Crown Court (TV series)
Crown Court is a British television courtroom drama series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network. It ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984. It was transmitted in the early afternoon.
Format
A court case in the crown court of the fictional town of Fulchester would typically be played out over three afternoons in 25-minute episodes. The most frequent format was for the prosecution case to be presented in the first two episodes and the defence in the third, although there were some later, brief variations.Unlike some other legal dramas, the cases in Crown Court were presented from a relatively neutral point of view and the action was confined to the courtroom itself, with occasional brief glimpses of waiting areas outside the courtroom. Although those involved in the case were actors, the jury was made up of members of the general public from the immediate Granada Television franchise area taken from the electoral register and eligible for real jury service: it was this jury alone which decided the verdict. Indeed, contemporary production publicity stated that, for almost all of the scripts, two endings were written and rehearsed to cope with the jury's independent decision which was delivered for the first time, as in a real court case, while the programme's recording progressed. However, the course of some cases would lead to the jury being directed to return 'not guilty' verdicts.
After an unscreened pilot, the first story to be shown was Lieberman v Savage. Unusually this was a civil case, whereas the vast majority of subsequent instalments featured criminal trials, with only occasional civil cases such as libel, insurance or copyright claims.
Variations
There were some subtle changes in presentation in the early years. In the first year or so stories often opened with photographs of key figures or incidents around the alleged offence over which the court reporter would narrate the background to the case. In other instances there were filmed sequences but these were without dialogue and rarely showed the alleged offence. They were phased out a little earlier than the photos. Thereafter the action would immediately start in the courtroom.Although the standard format was stories of three 25-minute episodes there were occasional variations. In 1973 there was one story of just one episode and another comprising two. In July and August 1975 a number of stories were presented in single extended episodes at 8.15pm on Saturdays—a prime time scheduling. They occupied a slot of 75 minutes. This was a brief interlude and the programme reverted to its standard format and daytime location thereafter.
The series was occasionally humorous and was even capable of self-parody. On 27 December 1973 a 52-minute self-contained episode Murder Most Foul had a distinctly light-hearted theme and even featured special Christmas-style titles and music. The 1977 story An Upward Fall, written by absurdist playwright N. F. Simpson, was played as a comedy. This bizarre case featured an old people's home built atop a 3,000-foot cliff; its only lavatories were located at the foot of the cliff. Other episodes were deadly serious, such as the story Treason in which a White Congolese man is found guilty by the jury and sentenced to death for treason by the court.
Untransmitted stories
An untransmitted pilot called Doctor's Neglect? was eventually broadcast as part of a repeat run on satellite channel Legal TV over 30 years later. Like the first transmitted episode, this was a civil case—in this instance relating to negligence. The pilot story differs in style in some important respects. In particular, it features informal conversations between the barristers in their quarters as well as them giving advice to clients. Neither aspect figured in episodes from the broadcast run itself, which strictly confined legal discussions to the courtroom. The episode also has no jury; the case is decided by a judge alone. David Ashford, a regular in the programme's early stages as barrister Charles Lotterby, plays a different barrister called Derek Jones. Actors Ernest Hare and David Neal make their only appearances, as a judge and barrister respectively.This was not the only example of untransmitted stories. In February 1974 the scheduled Traffic Warden's Daughter was replaced by The Getaway. In 1979 Heart To Heart, intended for transmission from 15 to 17 April, was replaced by a repeat of A Ladies' Man. Although neither story was ever broadcast on terrestrial TV they both received airings on Legal TV and have since been released on DVD.
