Jeremy Aldermarten now a QC is doing a juicy fraud trial which would be financially rewarding for him as it will last for months.
Unfortunately the defendant Miles Beddoes is found dead. It might be suicide or murder, his brother Edgar an army chaplain was with him.
Edgar is in a state of shock and has seemed to have lost the power of speech. He even seems to have written something that is seen to be an admission of guilt.
Kavanagh defends Edgar, a difficult case as his client refuses to speak. However there is a juror who excuses himself as Edgar saved his life in Bosnia and Edgar saw first hand the results of ethnic cleansing.
The story mirrors somewhat a plot strand from Pat Barker's novel Regeneration where a character suffers from mutism. This is a book that Edgar has been reading.
The episode has an emotional ending but feels a little too contrived. There is also a link with a judge who is giving Aldermarten a hard time.
Judge Way excellently played by John Wood is literally and figuratively losing his way. The judge is angry at people who stand for nothing. It turns out that Edgar is actually standing for something, his biblical values.
There is an acting masterclass here from a breed of actors who are almost all lost to us. Apart from John Wood, there is Richard Pasco who plays the Revered Matthew Beddoes who plays Miles and Edgar's father. A man who has lost faith, who might also be a little barking mad himself but he is another person who eventually sees faith on display.
Unfortunately the defendant Miles Beddoes is found dead. It might be suicide or murder, his brother Edgar an army chaplain was with him.
Edgar is in a state of shock and has seemed to have lost the power of speech. He even seems to have written something that is seen to be an admission of guilt.
Kavanagh defends Edgar, a difficult case as his client refuses to speak. However there is a juror who excuses himself as Edgar saved his life in Bosnia and Edgar saw first hand the results of ethnic cleansing.
The story mirrors somewhat a plot strand from Pat Barker's novel Regeneration where a character suffers from mutism. This is a book that Edgar has been reading.
The episode has an emotional ending but feels a little too contrived. There is also a link with a judge who is giving Aldermarten a hard time.
Judge Way excellently played by John Wood is literally and figuratively losing his way. The judge is angry at people who stand for nothing. It turns out that Edgar is actually standing for something, his biblical values.
There is an acting masterclass here from a breed of actors who are almost all lost to us. Apart from John Wood, there is Richard Pasco who plays the Revered Matthew Beddoes who plays Miles and Edgar's father. A man who has lost faith, who might also be a little barking mad himself but he is another person who eventually sees faith on display.