JUDGE JOHN DEED  -  MARTIN SHAW

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FACT FILE

• Judge John Deed first appeared in a pilot episode in January 2001. It proved a hit with critics and viewers, and the first series followed in November 2001.
  
  

• Two further series of four stories followed in the autumns of 2002 and 2003, followed by two series of 6x90 minute episodes in January 2005 and 2006.
  

• The programme is shot entirely on a purpose-built set in Hertfordshire.
  
  

• Judge John Deed is writen and produced by BAFTA award-winning GF Newman, whose previous credits include BBC series Law and Order and Channel 4's The Nation's Health.

He looks like a good Judge of things

Martin Shaw reprises his ever popular and critically acclaimed role of John Deed, the judge who is not afraid to question the establishment, in a new series broadcast in January and February 2006.

Shaw's returning co-stars include Jenny Seagrove as the dedicated barrister Jo Mills, Caroline Langrishe as Deed's trouble stirring ex-wife George, Sir Donald Sinden as his father-in-law, 'old school' judge Sir Joseph Channing and Louisa Clein as his defiant daughter Charlie, who is embarking on her own legal career.

This series, Deed's life is thrust into turmoil when his sometime lover, Jo Mills, accepts a marriage proposal from Marc Thompson (Adrian Lukis). It leads to Deed letting his personal feelings get in the way of duty, adding further strain to his relationship with Jo and making him question his professional ability.

Deed takes every opportunity to try to convince Jo that Marc isn't the one for her and he pleads with her to take him back.

Truly her father's daughter, Charlie Deed follows in John Deed's unconventional footsteps when she represents an animal rights activist and falls for her defendant. But allowing her heart to rule her head brings her a stern reprimand from the judge.

As always, the judge's adversaries abound. While Deed and Sir Monty Everard (Simon Ward) have reached something of an understanding, Sir Ian Rochester (Simon Chandler) and Laurence James (Fraser James) are still determined to rein in the recalcitrant Judge. And Home Secretary, Neil Haughton (Aneirin Hughes) can barely disguise his loathing for him.

Deed also has his ongoing battles with the powers-that-be; refusing to compromise on sensitive and controversial issues to ensure that justice prevails.

But fortunately, Rita 'Coop' Cooper (Barbara Thorn) is on hand as the voice of reason and Deed's eyes and ears.

THE CAST

THE JUDGE'S DOG

Mimi, the dog in Judge John Deed, was rescued in Spain where there are many dogs similar to her.

She's what they call a 'pinche ratonero' or ratting terrier. A very similar breed in England is the Potterdale terrier.

Mimi was found on the side of the road with two broken front legs. An operation put steel pins in them - which don't stop her running like a hare now!

Mimi is a vegetarian and loves almonds, avocados, raw carrots, broccoli stalk and occasionally pear. Most of all, she likes the vegetarian dog treat 'Greenies' - a USA import.

LINKS:

Read an interview with Martin Shaw

Read an interview with Judge John Deed writer GF Newman

Discover more about the show's leading characters

Go to the BBC Judge John Deed home page

The Guardian  Wednesday June 16, 2004

Abuse by solicitors is revealed as so widespread and costly that the government plans to launch its own service. Jamie Wilson and Alan Travis for the Guardian Newspaper, detail the extent of overcharging and exploitation.

More than 120 solicitors firms have been overcharging millions of pounds from the legal aid budget for handling asylum cases, the Guardian has learned.

The scale of the abuse is so serious that the government will this week announce plans for a pilot of its own public immigration and asylum legal service.

The move follows investigations by the Legal Services Commission that led to £8m of legal aid being recouped from law firms allegedly involved in overclaiming.

The Guardian has obtained the names of 10 of the worst offending legal firms which have had their contracts for acting in asylum cases terminated by the commission, which is responsible for legal aid, as a result of abuses ranging from repeated overclaiming to putting clients at risk through bad advice.

Two of the most serious offenders for putting clients at risk, according to the commission, were Jonathan & Co, in Islington, and Purcell Brown, in Haringey, both in north London. They were both criticised for "extremely poor handling of cases, poor quality of advice and putting clients at risk".

Last year a high court judge criticised Jonathan & Co for "milking" the legal aid fund to fight "hopeless cases" on behalf of asylum seekers.

Both firms have now gone out of business. Jonathan & Co was closed down by the Law Society, while a new law firm has taken over the premises of Purcell Brown. A spokesman for the new firm yesterday said the previous owner had "disappeared".

Another firm, MK Sri and Co, based in Harrow, north-west London, is alleged by the LSC to have overclaimed to the tune of £447,000. The commission said it had recouped the money from the firm and terminated its contract. It added: "Termination may not mean that the immigration firm has abused its powers."

Kanapathipillai Sritharan, who runs the firm, yesterday disputed the amount, and said the firm's contract for legal aid in asylum and immigration cases had not been terminated by the LSC. "We were compelled to pull out of the contract because of the way we were treated and this happened to a lot of other solicitors as well," he said.

The new public immigration and asylum service pilot scheme will be based in Birmingham and open for business this autumn. It is being created to give the LSC a direct idea of the real cost of immigration and asylum legal aid, as well as to identify inefficiencies and pressures, and best practice.

In the last financial year, immigration and asylum expenditure spiralled to £204m, partly because of the Home Office's policy of speeding up initial decision making and appeals on immigration cases to clear the backlog.

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