''Law & Order'' (often referred to as ''Law and Order'') is a British television crime drama series, comprising four connected plays written by

G. F. Newman Gordon Frank Newman (born 22 May 1947) is an English writer and television producer. In addition to his two earlier series ''Law & Order'' and ''The Nation's Health'', each based on his books, he is known for more recent TV series including ''Jud ...

and directed by

Les Blair Leslie "Les" Blair (born 23 October 1941, Manchester, England) is a BAFTA winning television, film and theatre director. Gaining notoriety for his controversial mini-series ''Law And Order'' (shown in 1978 on BBC2), Blair has gone on to direc ...

, which was first transmitted on 6 April 1978 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. Each of the four stories within the series were told from a different perspective, including that of the Detective, the Villain, the Brief and the Prisoner. The series was highly controversial upon its release due to its depiction of a corrupt British

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

and

legal system The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history an ...

.Newman, G.F. Television interview with

Mark Lawson Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author. Specialising in culture and the arts, he is best known for presenting the flagship BBC Radio 4 arts programme ''Front Row (radio programme), Front Row'' between 1998 and 2014. ...

.
Mark Lawson Talks to... G.F. Newman
'. United Kingdom: BBC Four. Accessed 3 April 2018 In 2009, G.F. Newman stated that he considered "90% of police to be corrupt at the time, and that there has been no significant change since then." For the series' thirtieth anniversary in April 2008, it was released on a limited edition DVD via 2, Entertain.Law And Order (BBC, 1978) (DVD)
at amazon.co.uk, accessed 3 April 2018 In April 2018,

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

announced that the series would be rebroadcast on television for the first time to mark the series' fortieth anniversary. This statement was inaccurate, as a full repeat had previously been broadcast on BBC4 from 24 March to 14 April 2009 and it had also been repeated in March 1980. The 2018 repeats began at 10:00pm on Thursdays from 12 April 2018.

Cast

* Peter Dean as Jack Lynn *

Derek Martin Derek Martin (born Derek William Rapp; 11 April 1933) is an English former actor. Beginning his career as a stuntman, he moved into acting and played many roles on UK television. One of his most widely known roles is Charlie Slater on the BBC ...

as D.I. Fred Pyall * Deirdre Costello as Cathy Lynn * Billy Cornelius as D.S. Eric Lethridge * Alan Ford as Clifford Harding *

Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, writer and director known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety in the 1 ...

as Alex Gladwell * Fred Haggerty as D.C.I. Tony Simmons * Geoffrey Todd as D.C. Peter Fenton * Alan Davidson as Benny Isaacs * Tony Barouch as Collin Coleman

A Detective's Tale

* David Stockton as D.S. Tony Shields * Tom De-Ville as D.I. Frank Polden * John Hogan as D.S. Ian Middlewick * Chris Hallam as D.S. Lewis * Steve Kelly as Maurice Dickinson * Billy Dean as David Shepley * Stanley Price as Brian Finch * Roy Sone as Micky Fielder * Cy Wallis as Billy Little * David Harris as Witness * Val Clover as Telephonist *

Michael Sheard Michael Sheard (18 June 1938 – 31 August 2005) was a Scottish character actor who featured in many films and television programmes, and was known for playing villains. His most prominent television role was as strict deputy headmaster Mauric ...

as Insurance Assessor * Byron Sotiris as Duty Sergeant * Stewart Harwood as P.C. Malcolm

A Villain's Tale

* Colin Howells as D.C. Roger Humphreys * Robert Oates as D.C. Warren Salter * Johnny Feltwell as D.C. Matthew Hall * Alan Clarke as D.C. Ray Jenkins * Mike Horsburgh as D.I. Graham McHale *

Doug Sheldon Doug Sheldon (born Bernard Bobrow, 22 June 1936, Stepney, London) is a former English pop singer, actor, and novelist. Sheldon was born into a family of carnival businesspeople, and he worked as a barker while receiving training in acting.Bruce ...

as D.S. Jack Barcy * Mike Cummings as Tommy Haines *

John Bardon John Bardon (born John Michael Jones, 25 August 1939 – 12 September 2014) was an English stage and screen actor. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1988 (1987 season) for ''Kiss Me, Kate'', sharing the aw ...

as Del Rogers * Alf Coster as Philip Hayes * Barry Summerford as John Tully * John Blackburn as Security Guard

A Brief's Tale

Terence Bayler Terence Bayler (24 January 1930 – 2 August 2016) was a New Zealand film, television, and stage actor. His most memorable roles were in '' Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979) and ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (2001). Biograph ...

as Michel Messick Q.C. *

André van Gyseghem André van Gyseghem (18 August 1906 – 13 October 1979) was an English actor and theatre director who also appeared in many British television programmes. Early life Van Gyseghem was born on 18 August 1906 in Eltham, Kent, the son of Georges Em ...

as Judge Robert Quigley * Michael Griffiths as Horace McMillan Q.C. *

Peter Welch Peter Francis Welch (born May 2, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who is a United States senator-elect from Vermont, and the current U.S. representative for since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been a major figure in ...