Contributors
Regular actors included William Mervyn, John Barron, John Horsley, Edward Jewesbury, Richard Warner, Basil Dignam, Laurence Hardy, Frank Middlemass, and Basil Henson as judges, John Alkin, David Ashford, Keith Barron, Jonathan Elsom, Bernard Gallagher, Peter Jeffrey, Charles Keating, Maureen Lipman, T. P. McKenna, Dorothy Vernon, Richard Wilson, William Simons and Robert Stephens were among the most common faces as barristers.Other famous names to appear on the show included Eleanor Bron, Warren Clarke, Tom Conti, Brian Cox, Honey Bane, Philip Bond, Michael Elphick, Sheila Fearn, Colin Firth, Brenda Fricker, Derek Griffiths, Nigel Havers, Ian Hendry, Gregor Fisher, Ben Kingsley, Ian Marter, Mark McManus, Vivien Merchant, Mary Miller, Geraldine Newman, Judy Parfitt, Robert Powell, Peter Sallis, Anthony Sharp, Michael Sheard, Barbara Shelley, Juliet Stevenson, Patrick Troughton, Mary Wimbush, Peter Capaldi and Mark Wing-Davey. Bernard Hill made one of his first television appearances in 1976, when he played the foreman of the jury in the story Scard. Liz Dawn appeared as an uncredited extra for a non-speaking part as a prison officer in Evil Liver.
Writers included Ian Curteis, David Fisher, Peter Wildeblood, John Godber, Ngaio Marsh and Jeremy Sandford.
Recurring characters
- Peter Wheeler as Narrator/Court Reporter
- David Ashford as Charles Lotterby
- William Mervyn as The Hon. Mr. Justice Campbell
- Dorothy Vernon as Helen Tate
- Bernard Gallagher as Jonathan Fry QC
- John Alkin as Barrister Barry Deeley
- John Barron as Mr. Justice Mitchenor
- Richard Wilson as Jeremy Parsons QC
- Charles Keating as James Elliot QC
- Edward Jewesbury as The Hon. Mr. Justice Bragge
- Jonathan Elsom as Marcus Golding QC
- Richard Warner as The Hon. Mr. Justice Waddington
- John Horsley as Justice Mowbray
- Frank Middlemass as The Hon. Mr. Justice Craig
- Basil Dignam as Mr. Justice Poynter
- Laurence Hardy as Mr. Justice Stoddard
- Basil Henson as Justice Yearly
- T. P. McKenna as Patrick Canty QC
- Michael Elphick as Neville Griffiths QC
- Peter Jeffrey as Peter Edgar QC
- Keith Barron as Timothy Dorney
- Joseph Berry as Court Usher
Production and archive details
- Although the jury members were members of the general public, the foreman of the jury would have a small speaking role to deliver their verdict. For this reason the part of the foreman had to be played by a professional actor to stay within the rules imposed on Granada by the actors' union Equity.
- All episodes of a story would be recorded on the same day.
- The show was usually recorded in Studio Two at Granada Television; Crown Court shared the studio with University Challenge. Before Crown Court began transmission, its courtroom set was used for the court scenes in an episode of the sitcom Nearest and Dearest, A Pair Of Bloomers ; indeed, actor Malcolm Hebden played a court clerk in this episode as well as in several early episodes of Crown Court.
- In an effort to make the replica courtroom appear as realistic as possible to the 'jury', each episode was recorded as 'live', with retakes kept to an absolute minimum. The cameras were placed at strategic points and largely kept static, thus reducing any possible distraction caused by production requirements.
- The jury were given only 30 minutes to reach their verdict.
- Episodes included a brief voice-over narration by Peter Wheeler at the beginning either to introduce the context of the case or to summarise the events of the case so far.
- Early episodes of the series took the case name as the episode title, e.g. Lieberman v Savage and "Regina v Lord". After the first eight cases, a short description of the issues in the case was added to the episode titles, such as Criminal Libel: Regina v Maitland and A Public Mischief: Regina v Baker And Crawley. This style persisted until Regina v Marlow: Freakout ; following these episodes the case title was dropped and episode titles became purely descriptive and remained so until the show ended in 1984.
- All episodes of Crown Court exist in PAL colour as originally transmitted, including the postponed Heart to Heart.
- The closing theme tune is entitled Distant Hills – the presumed view of a prisoner. Distant Hills was the B-side of the 1973 UK number 1 hit by the Simon Park Orchestra, Eye Level, which was the theme tune to the Amsterdam-based detective series Van der Valk.
- The programme's opening theme was the opening bars of the Fourth Movement of Sinfonietta by Leoš Janáček.
- Joan Hickson, later to be well known for her portrayal of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, appeared as the defendant in a story written by another of the 'Queens of Crime', Ngaio Marsh.
