"Law & Order" was recently shown on BBC4 as part of that channel's policy of televising classic dramas, often from the seventies. It is a series of four connected plays dealing with the commission of a robbery. It is sometimes said that each of the four stories is told from a different perspective, but this is not quite correct. The first story is told from the perspective of Fred Pyle, the detective investigating the robbery, the second from that of Jack Lynn, a criminal, and the third from that of Alex Gladwell, the solicitor who acts for Lynn when he is accused of involvement in the robbery. The fourth story is again told from the perspective of Lynn, but he is now in jail, having been convicted of the offence.
When originally broadcast in 1978, the series was highly controversial because of author G F Newman's obviously jaundiced view of the police, the legal system, the prison system, and anyone connected with them. The police are shown as corrupt. Pyle is an amoral character who will do anything to obtain a conviction, including falsifying evidence. The only criminals whom Pyle does not want to prosecute are those who are prepared to pay him backhanders in exchange for immunity, or those whom he can persuade to give evidence against their fellows. He does not really care whether their evidence is true or false, so long as it will convince a jury. He is not in fact particularly concerned about whether the defendant is in fact guilty or innocent; Lynn, for example, was not involved in the robbery for which he was convicted, and Pyle knows it.
The prison staff are shown as brutal and prepared to use violence against prisoners at the least provocation, something which the prison governor tacitly encourages. Gladwell poses as a radical lawyer, but is in fact a cynical opportunist, prepared to act for both police and criminals if the price is right. He acts as Lynn's defence solicitor, or "brief", but does not mention to him that he is a friend of Pyle, the police officer who is trying to "fit him up" for the robbery. (The criminal fraternity tend to refer to all lawyers as "briefs", although strictly speaking the term is only applicable to barristers).
Newman was predictably denounced by the Establishment; some MPs went to far as to demand that he be prosecuted for sedition. (A ridiculous demand; the offence of sedition, which has since been abolished, required a direct incitement to disorder and violence). He was frequently referred to as a "left-wing playwright", although he himself has said that he does not identify with either the Left or the Right. Moreover, unlike some leftists, he never attempts to romanticise or sentimentalise criminals, or even to make excuses for them. Lynn has not been forced into a life of crime by unemployment or poverty; he has deliberately chosen that lifestyle because it affords him a higher standard of living than working honestly. (We learn that he owns a house worth £25,000, at a time when the average price was around £15,000).
Newman's dialogue is mostly written in a colourful Cockney vernacular; those not familiar with criminal slang may have difficulty following some of what is said. I am a lawyer myself, and even I learned a few new terms. (Criminals usually refer to informers by the familiar term "grass", but the policemen in the series tend to prefer "snout", which was new to me).
Another feature of the series is how cold and uninviting everywhere seems. You wouldn't expect a prison to be visually attractive, but the police station, Gladwell's office, the London streets and even Lynn's home seem equally dull and colourless. I had forgotten just how drab Callaghan's Britain could be.
There are three excellent performances in the main roles- from Ken Campbell as the sly, foxy Gladwell and from Peter Dean as the thuggish hard-man Lynn, full of righteous indignation over the fact that he has been convicted of a crime that he did not commit, but overlooking he has gone unpunished for numerous crimes, some of them involving violence, that he did commit. The best, in my view, is that from Derek Martin as the shamelessly corrupt Pyle, a man who is as great a threat to law and order in Britain as an overt villain like Lynn.
My main criticism of the series is that Newman tends to overstate his case. There doubtless were bent coppers and vicious prison officers in seventies Britain; Newman, however, does not seem to believe that there were any decent or honourable ones. Overall, however, this is a powerful and gripping drama, well overdue for its recent re-airing on BBC4. 7/10.