as Brian Harpenden-Smith Q.C. *

Jeffrey Segal Jeffrey Segal (1 August 1920 – 5 February 2015) was an English actor and scriptwriter. He made his first screen appearance, as an extra, in the film '' Jew Süss'' (1934). From the early 1960s onwards he appeared in many British TV series, ...

as Stanley Eaton Q.C. *

Peter Craze Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

as T.D.C. Peter Footring * Jason White as D.C. Simon Brent * Barry Summerford as John Tully * Frank Henson as Frank Ryan * Mark Gordon as Mr. English * Jean Leppard as Margaret Lloyd

A Prisoner's Tale

Lloyd McGuire Lloyd McGuire (born 2 September 1947) is an English actor in film and television. Education Born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, McGuire attended Bournville Grammar-Technical School for Boys. He began work as a Commercial Apprentice at the Austin ...

as P.O. Jordan * Graham Gough as P.O. Powell * Ronan Paterson as P.O. Westbury * Dave Atkins as P.O. Dorman * Roger Booth as Chief Officer Carne * Harry Walker as Dr Eynshaw * Bruce White as Bob Mark * Robert Bill as Micky Dunkerton * Myles Reitherman as Mervyn Latimer * Stanley McGeagh as Trevor Reid * Gilbert MacIntyre as Baylis * Laurence Foster as Senior Officer Walters * Stanley Illsley as Visiting Committee * Terry Yorke as Police Sergeant, A.10 * Dominic Allan as Inspector Chatt, A.10 * Alf Roberts as Prison Officer, Punishment Block * Ian Munro as Prison Officer, Punishment Block * Mark Warren as Prison Officer, Legal Visiting Room * Colin Taylor as Prison Officer, Visiting Room * Max Latimer as Prison Officer, Visiting Room *

Harry Landis Harry Landis (born Hyman Jacob Londinsky, 25 November 1926 – 11 September 2022) was a British actor and director. He had a long career in theatre, film and television, spanning over 60 years. Landis was best known for playing barber Felix K ...

as M.P. * Pauline Wynn as Visiting Committee

Episodes

Critical reception

The series was highly controversial upon its release due to its depiction of a corrupt British

and

. There was such an outcry regarding the series in the British press that the BBC was prevented from trying to sell the series abroad.Gerard Gilbert: The cop drama that rewrote TV history: G F Newman's Law and Order shocked the nation when it was shown on television 31 years ago. Its first airing since will still pack a punch
24 March 2009 at independent.co.uk, accessed 9 May 2018 John Cooper, QC, writing in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', described the series as 'Seismic', continuing to say that 'at the time he playsprovoked calls from MPs for Newman to be arrested for sedition and the summoning of the director-general of the BBC to the Home Office to explain himself.' A review by Matteo Sedazzari in May 2018 concluded: 'it’s such a shame that the BBC seriously do not produce dramas like this anymore, thought-provoking, brutal and powerful', and

Adam Sweeting Adam Sweeting is a British rock critic and writer. Sweeting started writing in 1979 for publications such as ''Beat Instrumental'', ''Trouser Press'', Australian magazine ''RAM''Adam Sweeting. "Have Faith and Go to the Pictures". '' RAM Magazine ...

in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' described it as 'compellingly plausible'. Jasper Rees wrote for the Arts Desk in May 2018 'Law and Order more than earns this 40th-anniversary trip down memory’s stinking back alley'. The series was discussed on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's programme ''

Thinking Allowed ''Thinking Allowed'' is a radio discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday afternoons between 16:00 and 16:30 and repeated between 00:15 and 00:45 on Monday mornings. It focuses on the latest social science research and is hosted ...

'' on 23 May 2018, with the host Laurie Taylor talking to criminologist

Tim Newburn William Henry Timothy Newburn (born 4 July 1959) is an academic, specialising in criminology and policing. Career He was president of the British Society of Criminology from 2005–2008, director of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology from 2003- ...

and Charlotte Brunsden, Professor of Film & Television Studies at the University of Warwick, along with the author, to engage with the question of 'the extent to which...

he series He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

created a public and political debate which produced positive reform'.Thinking Allowed episode details
at bbc.co.uk, accessed 24 May 2018 Among the series' successors was the BBC TV series

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

Book series

In parallel, the 'Law & Order' series of books was a trilogy of works written by Newman, first published by Sphere in 1977 and then reprinted in Sphere Paperbacks in 1978. The trilogy consists of 'A Detective's Tale', , 'A Villain's Tale', , and 'A Prisoner's Tale', . An omnibus edition including all three was published in 1984 by HarperCollins .Law and Order (Law and Order omnibus 1-3) by G.F. Newman
at goodreads.com, accessed 14 May 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Law and Order (British TV series) 1978 British television series debuts 1978 British television series endings 1970s British police procedural television series 1970s British television miniseries 1970s British legal television series English-language television shows Police corruption in fiction