The Bench

This is a very difficult series to review aside from its age. It's much more old fashioned in style, acting, direction and camerawork and the scripts are mundane but realistic.

In fact, the entire series has both a 'real' feel to it as well as a 'stage production' feel.

The closest comparison I can make is the old British 'The Practice' series about a country doctors' practice and their complicated private lives. That series had the same writing, acting and 'feel' as this one which I can't quite explain. Something about the pretentious snobbery and entitlement of most of the main cast and the way the patients and, in this case the criminals, are all portrayed as lesser human beings. There is a kinda soap quality about both series.

In The Brief there is much more of a contrast between the professionals and the clients and not only are all the criminals et al horrible, disgusting people but there aren't any likable characters in the whole show. Except perhaps for Hughes, the only unqualified but excellent Magistrate's clerk, who worked his way up from tea boy. This is brought up on many occasions and it seems to me the writers were making a relevant social and political statement.

The episodes are short and sweet and deal quickly with more than one case at a time. The crimes range from petty to serious but there is no violence or bad language. It's all rather white-washed. But that's refreshing.

Sometime there are repeat offenders but since Amazon Prime showed many of the episodes out of order it was difficult to keep up with the order their offenses were committed and the continuity of some of the briefs' personal lives. It didn't really matter. Each episode was relatively self-contained with the main cases dealt with there and then but many sub-plots were never fully explored and I found myself wondering what might have happened to the suspects or victims.

There was something weirdly enjoyable about the series other than it just being set in Wales but I'm not sure what exactly.

I did notice the background actors were remarkably well directed and always busy doing realistic things quite naturally. That helped create the realism and the fact that they'd already be going about their business before the camera caught sight of them is commendable.

One hopes that people's fate was not decided in such a haphazard and unprofessional manner in the real world at that time but it certainly kept things interesting in this Magistrate's Court.

It's certainly not PC in the 2025 world but I found that delightfully refreshing.

Ended up watching this on Prime as so bored with the gratuitous violence, constant pc storylines, hackneyed plots and tired storylines of current tv shows. Well acted, well scripted, characterful drama which isn't so heavy it depresses you even more in this Covid-19 lockdown. Don't tell me that it's out of date. Petty crime, social misdemeanours, bitching, gossiping, flirting and innuendo, plus a good dose of misogyny and sexism will never go out of date.

Now this programme is almost 20 years old, mysogyny and excess drinking in the office and after hours is rife , with a lot of behaviour which is not acceptable nowadays, it is of its time. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining courtroom drama with spots of comedy. I like it. Maybe someone could produce an up to date version. It is about a magistrates court in wales, showing the trials and tribulations of the court staff, the magistrates themselves and the relationship between the various lawyers and officials who work there .

I watched this on Amazon Prime and all the episodes were out of order. It was really confusing. Amazon needs to fix that. Even when I went to the individual list of episodes there was no way to figure out the proper order.

Having said that, apart from the Des character, I really enjoyed the series. He was a misogynist pig, I don't like the actor, and even though times have changed, it seemed unrealistic that anyone would put up with him. The other thing I found hard to believe is that while waiting for their hearings, people were subjected to Threats from other people. The court didn't protect witnesses at all. I can't believe how criminals were allowed to roam free and attack and intimidate witnesses. Hard to believe that would happen in a real magistrate court.

IMBD and Acorn both have the episodes in the wrong order. Season 2 episodes 9 and 10 clearly take place much earlier in the narrative. The IMDB rota descriptions don't match the stories being shown.

The episodes detailed in the Wikipedia entry for the show are accurate.

The show is interesting in a quiet way- the daily doings of a Welsh magistrate's court near Swansea. The accents are lovely, but I have a soft spot for that accent.

It's dated to an extent- sexist remarks and attitudes, smoking and drinking, so delicate flowers might be shocked. It is very human and moving in the portrayals of the lawyers, magistrates, clerks, security and staff who comprise the series regulars and the desperate witnesses, defendants and family members who show up for a wide variety of cases. The mundane and trivial are examined as much as the dramatic and tragic. It is rather unique.

All of the action takes place in and around the courts and the outside lives of the regulars intrude within those environs. The dynamics between the lawyers vying for clients and partnerships and wins are as compelling as the magistrates jostling for dominance and engaging in political maneuvering while wrestling with decisions that will have real life consequences for those involved. The empathy for those who are victims of circumstance or other people that the regulars show tempers the cynical callousness that must be inevitable for those who are exposed to the pettiness, stupidity and casual cruelty of those whose actions cause pain and grief.

Nobody is particularly heroic, just very human, though some are more sympathetic than others.

Mark Lewis Jones is great as the walking disaster that is Des Davies and Eiry Thomas quietly burns as the woman of strict principals and rigid control tries to manage a relationship with this intransigent Laddiest of Lads.

Lesley Vickerage, who is usually one of my favorites, is annoying and petulant as the beleaguered head clerk suffering from insecurity caused by an ass of a husband and the casual misogyny of the magistrates who are condescending and superior to everyone yet whose approval and respect she craves. Her disdain for thecl Welsh is jarring.

Eluned Jones is wonderful as the most senior female magistrate who oozes pragmatism and treats everyone well but who sometimes seems bewildered by things Phaldut Sharma quietly steals the show as the overachieving child of immigrants who would love to break free of his expected life path, but is too decent to break the hearts of his family. His low key humor is a lethal weapon in the face of the ignorant whose matter of fact racism wanders into his path.

The short episodes resolve each case, while continuing stories involving the regulars evolve over the series and characters from previous cases pop up periodically, kind of like real life.

If you're looking for action or compelling drama, you're in the wrong place, but this view into what appears to be a limited world reveals a whole lot of insight into the human condition without going to extremes.