User Reviews

This is a great legal drama series. The cast is stellar, the dialogue is wonderful, the legal drama is intelligent.

One downside is that the writers limited every courtroom battle to Deed presiding over his ex-wife, his love interest and daughter. The story lines would have been just as compelling even if other barristers had appeared in front of him.

Also, had Deed sabotaged himself in ways other than just sleeping with women who appeared before him, it would have still made for compelling viewing.

Some of the antagonists are written as one dimensional cartoonist villains. There was plenty of scope to make them and their motivations more complex, so we, the audience, could have been more challenged. eg the CEO of the telco acted like a slimy bond villain.

Not the best of the British legal offerings (Silk being one of the better ones to compare), but a good pace, great acting overall, and understandable enough for non-legalese viewers. Some of the personal issues around Judge Deed are off-putting, as his inability to commit to any relationship other than superficially is annoying, but in keeping with his background I guess. I love Martin Shaw on many shows, incl George Gently, and seeing him as this character kind of spoils my image of him as a 'nice' man. The cases are generally realistic enough but it is important to remember this is fiction and entertainment. As such, it's worth watching and having a 'happy ending' doesn't hurt either. Jenny Seagrove is another gem worth watching, and the chemistry between them works really well. Always nice to have strong female characters, and not just as 'props'.

There have been two series so far of this programme. It seems deliberately to set out to contradict the impression of the British legal system portrayed by the excellent "Rumpole of the Bailey", of senile judges and smug arch-conservative barristers.

Here, the main character has radical leanings, a messy private life and a very active libido. Much of the sub-plot is involved with side-swipes at the (Labour) government of the day, although the implication is that power corrupts; the political complexion of the office holders doesn't affect their greed or ambition.

The one common factor with other screen portrayals of the British legal system is the very precise diction and grammar used by barristers and judges. The courtroom scenes are well worth watching.

Some elements of the plot rather strain belief, but the series is quite enjoyable.

I find myself somewhat astonished at the BBC's recent production of Judge John Deed. And it is a feeling I have not been subject to in a very long time where British television productions are concerned. Simply put, this is a work of pure genius, and there it is. This coming from a man with the utmost suspicion of our judicial system and the officers set up on high to enforce such an institution, and yet, I am in constant agreement, albeit to my own amazement, with the antics both of the judge and his underlings, and the way in which the court system is so succinctly depicted in this on-going series. Having happened across the DVD's by mistake, and eventually taken the time to view the contents, despite my reservations of having an age old storyline supporting the injustices of our political bodies, their avaricious motives, and the long standing old-school nepotist constitution forced upon me yet again, I instead found myself almost instantly engrossed by the in-depth characters, the surprisingly believable story lines, and the outright exceptional scripting.

Unlike many of the mainstream drama's that the BBC have a tendency of vomiting into unsuspecting audiences sitting rooms, without any concern for the damage they might be doing to our sense of rectal restraint and gag reflexes, Judge John Deed is without doubt a complete and utter reprieve for the British Broadcasting Company. Not only does this exquisitely crafted drama give the concept of a truly fair and just British legal system, doing it's utmost to defend the rights and privileges of victims and criminals alike, but it is not afraid to show how the Executive, i.e. the presiding governments long arm of political interference, the British police force, and the CPS (Criminal Prosecution Service) allow their personal departmental agendas and blinkered drive to gain convictions at any price, and indirectly perverting the course of justice.

As a complete layman, I have little insight into what really goes on in our courts of law, other than what I find regurgitated in the local press, of which most I am well aware, is dramatised for the sole purpose of selling yet more over-inflated tabloid drivel, or accompanying propagandist putrescence. Yet, in spite of my long standing cynicism for the pretence we all commonly refer to as 'The Authorities', I suddenly find myself comprehending the inconceivably difficult and complex responsibilities our high court judges must face, and deal with on a day to day basis. Of course this is only a drama, and yes it is played up for obvious entertainment value, however I hate to admit it, but I have learned more about how our legal system works and operates through the contents of the first fifteen episodes of Judge John Deed, than I have throughout my entire life living and working in the United Kingdom. I am shocked to say it, in fact I would go as far as to say I am entirely astonished, that a simple television program could sway my tainted opinions quite so much, and with such compelling dynamism, that I have actually begun to have some real faith, however small, in our British judiciary.

