''Close and True'' is a

legal drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

first broadcast on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from 23 November to 28 December 2000, starring

Robson Green Robson Golightly Green (born 18 December 1964) is an English actor, angler, singer-songwriter and presenter. His first major TV role was as hospital porter Jimmy Powell in BBC drama series ''Casualty'' in 1989. He then went on to portray Fusili ...

and

James Bolam James Christopher Bolam (born 16 June 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in ''The Likely Lads'' and its sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', Jack Ford in ''When the Boat Comes In'', Roy Fig ...

as the eponymous characters, John Close and Graham True respectively. The series follows Close (Green) as he takes over a run-down legal practice in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

owned by True (Bolam), who now resides in a mental institution. During his first days in charge of the practice, he is thrown into the midst of a murder trial, despite having no previous criminal trial experience. This programme was produced by Costal Productions in association with

Meridian Broadcasting ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at 12:00 am on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned an ...

for the

network, with just six episodes of the drama were produced, before it was axed by ITV in 2001. The series was released on VHS on 29 January 2001, but has never been issued on DVD in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The series was released on Region 4 DVD in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 2008.

Cast

as John Close *

Susan Jameson Susan I. M. Jameson (born 13 August 1941) is an English actress. She is best known for two roles: portraying Esther Lane in the BBC crime drama series ''New Tricks'' between 2003 and 2013, and voicing Mrs Wibbsey opposite Tom Baker in a series ...

as Sally Ann Mae *

Kerry Ann Christiansen Kerry Ann Christiansen is a British actress who began her career in the popular British children’s TV series ''Byker Grove''. After her character's departure from the show, she went on to play Kim Cotton in the short lived ITV series ''Close ...

as Kim Cotton *

as Graham True *

Jamie Bell Andrew James Matfin Bell (born 14 March 1986) is an English actor and dancer. He rose to prominence for his debut role in ''Billy Elliot'' (2000), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, becoming one of the youngest ...

as Mark Sheedy * Nicola Grier as Ibi Bagdioni * Richard Sands as Gordon Short * Pamela Ruddock as Mary Close *

Louise Delamere Louise Alexandra Delamere (born 17 June 1969) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Lia in the Channel 4 comedy drama ''No Angels'' and Colette Sheward in the BBC medical drama '' Holby City''. Career Delamere appeared in ''Agatha ...

as Jessica Laing * Kerry Rolfe as Paula Farrent *

Mark Moraghan Mark Stephen Moraghan (born 27 January 1963) is an English actor and singer. He has appeared in many British drama series including ''Peak Practice'', '' London's Burning'' and '' Heartbeat''. He is most famous for being the narrator for the ...

as Steve Sheedy *

Melanie Hill Melanie Jane Hill (born 11 January 1962) is a British actress, known for playing Hazel Redfern in ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' (1985–1986), Aveline in ''Bread'' (1986–1991), Rita Dolan in Kay Mellor drama ''Playing the Field'' (1998–2002), Ma ...

as Maureen Taylor * Peter Sullivan as Peter Heart

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Close and True 2000s British legal television series 2000 British television series debuts 2000 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series 2000s British television miniseries English-language television shows ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Meridian Broadcasting Television shows set in Newcastle upon Tyne Television shows set in Tyne and Wear