Koch Vision

Release date: Dec 4, 2007

SRP: $39.98

Stars: John Hannah, Paul Freeman, John Thomson,

John Hannah stars in this BBC series about lawyers. Within one episode I was hooked. Hannah plays Jack Roper, a barrister who after working with an old school established firm has started his own firm with a group of likeminded folks. They handle defense cases mainly, but also due to
money problems pick up a variety of other cases.

The interesting thing about this was the differences in the British legal system to that in the US. From what I gather, a solicitor is hired by the client who in turn hires a barrister to do the actual legal case. The people that Roper is working with are in basement offices in the same building as the people he used to work for. The head of the other firm is none too happy about Roper leaving and they become rivals in court more often than not. Paul Freeman as Laurence Scammel does a almost too convincing job as the stuffy egotistic Barrister with a grudge. The show also features Don Warrington as a judge who appears in qite a few episodes, and I have to say every scene with him is pure gold.

What I really enjoy about the show is that while it would be really easy to turn Hannah’s character into a clichéd whiney idealistic lawyer they manage to avoid it and instead he comes across as someone who truly wants to seek the truth and help people.

The variety of cases handled in season one keep things interesting, a television personality in the twilight of his career accused of sexual misconduct in the headlines of a tabloid paper, a young man with a history with Roper on trail for a murder, custody cases, a shoplifter who uses her looks to get away with crimes.

With the exception of Boston Legal I’ve reached a saturation point with the US lawyer programs. I can’t even watch Law and Order anymore because Sam Waterston is such a self righteous ego maniac. This is a show that makes me remember why I like legal dramas.

Season one weighs in at 466 minutes on three discs. There is also a season two available and we will be reviewing that very soon.

For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.