- Robin Bailey and Peter Blythe played judges and barristers respectively in both Crown Court and Rumpole of the Bailey.
Repeats and commercial availability
- Legal TV and UK Satellite channel Red TV showed episodes from the series until December 2008 when Red TV rebranded itself from an entertainment channel to a music channel.
- Satellite channel Granada Plus repeated a number of episodes in the mid-1990s.
- Despite the almost full archive of broadcast quality episodes the series has never been repeated on ITV since the late 1980s.
- The story The Eleventh Commandment was included as an extra on Network DVD's 2007 release of The Sandbaggers Series 3 as it features the series' lead actor Roy Marsden.
- Similarly, the Network DVD release of The XYY Man included the Crown Court story An Evil Influence as an extra feature; Stephen Yardley, star of The XYY Man, plays the role of Dr Thanet.
- The Network DVD release of Strangers includes the 1977 story A Place to Stay, featuring Don Henderson.
- Eight volumes of stories have been released by Network DVD. These are in production order and currently include all those broadcast from the programme's inception to July 1974. The two instalments not broadcast by ITV are also included.
List of cases
- 1972-10-11 Doctor's Neglect? Simpson v Rudkin General Hospital Management Board
- 1972-10-18 Lieberman v Savage
- 1972-10-25 R. v Lord
- 1972-11-01 R. v Bryant
- 1972-11-08 Euthanasia: R. v Webb
- 1972-11-15 R. v Vennings and Vennings
- 1972-11-22 The Eleventh Commandment: R. v Mitchell and Clayton
- 1972-11-29 A Genial Man: R. v Bolton
- 1972-12-06 Espionage: R. v Terson
- 1972-12-13 Conspiracy: R. v Luckhurst and Sawyer
- 1972-12-20 Who is Benedetto Trovato? R. v Starkie
- 1972-12-27 Criminal Libel: R. v Maitland
- 1972–??-?? The Medium: R. v Purbeck
- 1973-01-03 Whatever Happened to George Robins? R. v Barnes
- 1973-01-10 Blackmail: R. v Brewer and Brewer
- 1973-01-17 Sunset of Arms: Fitton v Pusey
- 1973-01-24 Persimmons and Dishwashers: R. v Curl and Curl
- 1973-01-31 A Public Mischief: R. v Baker and Crawley
- 1973-02-07 Portrait of an Artist: Kingsley v Messiter
- 1973-02-14 A Crime in Prison: R. v Ager and Lanigan
- 1973-02-21 Infanticide or Murder? R. v Collins
- 1973-02-28 Act of Vengeance: R. v Collings
- 1973-03-07 Freak-Out: R. v Marlow
- 1973-03-14 The Mugging of Arthur Simmons: R. v Dempsey and Langham
- 1973-03-21 Love Thy Neighbour: R. v Thornton and Thornton
- 1973-03-28 The Death of Dracula: R. v Mattson
- 1973-04-04 Wise Child: R. v Lapointe
- 1973-04-11 Beware of the Dog: R. v Page
- 1973-04-18 Theft by Necessity: R. v Burton
- 1973-04-19 The Gilded Cage: R. v Scard
- 1973-04-25 Credibility Gap: Stevens v Porton
- 1973-05-02 The Long Haired Leftie: R. v Dowd
- 1973-05-09 Intent to Kill: R. v Duffy
- 1973-05-16 There Was a Little Girl: R. v Grey
- 1973-05-23 A View to Matrimony: R. v McNeill
- 1973-05-30 Settling a Score: R. v Bates
- 1973-06-06 To Catch a Thief: R. v Halsey
- 1973-06-13 Patch's Patch: R. v Patch
- 1973-06-20 Who Was Kate Greer? R. v Archer
- 1973-06-27 A Right to Life: Abbs v Richards
- 1973-07-04 The Inner Circle: Heywood v Blower
- 1973-07-11 The Black Poplar: R. v Tressman
- 1973-07-18 The Open Invitation: R. v Sellars
- 1973-07-25 Beggar on Horseback: R. v Erringburn
