I watched some episodes of Crown Court 50 years ago, it's been wonderful to catch up with so many on Talking Pictures now.
There is a dearth of contemporary drama on television - none at all during daytime. These excellent vignettes captured both the attitudes of the time and the perception of juries.
In these three episodes, Lawrence Webb is accused of murdering his wife, who is suffering from terminal cancer - but could expect to survive three or four years, albeit, bedridden and in pain.
The defence is that it was manslaughter, following the wishes of his wife who was in interminable pain, only partially relieved by morphine tablets.
These long-off days when we were just entering the Common Market and Brexit might have been a washing-up powder, had different social mores and attitudes. The fact that it appeared the Webb's had a semi-open marriage with the husband cavorting with his Secretary, beautifully played in a non-cavorting way in the witness box, certainly inspired the ire of prosecuting counsel, who implied that the killing was one of convenience, rather than mercy.
The acting was excellent, sadly all but one of the cast are no longer with us to enjoy these 21st century plaudits. Bryan Izzard directed in an unusually fluid fashion (probably watched too many surrealistic Fellini or Antonioni films at the time) but it worked quite well, particularly panning along the jury, allowing the dolly to swing around the court and eventually going into a split screen during the confrontation between prosecutor and defendant towards the end.
It would have been good to have heard the arguments of the jury prior to the verdict. But their door remained closed, just as history closed the door on this era of meaningful television drama.
A great program, ethical issues which still provoke intense debate now - and great performances all around.
There is a dearth of contemporary drama on television - none at all during daytime. These excellent vignettes captured both the attitudes of the time and the perception of juries.
In these three episodes, Lawrence Webb is accused of murdering his wife, who is suffering from terminal cancer - but could expect to survive three or four years, albeit, bedridden and in pain.
The defence is that it was manslaughter, following the wishes of his wife who was in interminable pain, only partially relieved by morphine tablets.
These long-off days when we were just entering the Common Market and Brexit might have been a washing-up powder, had different social mores and attitudes. The fact that it appeared the Webb's had a semi-open marriage with the husband cavorting with his Secretary, beautifully played in a non-cavorting way in the witness box, certainly inspired the ire of prosecuting counsel, who implied that the killing was one of convenience, rather than mercy.
The acting was excellent, sadly all but one of the cast are no longer with us to enjoy these 21st century plaudits. Bryan Izzard directed in an unusually fluid fashion (probably watched too many surrealistic Fellini or Antonioni films at the time) but it worked quite well, particularly panning along the jury, allowing the dolly to swing around the court and eventually going into a split screen during the confrontation between prosecutor and defendant towards the end.
It would have been good to have heard the arguments of the jury prior to the verdict. But their door remained closed, just as history closed the door on this era of meaningful television drama.
A great program, ethical issues which still provoke intense debate now - and great performances all around.