Judge John Deed: Season 2

Martin Shaw returns as the free-thinking judge with a reputation for asking difficult questions and refusing to compromise his principles. In the first episode, Deed must deal with corruption within the jury, the suspected murder of a barrister and a case connected to a lucrative Government deal with a foreign country during which finalizing the contract seems to some more important than seeing justice is done. Subsequent episodes raise other important questions of justice: a man with the mental age of 13 on trial for murder; the uncovering of a massive mortgage fraud perpetrated by lawyers with the connivance of a judge; children accused of conspiring to murder their parents; and the rights of a 15-year-old boy refusing a heart transplant.

Political Expediency
After a call girl is found dead in a skip, an Arab sheikh's chauffeur is charged with killing her, but the evidence points to the sheikh himself being involved in the murder. Unfortunately for Deed, the Arab ruler was in London to place a huge order with a British aircraft manufacturer, and pressure is piled on Deed by the British government, as well as by the sheikh's own. The plot thickens when counsel for the prosecution is also killed and Deed's lover, Jo Mills, takes over the case, and when he hears that Georgina Channing, his former wife, is engaged to marry Neil Haughton, the government minister fighting for the aeroplane order. Before long, witnesses disappear and the jury is being interfered with - by the British Government, no less. And then Deed gets an offer they think he can't refuse, when appointment as an Appeal Court judge is dangled before him.

Abuse of Power
After a young woman is battered to death, the mentally retarded Gary Patterson confesses and the police consider the case solved. However, Gary later withdraws his confession, leaving Judge Deed's court struggling with limited evidence. Meanwhile, Deed is also busy looking into a case about a multi-million pound mortgage fraud and comes up against a masonic conspiracy. The fraud case is due to go before a brother judge who himself proves to be implicated, and who commits suicide. In Deed's own court, the jury finds Gary Patterson not guilty, Deed asks who the killer was, and Gary says he witnessed the killing and knows the answer.

Nobody's Fool
Deed rekindles his old love affair with Francesca Rochester, and at first he fails to notice that she is making use of him in a struggle with her dotty aunt for power over a property and publishing empire. Francesca's husband Ian and another enemy set out to undermine the Judge's credibility, aiming to have him removed from office. In court, Deed is busy presiding over a murder trial in which a young lawyer and his brother and sister are charged with conspiring with a burglar to kill their parents. Meanwhile, the judge's student daughter Charlie has got herself pregnant by a married lecturer at her college. Charlie's mother persuades her to have an abortion, which Deed is against, but he finds out about it too late. We discover that Deed bitterly regrets Jo's decision years before to abort his own child

Everyone's Child
Deed has to give judgement in a court battle between a child and his parents. Jason Powell (who is represented by Jo Mills) has heart disease, and the doctors say his only hope of life is in a heart transplant - but he refuses to agree to the operation. His parents want the court to rule against an interim injunction supporting Jason, who clearly understands the risks he faces and who has a good legal case to decide for himself. His parents, Mel and Andy, plead for the heart transplant, and Deed lifts the injunction... but then Jason dies on the operating table, after spending his last moments pleading with the surgeons not to go against his wishes... Meanwhile, Deed's own life is running no more smoothly. Both he and Jo are accused of serious misconduct when she spends the night in his chambers...

Political Expediency

Abuse of Power

Nobody's Fool

Everyone's Child

"Martin Shaw's extraordinary performance has been one of the most compelling on screen." Daily Mail

"Judge Deed is one of the BBC's great drama triumphs ... [and Shaw's] best vehicle yet." Liverpool Daily Echo

"Engrossing, intelligent courtroom drama." Observer

"It has a huge heart in the right place and it dares to address complex issues on prime-time television." The Times

"Martin Shaw was in sparkling form as was John Sessions as the wily defence barrister, Brian Cantwell QC. As for
Simon Chandler's odious Sir Ian and his slimy sidekick Laurence James (Fraser James) they are simply asking to be
hissed at every time they appear on the screen. There is more than enough technical know-how and in-court cutand-
thrust to persuade us that we are caught up in genuine proceedings and for all his maverick behaviour, we can
rest assured that Mr Justice Deed has our best interests at heart." Daily Mail

"The judge is a great character." Mail on Sunday

"John Deed is a swashbuckling and ardent man with justice running through his veins." Independent

"Martin Shaw could take down my particulars any day - and he's a fine actor to boot." Sun

"While the plot twists get more complicated, particularly in the trial, Shaw's performance and Newman's script are
absorbing." Guardian (pick of the day)

"...a complex plot helped by an intelligent script..." Guardian

"...excellent drama. Martin Shaw positively smoulders at times as the pin-up judge, but the show thrives on more
than mere sex appeal; the quality of the writing is top-drawer." Express

"The series looks glossy and, for some of us at least, it is quite reassuring to see, shall we say, ‘mature' actors such as
Shaw and Seagrove given warm, sexually active roles." The Times

"It is very watchable television, full of intelligent exchanges and resonant conspiracies, while Deed himself is a hugely
appealing character, the sort of person we'd all like to think we could be in a world without compromises."
Daily Telegraph

"Fans will be glad to hear that Deed's unpredictable maverick spirit continues to land him in hot water, both in his
career and his lovelife." Daily Star