BBC’s new Georgian Legal Drama

18th-century England was an era of excess and rampant crime, especially in the exploding city of London. It took decades for the legal system of Georgian England to meet the need for order and justice in a world where politicians and peers turned a blind eye to shady deals, sinful indulgences, and legal proceedings that, unfair as they might have been, kept the balance of power and wealth tilted in their favor. BBC’s new drama Garrow’s Law is inspired by the life of barrister William Garrow, who perfected the use of cross-examination against dishonest prosecutors and developed a nascent adversarial system of law, which opposed the intimidating, and often inhumane, practice of inquisition that had been standard in the European legal world for centuries.

Garrow’s Law is set in the Old Bailey of Georgian London against a backdrop of corruption and social injustice and is based on real legal cases from the late 18th century.

Each one-hour episode begins with the investigation of a case sourced from the Old Bailey archives from the day, from rape and murder to high treason and corruption, and follows Garrow (Buchan) and his associate Southouse(Armstrong) working to uncover the truth or fight for justice.

In an age where the defence counsel acted in the minority of cases, the young Garrow championed the underdog and pioneered the rigorous cross-examination of prosecution witnesses that paved the way for our modern legal system of today.

The program, commissioned for BBC Knowledge, a department known for it’s “well-received, factual-based dramas,” has begun filming in Scotland and will air on BBC One later this year. It will star Andrew Buchan (of Cranford fame), Alun Armstrong (whom we recently saw as Flintwich in Little Dorrit), and Lyndsey Marshal.

Jay Hunt, Controller, BBC One, says: “It’s a fantastic collaboration between factual and drama to create an immersive history piece which should also feel like a period drama.”

Legal drama is usually captivating stuff, but add some bag wigs, cravats, the sound of hooves on London’s streets, and I am more than willing to sit mesmerized.

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Davies worries about BBC
• Behind the Scenes: Garrow’s Law

~ by Lady Ashley on July 2, 2009.