Law & Order

Nearly forty years (!) after its initial release, 'G.F Newman's Law & Order' shocked contemporary audiences with an uncompromising account of corruption and malpractice (or standard practice?) within the police force, courts and prison systems. Banned for forty years after a storm of contraversy in Parliament and media - at one point there was serious debate on prosecuting Newman for sedition - this mini-series was recently screened on BBC 4, a year or two after a long overdue release on DVD.

I cannot recommend it highly enough. Centring on three characters - the cunning, animalistic 'thief taker' DI Fred Pyall (Derek Martin); cock of the walk local hard man/blagger Jack Lynn (Peter Deane), a family man with a mean streak, now target for Pyall's machinations; amoral solicitor Alex Gladwell (Ken Campbell) who cheerfully advises, and takes backhanders from, crook and copper alike - and, yes, the distinction is that thin, especially from a trio of actors on top form.

Perhaps it sounds terribly clichéd these days but trust me it is not. It puts the average cop pot boiler hystronics firmly in the shade. Obviously, many things have changed since the original broadcast - but not without much scandal and contraversy, despite fierce criticsm from the naysayers at the time.

This mini-series should be compulsary for every police officer, lawyer, law student, journalist and filmmaker. G.F.N's Law & Order did what good television should do - ask disquieting questions and spark an overdue debate.