.

I have just learned that the DVD of the first series of Janus will be available on October 1, 2009. I've already pre-ordered my copy.