Judge John Deed

I am rather disappointed as the series unfolds. What started as something very special and believable, is turning into a total farce. When I say "what started" I mean when I started to watch it, I have no idea what episode it was, actually I did only watch one or two episodes at first, and much latter got involved more regularly with it. But the last episode I watched was a case against animal right protest people who seemed to have maliciously planted a bomb in some animal lab resulting in someone's death. The problem with accepting so many side stories with the case is that eventually the case seems secondary to the stories. And the whole show seems bogged in a lot of superficial gossip material that does very little to entertain me. Just try this for evaluation. A judge has in his court for a murder trial his inexperienced and not really qualified daughter left in charge of the defense, occasionally helped by HIS deserting mistress - and here we're supposed to be talking about a Conservative judge! This is rather worrying - are we going to end up with judge john Days-of-our-life? There is no doubt about Martin Shaw's charisma. He is very good. I imagine, with series, directors and writers have to stretch beyond themselves and their talent for the show to go on. What a pity!

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.

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.

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.

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