I have to hand it to G.F. Newman, and the production team of One-Eyed Dog. Between them they have smashed through the monotony of drab, mind numbingly inept, and the endlessly anal-retentive montage of legal drama's, we as an audience have had to endure from so many other would- be purveyors of truth, and actually delivered an honestly frank and genuinely sincere rendition of reality, without compromising the real meaning of entertainment in the process. This series should be presented as a part of every law school curriculum, a core module and de-facto benchmark of what is expected of every lawyer, solicitor, barrister and judge in the United Kingdom, not to mention our somewhat errant ministers of parliament at present. This drama's stark acceptance that people, no matter their redoubtable positions, are still human beings, and can still make mistakes in their private lives, but making little difference in the court room while common sense, an unbiased conviction to seek out the real truth, and still offer up authentic, honest-to-god verdicts and sound justice, is a joy to behold. No one is above the law in Judge John Deed's courtroom, CEO's, MP's, even other judges; they all come under the hammer of John Deeds (Martin Shaw), insurmountable intellect and fair minded ethics.

Suffice to say, I love this series and endeavour to get my hands on the rest of the episodes thus far unseen. Congratulations to the BBC, and the entire cast of Judge John Deed. You have made this unbeliever think twice before speaking out against the 'system' without first thinking about what I really do know, and what I don't. You have dared to stand out from the crowd on this one, and I applaud you for it. Ignore the criticisms, the winging companies, who even now seek to curtail the truths and facts of the products this series has openly exposed to the light of day, and long may you continue to reveal the notorious sabre rattling of our ruling political bodies, to put money before the citizens who have given them such misguided trust.

judge john deed is the best thing i have ever seen in my whole life, the chemistry between martin and jenny is simply amazing. it a shame it not on all to often but i love still. jenny sea grove you are the best ever i admire your ability in the program to juggle a career and having kids how do you do it lol. anyway the episode hidden agenda and appropriate response are the best ever i cant get over just he treat poor Jo but she always takes him back but i guess that is what the show is all about

even my 11 year old daughter loves it and really admires Jo for getting a education before becoming an actress.

it shows how much they care for animals when they add snippets of how unfairly treated they are. jenny sea grove is part of care for the wild, which my father setup among other people.

Judge John Deed is a series about a High Court Judge, seen in both his private life (mostly: sleeping with the women he meets in court) and in his court life. The protagonist is nicely played by Martin Shaw, whose pronunciation of English is a wonder to behold, but most of the other characters are one-dimensional cardboard types.

Even more, a court presided by a judge where his ex-wife, his daughter and his mistress plead, accompanied by sinister government schemes in every episode is wholly unrealistic, alas. The earlier seasons where a bit better in this review, but season five and six are horrible. Perhaps the writers ran out of stories.

Brilliant series. Some people have said that it's unrealistic, referring to the government interference etc. I have a legal background and it's surprising how realistic it is.

I saw Judge John Deed as I like legal dramas and I love Martin Shaw. Judge John Deed is not bad, but it is not perfect. And I admit I prefer Rumpole of the Bailey and Kavanagh QC. Judge John Deed is wonderfully photographed and the locations and scenery are stunning, and the music is great. In the first four seasons or so, the writing has in general been excellent and the stories are engrossing, with exception of the baby episode which is easily one of the weaker episodes for me. And the acting is fine, Martin Shaw is brilliant in the title role, and he has a good chemistry with the lovely Jenny Seagrove who plays Jo, while the direction is pretty solid and the courtroom scenes on the whole compelling. However, I do have to agree that some parts of Judge John Deed is unrealistic such as the sinister government schemes, making Deed a womaniser and such. Also the pacing can be a little slow at times, and in seasons 5 and 6 the writing and story lines sadly aren't as strong, with the writing lacking the intelligence of the earlier seasons and the stories becoming a tad unoriginal and repetitive. And there were some characters that came across as cardboard, on occasions Judge John Deed and Jo are the only well-developed characters. To conclude, it is good thanks to Shaw, but it has lost its quality. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Excellent series The banned episodes are the best..I have the two on dvd