- 1973-08-01 The Night for Country Dancing: R. v Airey
- 1973-08-08 Mrs. Moresbys Scrapbook: R. v Moresby
- 1973-08-15 My Old Mans a Dustman: R. v Cousins and Cousins and Mayes
- 1973-08-22 The Judgement of Solomon: R. v Kamuny and Kamuny
- 1973-08-29 Destruct, Destruct... R. v Ainsworth
- 1973-09-05 Public Lives: R. v Williams and Pastor
- 1973-09-12 The Thunderbolts: Easter v Goss
- 1973-09-19 Treason: R. v Clement
- 1973-09-26 A Stab in the Front: R. v Blandford
- 1973-10-10 Just Good Friends: R. v Beaumont
- 1973-10-17 To Suffer a Witch: R. v Vincent
- 1973-10-24 Hit and Miss: R. v Burnett
- 1973-10-31 No Spoiling: R. v Smithson
- 1973-11-07 The Age of Leo Trotsky: R. v Smith
- 1973-11-14 Robin and his Juliet: R. v Tomlin
- 1973-11-21 The Most Expensive Steak in the World: Da Costa v McIver
- 1973-11-28 Message to Ireland: R. v Parfitt
- 1973-12-05 No Smoke Without Fire: R. v Bennington
- 1973-12-12 Conduct Prejudicial: R. v Pardoe
- 1973-12-19 Tables of the Heart: R. v Saul
- 1973-12-27 Murder Most Foul: R. v Hammond
- 1974-01-02 The Dogs: R. v Broad
- 1974-01-09 Further Charges: R. v Elgar
- 1974-01-16 Hidden Scars: R. v Fowkes
- 1974-01-23 With Menaces: R. v Aslam
- 1974-01-30 Do Your Worst: R. v Skelhorne, McIver and Appleton
- 1974-02-06 Flight of the Lapwing: Cummings v Simon
- 1974-02-13 Traffic Warden's Daughter: R. v Lianos
- 1974-02-13 The Getaway: R. v McDowell
- 1974-02-20 The Woman Least Likely... R. v Rutland
- 1974-02-27 A Case of Murder: R. v Povey
- 1974-03-06 The Assault on Choga Sar: Wainwright v Bowman
- 1974-03-13 Duress: R. v Mallard
- 1974-03-20 30,000 Pieces of Silver: Porter v Porter
- 1974-03-27 Nuts: R. v Holloway
- 1974-04-03 Confine to Solitary: R. v Hogarth
- 1974-04-10 Big Annie: Robertson v Ash
- 1974-04-17 Falling Stars: Leigh v Glynn
- 1974-04-24 Son and Heir: R. v Carvell
- 1974-05-01 Death in the Family: R. v Durrant
- 1974-05-08 Minnie: R. v Barlow
- 1974-05-15 Vermin: R. v Brimmer
- 1974-05-22 South Tower: R. v Carney
- 1974-05-29 Triangle: R. v Prosser and Jackson
- 1974-06-05 Victims of Prejudice: R. v Clark and Hamilton
- 1974-06-12 Baby Farm: R. v Francis
- 1974-06-19 For the Good of the Many: R. v Cardy
- 1974-06-26 How to Rob a Memory Bank: R. v Warren
- 1974-07-03 The Wreck of the Tedmar: R. v Blaney
- 1974-07-10 Two Rings for Margie: R. v Middleton
- 1974-07-17 No Stranger in Court: R. v Clegg
- 1974-07-24 Security Risk: R. v Denton
- 1974-07-31 The Probationer: R. v Cresswell
- 1974-08-07 Midnight with No Pain
- 1974-08-14 Not Dead But Gone Before
- 1974-08-21 Corruption
- 1974-08-28 Pickets
- 1974-09-04 The Dogs Next Door
- 1974-09-11 Good and Faithful Friends
- 1974-09-18 Strange Past
- 1974-09-25 On Impulse
- 1974-10-02 Double, Double
- 1974-10-09 The Hunt
- 1974-10-16 The Messenger Boy
- 1974-10-23 The Dashing Young Officer
- 1974-10-30 Immoral Earnings
- 1974-11-06 Winklers
- 1974-11-13 The Alb of St. Honoratus
- 1974-11-20 Cover Up
- 1974-11-27 Beloved Alien
- 1974-12-04 Arson
- 1974-12-11 Forgive-Me-Not
- 1974-12-18 Pot of Basil
- 1975-01-02 Ring in the New Year
- 1975-01-08 The Quest
- 1975-01-15 A Difference in Style
- 1975-01-22 Matron
- 1975-01-29 The Personator
- 1975-02-05 Two in the Mind of One
- 1975-02-12 The Murder Monitor
- 1975-02-19 Who Cares?
