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In some respects a kind of riposte to BBC2's cult hit This Life (1996-97;
2006), Peter Moffat's ten-part serial North Square is also a
workplace drama about young and sexy lawyers connected by a single location, in
this case the titular chambers. Stylistically however, with its fast pace, whip
pans and glossy look (although set in Leeds, it never seems to rain there), it
is much more reminiscent of such American series as Ally McBeal (1997-2002),
which is not only referred to directly in one episode but which was also
scheduled directly after North Square when initially broadcast on Channel 4. The
strong language, anti-authoritarian stance and lashings of sex and nudity,
however, are very much typical of the post-watershed dramas made by the channel
to appeal to its target audience of young, middle-income earners.
The barristers are all young, brash, eager and highly ambitious, with the
female lawyers proving to be the toughest - none more so than Rose, who in the
first episode is shown accepting a major case that her partner Billy had turned
down because their baby is due any day. Billy, on the other hand, proves to be
something of a weakling, easily cornered by his ex-clerk Marlowe into revealing
a damaging secret about his colleague Wendy when his own career is put at risk
after he punches a racist barrister. For the most part, the lawyers are
variously shown to be smug, immature and fickle, but most importantly they also
prove to be highly malleable.
In a practically unique move, the focus of the series is actually not on the
photogenic cast of barristers but rather on their profane, grizzled and highly
manipulative senior clerk, Peter McLeish. Philip Davis gives a dazzling, bravura
performance as McLeish, a hugely complex character as likely to make deals with
gangsters as patriotically to quote William Blake and insist on the formal
proprieties of calling barristers 'Sir' and 'Miss' in chambers. In fact, the
series is book-ended by McLeish quoting from Blake's 'Jerusalem' in episode one
and, in the closing instalment, singing it as a lullaby to his barristers as the
chambers celebrates its first anniversary. It is this aspect of the series that
gives it its energy and true distinction as we watch to see whether the
increasingly strained McLeish will succeed in keeping his 'family' together and
beat his arch-rival Marlowe.
Sergio Angelini
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1. Losing streak (4:08)