I am rather disappointed as the series unfolds. What started as something very special and believable, is turning into a total farce. When I say "what started" I mean when I started to watch it, I have no idea what episode it was, actually I did only watch one or two episodes at first, and much latter got involved more regularly with it. But the last episode I watched was a case against animal right protest people who seemed to have maliciously planted a bomb in some animal lab resulting in someone's death. The problem with accepting so many side stories with the case is that eventually the case seems secondary to the stories. And the whole show seems bogged in a lot of superficial gossip material that does very little to entertain me. Just try this for evaluation. A judge has in his court for a murder trial his inexperienced and not really qualified daughter left in charge of the defense, occasionally helped by HIS deserting mistress - and here we're supposed to be talking about a Conservative judge! This is rather worrying - are we going to end up with judge john Days-of-our-life? There is no doubt about Martin Shaw's charisma. He is very good. I imagine, with series, directors and writers have to stretch beyond themselves and their talent for the show to go on. What a pity!

I have definite rules for all television series. Do they hold my attention? Are they well written? Are they well acted? In the case of this series, the answers are yes, yes and yes.

Starting with the writer, nobody seems to mention him. The stories are well crafted, the different strands of each episode are seamless. I assume that Newman either has some knowledge of the law or access to those that do as the words of John Deed make sense to the viewer.

The cast is attractive with a large number of regulars who have stuck with it for some years, always a good sign of their belief in the project. Martin Shaw is always good value for money. The beautiful Jenny Seagrove, (what did she see in Michael Winner), Sir Donald Sinden doing his Donald Sinden act, Christopher Cazenove et als, all turn in quality performances.

Some have seen fit to compare this unfavourably with Rumpole of the Bailey, I cannot see the comparison. This is not played for laughs though there is humour a-plenty. This does not have the "clever" endings. This is a good attempt to portray English justice. At 90 minutes an episode, true things have to be tidied a little. A sub-plot is added and we see the human side of the characters' private lives. Each episode I have watched has held my attention, wholly and completely, to the credit titles at the end.

A better comparison than Rumpole is probably the late, great John Thaw in Kavanagh QC. This, I know, was based on a real character, latterly elevated to the bench before his untimely death, the real Kavanagh was a friend of mine. I do not know if Deed is based on a real judge, or judges, but I would guess at "probably".

I have seen some of the episodes more than once and they do not suffer from repetition. Yes I am a fan, long may Judge John Deed sit on the bench. And at only a handful of episodes a year, this viewer always yearns for his return.

Any programme starring Martin Shaw has to be worth looking at but this one ends up disappointing. In particular, the scripts become increasingly pro forma and stilted as the series proceed. By the final series, Deed's chat-up line, some variation on "I want to make love to you" goes beyond irritating. In fact, the whole gender dynamic is now on the troubling side. What probably seemed sexy and edgy when the series premiered now, in the 2020s sometimes looks more like harassment or stalking. The melodramatic relationship between Deed and Jo Mills reinforces this. With more nuance, it could have been great. As is, though, you just want them both to get over it all. Seagrove, who plays Mills, is given a one-dimensional script so doesn't really get to demonstrate much beyond "passionate character verging on unreason". The various government officials and lackeys who try to interfere with Deed's personal ideas of justice throughout also tend to be one-dimensional although some of them develop more complex characters as the series goes on.

Overall, this show was incredibly successful when it was made, but television has become much more sophisticated since then and Shaw has gone on to better things.

Watched Judge John Deed over the years and it is like episodes of 'A touch of Frost' or 'Inspector Morse' and others.

You will question how the central character gets away with these things and realise in the 'real world' they would not. As well as other flaws that don't stand up to comparison to the real world.

But, never the less, for the purposes of artistic license and putting on a good drama, despite these flaws it is entertaining and watchable .

Martin Shaw as the bewigged crusader, plays the role extremely well, as the 'not so little' , little guy, righting wrongs and bringing the establishment to book.

If you like a good old fashioned story of good triumping (despite all the odds) over evil . I found the episodes well written, yes it's not the real world but then we don't watch drama expecting a documentary

7/10.