- 1975-02-26 Saboteur
- 1975-03-05 The Trees
- 1975-03-12 Bad Day at Black Cape
- 1975-03-19 The Mad, Mad Man
- 1975-03-26 Contempt of Court
- 1975-04-02 Possessed
- 1975-04-09 The Also Ran
- 1975-04-16 Take Back Your Mink
- 1975-04-16 Dead Drunk
- 1975-04-30 Light the Blue Touch-Paper
- 1975-05-07 The Healing Hand
- 1975-05-14 The Obsession
- 1975-05-21 My Mother Said I Never Should...
- 1975-07-19 Who Killed Cock Robin?
- 1975-07-26 Songbirds Out of Tune
- 1975-08-02 Inner City Blues
- 1975-08-09 Marathon
- 1975-08-16 The Natural Bond
- 1975-08-23 Evil Liver
- 1975-10-15 An Evil Influence
- 1975-10-22 Never on Saturdays, Never on Sundays
- 1975-10-29 Will the Real Robert Randell Please Stand Up
- 1975-11-05 Hunger Strike
- 1975-11-12 An Englishman's Home
- 1975-11-19 Blood Is Thicker
- 1975-11-26 The Party's Over
- 1975-12-03 The Extremist
- 1975-12-10 Mother Love
- 1975-12-17 Dicing
- 1975-12-31 Humpty Dumpty Sat on the Wall
- 1976-01-07 Crime and Passion
- 1976-01-14... Or Was He Pushed?
- 1976-01-21 No Questions Asked
- 1976-01-28 The Right of Every Woman
- 1976-02-04 Beyond the Call of Duty
- 1976-02-11 To Love, Cherish – and Batter
- 1976-02-18 Scard
- 1976-02-25 Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil
- 1976-03-03 The Ju-Ju Landlord
- 1976-03-10 Ends and Means
- 1976-03-17 Incorrigible Rogue
- 1976-03-30 Drunk, Who Cares
- 1976-04-06 Accepted Standards
- 1976-04-13 The Jolly Swagmen
- 1976-05-04 A Bang or a Whimper
- 1976-05-19 Pigmented Patter
- 1976-10-06 Stranger in the Night
- 1976-10-13 Those in Peril
- 1976-10-20 A Working Girl
- 1976-10-27 A Matter of Honour
- 1976-11-03 Inside Story
- 1976-11-10 Death for Sale
- 1976-11-17 Treewomen of Jagden Crag
- 1976-11-24 You Won't Escape When Hendrik Witbooi Comes
- 1976-12-01 Operation Happiness
- 1976-12-08 Lola
- 1976-12-15 Royalties
- 1976-12-22 A World of Difference
- 1976-12-29 Auld Lang Syne
- 1977-01-04 Beauty and the Beast
- 1977-01-25 Home Sweet Home
- 1977-02-01 Loved Ones
- 1977-02-08 We Are the Champions
- 1977-02-15 A Ladies' Man
- 1977-02-22 A Matter of Faith
- 1977-03-01 Crime Passionel
- 1977-03-08 A Swinging Couple
- 1977-03-15 One for the Road
- 1977-03-22 Such a Charming Man
- 1977-03-29 A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
- 1977-04-05 The Family Business
- 1977-10-18 A Pocketful of Pills
- 1977-10-25 Capers Among the Catacombs
- 1977-11-01 Kiss and Tell
- 1977-11-08 Down Will Come Baby
- 1977-11-15 The Silencer
- 1977-11-22 Home
- 1977-11-29 A Place to Stay
- 1977-12-06 Safe as Houses
- 1977-12-13 Street Gang
- 1977-12-20 An Upward Fall: Cosmic Planning Consultants v Rosenberg Research Foundation
- 1978-01-03 Black and Blue
- 1978-01-10 Meeting Place
- 1978-01-17 Echoes
- 1978-01-24 White Lies
- 1978-01-31 The Song Not the Singer
- 1978-02-07 Michael
- 1978-02-14 Association
- 1978-02-21 Still Life with Feathers
- 1978-02-28 Cat in Hell
- 1978-03-07 To Catch a Thief
- 1978-03-14 The Change
- 1978-03-21 The Jawbone of an Ass
- 1978-03-28 Two Thousand Witnesses
- 1978-04-04 Code
- 1978-04-11 Common Sense
- 1978-09-05 In the Heat of the Moment
- 1978-09-12 Does Your Mother Know You're Out?
