Judge John Deed

Judge John Deed is a series about a High Court Judge, seen in both his private life (mostly: sleeping with the women he meets in court) and in his court life. The protagonist is nicely played by Martin Shaw, whose pronunciation of English is a wonder to behold, but most of the other characters are one-dimensional cardboard types.

Even more, a court presided by a judge where his ex-wife, his daughter and his mistress plead, accompanied by sinister government schemes in every episode is wholly unrealistic, alas. The earlier seasons where a bit better in this review, but season five and six are horrible. Perhaps the writers ran out of stories.

I did actually work in the judicial sector many moons ago in an administrative role and I saw the day to day workings of the British judicial system. Judge John Deed is an extremely realistic show.

Martin Shaw can play any part and is the perfect choice to play the conservative judge. Each show has focused on Deed's courtroom antics and his private life along with the politics that go hand in hand with the judicial system.

Having worked for the judicial sector, I can tell you that this show is realistic on so many fronts. One thing that Deed has to put up with in this show is bureaucracy and politics from the powers that be and I know that is how the judiciary works. Deed is his own man and interested only in seeing justice served. He isn't interested in politics and advancing his career and will not compromise his principles to get ahead. In each show, he usually has to contend with Sir Ian Rochester, a squirmy little bureaucrat from the Lord Chancellors Department.

The courtroom scenes are fantastic and Deed does everything he can to get to the truth. He does seem to take on the roles of the barristers from time to time but he believes in the truth only.

Deed is a very conservative judge whereas a lot of real life judges in the UK are more liberal than conservative. Deed has no hesitation in punishing those who are guilty but if there are extenuating circumstances, then he will consider the options. Deed realises that the law is not black and white and that there are very grey areas in between.

All in all, a realistic portrayal of life as a senior judge. Check it out.

This is a great legal drama series. The cast is stellar, the dialogue is wonderful, the legal drama is intelligent.

One downside is that the writers limited every courtroom battle to Deed presiding over his ex-wife, his love interest and daughter. The story lines would have been just as compelling even if other barristers had appeared in front of him.

Also, had Deed sabotaged himself in ways other than just sleeping with women who appeared before him, it would have still made for compelling viewing.

Some of the antagonists are written as one dimensional cartoonist villains. There was plenty of scope to make them and their motivations more complex, so we, the audience, could have been more challenged. eg the CEO of the telco acted like a slimy bond villain.

Any programme starring Martin Shaw has to be worth looking at but this one ends up disappointing. In particular, the scripts become increasingly pro forma and stilted as the series proceed. By the final series, Deed's chat-up line, some variation on "I want to make love to you" goes beyond irritating. In fact, the whole gender dynamic is now on the troubling side. What probably seemed sexy and edgy when the series premiered now, in the 2020s sometimes looks more like harassment or stalking. The melodramatic relationship between Deed and Jo Mills reinforces this. With more nuance, it could have been great. As is, though, you just want them both to get over it all. Seagrove, who plays Mills, is given a one-dimensional script so doesn't really get to demonstrate much beyond "passionate character verging on unreason". The various government officials and lackeys who try to interfere with Deed's personal ideas of justice throughout also tend to be one-dimensional although some of them develop more complex characters as the series goes on.

Overall, this show was incredibly successful when it was made, but television has become much more sophisticated since then and Shaw has gone on to better things.

Martin Shaw is once again excellent in an excellent production. I have never been to court, but can imagine that this is a particularly precise example of the British legal system. I have followed Martin Shaw's career over the years, since he was in The Professionals, and whether through chance or good judgement, he seems to choose roles that fit his stature. The writing in this show is excellent, the actors, almost without exception, extremely professional, and the sly humour just leavens the gravity of the courtroom proceedings.