Okay: we have a judge who takes the law into his own hands in terms of manipulating court cases. I wouldn't want to appear in court when he presides. His eco-warrior daughter keeps getting in trouble which daddy irons out by pulling strings in the legal world. The message seems to be that there is a law for common people and for Jugde Deed. Apart from the fact that part of bringing up a child is making him/ her to accept responsibility. So he is not the nicest person on earth. Shaw acts fairly extrovert. Overall you get the impression it's Shaw's character Doyle acting as a judge. You keep expecting a silver Capri to appear. In fact it's a silver Porsche. His womanizing is completely over the top. The stories are fairly boring but the insights in the British legal system are interesting.

Having been bought up in Australia with a father who was a barrister and once offered a Supreme Court judicial appointment - I have to say that this program goes a long way to showing the true imperialism of the judicial system.

My father rejected the overtures for his own reasons but having watched Deeds I have to say I have seen it all. A judge is a mentor, a guardian, an executioner but most of all a human being. The politics that goes with the position is common.

Look at your own life! Change Deeds into the counselor at school, the mediator in a dispute, the local parish priest, the HR officer at work and somewhere there is a Deeds in it.

To look upon the law and see the stupidity of it is a gift most lack because there is no law just politics and Judge John Deed highlights that more than any law and order program now or in the past. I believe this is the intention of the program. Entertain - definitely - educate on how the system is and can be twisted more than likely.

Watch Deeds and say to yourself "Why is it so =- how can this happen - and how many times has it happened?". Watch again the next week and ask the same question.

Be prepared to think

I cant imagine in real life that a radical, meddling and interfering judge can get away with the balloney Deeds gets away with. And the silks take it without blinking. Full of cliches and of woke issues that really makes it hard to watch and sometimes boring. Shaw plays the part well, its the character they invented that is flawed. And trying to play the aged Don Juan? Come on.........ha ha ha ha.

I did actually work in the judicial sector many moons ago in an administrative role and I saw the day to day workings of the British judicial system. Judge John Deed is an extremely realistic show.

Martin Shaw can play any part and is the perfect choice to play the conservative judge. Each show has focused on Deed's courtroom antics and his private life along with the politics that go hand in hand with the judicial system.

Having worked for the judicial sector, I can tell you that this show is realistic on so many fronts. One thing that Deed has to put up with in this show is bureaucracy and politics from the powers that be and I know that is how the judiciary works. Deed is his own man and interested only in seeing justice served. He isn't interested in politics and advancing his career and will not compromise his principles to get ahead. In each show, he usually has to contend with Sir Ian Rochester, a squirmy little bureaucrat from the Lord Chancellors Department.

The courtroom scenes are fantastic and Deed does everything he can to get to the truth. He does seem to take on the roles of the barristers from time to time but he believes in the truth only.

Deed is a very conservative judge whereas a lot of real life judges in the UK are more liberal than conservative. Deed has no hesitation in punishing those who are guilty but if there are extenuating circumstances, then he will consider the options. Deed realises that the law is not black and white and that there are very grey areas in between.

All in all, a realistic portrayal of life as a senior judge. Check it out.

I was enjoying this. It was, kind of scripted, part legal education, kind of a soap opera, altogether. Though - I did like it as a human story which touched on real moral questions.

With Season one episode two there came a challenge to the viewer. Judge Deed found himself presiding over a trial in which his ex-wife was the lawyer for the defense. Judge and ex-wife were doing battle by citing, back and forth, case law and decisions supporting each other's positions. Judge Deed's ex-wife is presented to the audience as one of the best lawyers to be found, yet, apparently, she loses an important point in this argument, because she either only cited the parts of the case law which supported her interpretation, and read into the case, no further, or because she did not read more widely into British law to flesh out what consensus had been established by jurisprudence, over the many years regarding culpability in such matters. That Judge Deed won the moment against one of the best lawyers to be found simply by reading more thoroughly and more broadly, is this challenge to the viewer; that logic, that reasonable plausibility, that simple believable story telling, had to leave the room for a while so that the "math" of the story could work. It does no good to anyone to coerce a story in this way.

Martin Shaw is once again excellent in an excellent production. I have never been to court, but can imagine that this is a particularly precise example of the British legal system. I have followed Martin Shaw's career over the years, since he was in The Professionals, and whether through chance or good judgement, he seems to choose roles that fit his stature. The writing in this show is excellent, the actors, almost without exception, extremely professional, and the sly humour just leavens the gravity of the courtroom proceedings.