''Crown Prosecutor'' is a British television

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 ...

series, created and principally written by Nick Collins, first broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

on 23 February 1995. A single series of ten episodes were broadcast, typically at 8:30pm on Thursdays, with episodes repeatedly on Fridays at 1:50pm as part of the channel's daytime schedule. The series was produced in-house by the BBC under the BBC Worldwide moniker. The series follows ensemble cast of various Crown Prosecutors, who bring cases before local

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

in the United Kingdom. The series stars

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Jessica Stevenson Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (''née'' Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress, director and writer. Known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007, she was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom ''Spac ...

, Paris Jefferson,

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and

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. The series was noted at the time as being the first series to regularly examine the lives of modern British Crown prosecutors. While lawyers "for the prosecution" had been seen on British television, these were depictions of a different era in British

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

. Throughout the bulk of 20th century, in most parts of

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

, prosecution of criminal cases was handled by the police or, in some cases, an entity directly attached to the Home Office. ''Crown Prosecutor'' was thus the first serious examination of what it was like to work in the

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal advi ...

, a completely police-independent body, which itself had only been established in 1985. The series has not been repeated since its original broadcast, however a single episode is available to watch on

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Structure

Each episode generally featured a primary plot centred on an unfolding court case, along with two

subplot In fiction, a subplot is a secondary strand of the plot that is a supporting side story for any story or for the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporting c ...

s that advanced the development of the show's cast of characters. Sometimes the subplots involved other, typically less serious, court cases—such as the vandalism charges brought against people who ate a chocolate sculpture in episode seven. But these subplots often were entirely outside the courtroom and served to reveal different facets of the prosecutor's lives. Sticky living arrangements, new romance, old flames, and professional temptation were all featured in the series. Though these plots allowed viewers a glimpse into the prosecutors' lives to a much greater degree than would be possible on the somewhat comparable '' Law & Order'', the character development never expanded to the level of a

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

. This was in part because ''Crown Prosecutor'' had a notably unusual run-time, compared with other legal dramas of its era. Episodes were 30 minutes long, shorter by 12 to 15 minutes than many courtroom dramas which ran on commercial television in 1995. Despite this shorter format, a resolution to all of the primary plots, and most of the secondary ones were given by the end of each episode.

Cast

as Lenny Monk *

as Ben Campbell *

as Sheila Cody *

as Jackie South * Paris Jefferson as Nina Fisher-Holmes *

as Eric Jackson *

as Marty James

Episodes

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0111930, title=Crown Prosecutor 1990s British television miniseries BBC television dramas 1995 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series 1990s British legal television series English-language television shows Television series about prosecutors