Switching on to law

The law has long been a source of both comedy and drama for television producers.

But such programmes should educate as well as entertain, reports Victoria MacCallum

Lawyers have always been a particularly television-friendly profession.

From the high moral stance of Atticus Finch to the surreal antics of 'Ally McBeal' 50 years later, no film, soap or drama has been complete without a token 'legal eagle' - as they are called, with monotonous regularity.

'LA Law', one of the seminal legal dramas in the US, was recently resurrected for a two-hour special - featuring almost all the original cast - which was shown last month in the US.

The show gained surprisingly good reviews - one reviewer gushed that 'it was like coming home to an old friend' - and it not only harked back to the 1980s 'greed is good' ethos of Bonfire of the Vanities and 'Wall Street', but also highlighted the gaping differences between the British depiction of lawyers on TV, and that of our programme-makers across the pond.

Where fictional US lawyers have tended to be glamorous mavericks, British scriptwriters have more often than not made use of the arcane class system and practices still prevalent in many areas of the law.

One of the first legal drama series, 'Rumpole of the Bailey' (which was first aired in 1978), focused on the bibulous and eccentric criminal defence barrister Horace Rumpole, played by Leo McKern from the character in Sir John Mortimer's books.

Drawing heavily on the various eccentric characters in Rumpole's chambers and the enduring quirks of the English criminal justice system, the series created a template for future legal TV programmes in this country.

More recent attempts to portray the world of law on TV have included the late John Thaw as 'Kavanagh QC', the ground-breaking 'This Life' on BBC2, Channel 4's short-lived barristers' drama 'North Square' and Martin Shaw's role as 'Judge John Deed'.

So why is the legal profession such a fecund area for TV writers and producers?

'The law provides a wealth of fantastic human drama,' explains Clive Coleman, a qualified barrister and now a full-time comedy writer, best known for his Radio 4 and BBC1 sitcom 'Chambers'.

'The people who come through a solicitor's office or a set of chambers are dealing with the big human issues: family problems, crime, property, money.

There's always a huge amount at stake, and the cases are often incredibly complex and tortuous, which lends itself equally well to comedy or drama.'

'Chambers' revolves around a barristers' set - including the amoral head of chambers John Fuller-Carp (played by John Bird in the TV series) - and Mr Coleman admits that the bar is often a richer source of material than the solicitors' profession.

'Firstly, the performance element of barristers in court can often be very funny,' he maintains.

'Also, you often find the remnants of the British class system in evidence at the bar, and there are a number of bizarre and theatrical rituals that regularly go on.'

He names, as an example from his own practising days, a popular game where barristers challenge one another to get certain unlikely words into their speeches in court.

This found its way into an episode of 'Chambers' where one character fitted the entire cast of 'EastEnders' into his closing argument.

Although the essence of good legal TV springs direct from the courtroom or solicitor's office, Mr Coleman is ambivalent about the need for nuts-and-bolts legal accuracy.

'At first, I was terribly precious about the details of my scripts, and tried to ensure that everything was accurate to a fault,' he says.

'But then I realised that drama is there to entertain.

As long as the programme has the scent of authenticity and is accurate enough for people to believe that the events could have happened, then it really doesn't matter if the robes or wigs aren't exactly right.'

He cites as a recent example 'Judge John Deed', the BBC1 series about the all-drinking, all-dancing, sensitive-yet-strong judge who goes to the gym, stands up to corrupt policeman and is also kind to pets.

'In many ways, the programme was absurd.

Many of the things it portrayed could simply never have happened,' he says.

'But the reason that it worked [it rated high viewing figures and the Guardian, for example, called it 'entertaining and occasionally moving'] was because it was authentic enough for people to believe in, and they thought that there actually could be a rogue libertarian judge on the bench in this country.'

Solicitor Roger Ede, a criminal law specialist now in the international policy division at the Law Society, agrees about the need for dramas to entertain rather than simply document, but argues that TV also has a duty to its viewers.

'The majority of people who watch soaps and television shows don't know much about legal procedure, and this is how they learn about it,' he says.

'Although television is there to entertain, it's also an excellent medium to educate people and so accuracy is vital.'

Ensuring accuracy is where people like Mr Ede come in - since 1994 he has dispensed legal advice to the Radio 4 soap 'The Archers'.

One of the first storylines he advised on was the imprisonment of Susan Carter, who was locked up in 1994 for helping her brother to escape from jail.

'Initially, the writers were going to give her a non-custodial sentence, but I told them that the courts see aiding and abetting as a serious offence, and she would most likely get a spell in jail.'

The controversial storyline made headlines and caused the then Home Secretary, Michael Howard, to claim that if he had been presiding in the case, he would not have sent the character to jail.

'It was important to get the sentence right, because when viewers see fictional characters treated a certain way in court, many automatically believe that to be the reality,' he says.

'I've got 15 years' experience of criminal law, which comes in very handy for ensuring accuracy.'

More and more TV shows have woken up to the importance of accuracy, and most have legal advisors on hand to provide help.

Leigh Roberts, a script researcher on 'EastEnders', is in charge of checking the details of every legal storyline, from Little Mo Slater's murder trial to the notorious Phil Mitchell shooting incident last year.

'I qualified as a solicitor myself, which is invaluable,' she says.

'Every word of dialogue that is said during police interviews or courtroom scenes has to be checked for accuracy.

I try to do much of it myself, or go to old contacts who give me free advice.'

Although advising a TV show sounds glamorous and is doubtless good dinner party conversation, Mr Ede says it also carries a heavy responsibility.

'If a character in a soap is prosecuted for domestic violence and gets off with a light sentence, then that may discourage a viewer from making a complaint to the police themselves.'

So lawyers on TV, both in front of and behind the cameras, continue to play a high-profile role.

From the drug-taking shenanigans of 'This Life' to the nail-biting climaxes of 'Kavanagh QC', although lawyers may not be one of the best-loved professions, they are certainly one of the best publicised.