- 1978-09-19 The Crown of Life
- 1978-09-26 Past Times
- 1978-10-03 Queen Bee
- 1978-10-10 The Greenhouse Girls
- 1978-10-17 Through the Bottom of a Glass Darkly
- 1978-10-24 Still Waters
- 1978-10-31 A Man with Everything
- 1978-11-07 Scalped
- 1978-11-14 Soft Target
- 1979-01-02 Somebody
- 1979-01-09 Beyond the Limits
- 1979-01-16 Sugar and Spice
- 1979-01-23 Hospital Roulette
- 1979-01-30 A Friend of the Family
- 1979-02-06 Baby Love
- 1979-02-13 Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother
- 1979-02-20 My Brother's Son
- 1979-02-27 Cash
- 1979-03-06 Boys Will Be Boys
- 1979-03-13 The Deep End
- 1979-03-20 Rebel at Law
- 1979-03-27 A Hunting We Will Go
- 1979-04-03 Question of Care
- 1979-04-10 Cowboy
- 1979-05-01 Forever
- 1979-05-08 The Irish Connection
- 1979-05-15 Heart to Heart
- 1979-05-22 Betrayal of Trust
- 1979-12-27 Caroline
- 1980-08-26 Public Spending
- 1981-03-09 Proof Spirits
- 1981-03-16 Foul Play
- 1981-03-23 Freedom to Incite
- 1981-03-30 Hen Party
- 1981-04-06 Leonora
- 1981-04-13 Embers
- 1981-04-21 The Merry Widow
- 1981-05-04 Cold Turkey
- 1982-03-23 Talking to the Enemy
- 1982-03-30 Resurrection Woman
- 1982-04-06 Ignorance in the Field
- 1982-04-13 On the Defensive
- 1982-04-20 Fair Play
- 1982-04-27 Peanuts
- 1982-05-04 Face Value
- 1982-05-11 Wrecker
- 1982-05-18 Window Shopping
- 1982-05-25 Soldier, Soldier
- 1982-06-01 Too Bad for Tobias
- 1982-06-08 A Candidate for the Alliance
- 1982-06-15 The Fiddling Connection
- 1983-01-04 Brainwashed
- 1983-01-11 Seconds Away
- 1983-01-18 None of Your Business
- 1983-01-25 Night Fever
- 1983-02-01 A Black and White Case
- 1983-02-08 Personal Credit
- 1983-02-15 Fighting Fire with Fire
- 1983-02-22 A Proper Man
- 1983-03-08 Told in Silence
- 1983-03-15 Mother's Boy
- 1983-03-22 Living in Sin?
- 1983-03-29 A Matter of Trust
- 1983-04-05 A Sword in the Hand of David
- 1984-01-03 Gingerbread Girl
- 1984-01-10 Oddball
- 1984-01-17 The Son of His Father
- 1984-01-24 Whisper Who Dares
- 1984-01-31 Citizens
- 1984-02-01 Dirty Washing
- 1984-02-13 Her Father's Daughter
- 1984-02-21 There Was an Old Woman
- 1984-02-28 Burnt Futures
- 1984-03-06 Mother Figures
- 1984-03-13 Big Deal
- 1984-03-20 Love and War
- 1984-03-27 Paki Basher