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Co-devised by barrister Helena Kennedy, this bold and incisive series looks
at the 1980s through the experiences of a group of idealistic, politically
motivated lawyers from what is sometimes referred to as the 'radical bar'. Peter
Flannery's scripts tackle racism, police brutality and the Official Secrets Act,
analysing the intervention of the government into the private lives of its
citizens and the ways that personal freedom has been eroded.
The first two episodes focus on Katherine Hughes, an outspoken feminist (and
Marxism Today reader), who eventually joins Fetter Court, a left-wing chambers
set up by Frank Cartwright and James Bingham. Cartwright (beautifully
underplayed by Jack Shepherd) is the most senior barrister in chambers, while
the upper-class yet liberal Bingham is viewed with understandable suspicion. The
two men take the limelight in episode three, which looks at the powerful
legislation used in dealing with potential IRA suspects and at the underhand
tactics of Special Branch. The fourth episode sees Katherine defending a man
charged with murdering the stepdaughter he was abusing and pimping. The scene
where she makes the stepfather (an uncompromising, utterly convincing
performance by Brian Pringle) confess to his abuse by holding and soothing him
is a series highpoint.
Although it is extremely earnest, flashes of black humour leaven the series'
tone. In most episodes, a man is driven to remove his clothes in public acts of
frustration reminiscent of the title sequence of The Fall and Rise of Reginald
Perrin (BBC, 1976-79), while one episode begins with American tourists gazing in
horror as a nun is apparently made to remove her underwear in the back of a
speeding police car.
Born of a sense of righteous indignation at the manifest iniquities of the
British legal system and the devious practices of government and the
authorities, Blind Justice generally approaches its stories with credibility as
well as seriousness. Not unsurprisingly, therefore, it concludes with the defeat
of its main characters, after unsuccessfully trying to take on the secret state.
In its final scene, Katherine stares directly into the camera and says: "Here's
what I believe - in England we've forgotten the meaning of liberty. That's why
we don't care about justice."
While the level of complex debate engendered by the decision to focus on a
trio of genuinely socialist yet middle/upper-class lawyers now seems (sadly)
unlikely in today's television drama, the issues Blind Justice confronts remain
topical and relevant.
Sergio Angelini
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1. Justice in court (2:22)
