Judge John Deed

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Martin Shaw as Judge John Deed

Judge John Deed is a BBC television drama series about a high court judge, created, written and produced by G. F. Newman. It is broadcast on BBC One; each episode is usually 90 minutes long. It was first shown on 9 January 2001.

The show stars Martin Shaw as Sir John Deed, a former barrister who, as a high court judge, tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. He is hampered in this pursuit not only by the participants in the proceedings, but by his ex-wife (barrister 'George'), their rebellious daughter Charlie (initially a law student, but recently progressing into the courts) and his gruff ex-father-in-law Sir Joseph Channing (a senior judge in the Court of Appeal) played by Donald Sinden.

His controversial sexual relationships (with, amongst others: defendants, his relationship counsellor, his daughter's friend, a colleague's wife and particularly another barrister, Jo Mills) and his unorthodox judgements (often based on obscure precedents or alternative interpretations of existing laws) have also led him into trouble with the Lord Chancellor's Department and sometimes with the Home Office and other branches of the government.

The show presents a fictionalised view of the British legal system, featuring unusual judgements and legal twists which would be very unlikely in a real courtroom. Examples include Deed effectively running a manslaughter case, presiding in a case in which both his ex-wife and daughter (as a pupil) appear on different sides, suggesting to a jury that it may wish to reconsider its verdict and publically disagreeing with a sentence in a case, then standing on the appeal bench for that case. It also portrays the Government as exercising far more power over the day to day running of the judiciary than it in fact has.

The latest series was broadcast in January and February 2006. Another series is planned for 2007.