User Reviews

Mute of Malice was a very interesting episode. The story here concerns an army chaplain accused of killing his brother, coupled with some very harrowing scenes featuring dead bodies, the story here is well constructed as is the script. The episode begins with a pleasant interlude with Kavanagh and his wife and it was a nice beginning to an episode that got intense at times. The catch here is that the accused either refuses to speak or can't, the episode is dedicated to not only whether he killed his brother but also if he is really mute. The script is also good, and the characters are some of the better developed characters in the series. John Thaw is outstanding once again as Kavanagh, while the man playing the defendant has a very haunting intensity in his face even though he doesn't speak for a majority of the episode. Then there is Robert Calf as the victim and Richard Pasco(who I last saw in the poignant Inspector Morse episode Dead on Time) who do well with what they have. The direction from Jack Gold is also very good, and the production values are first rate. Overall, intense and harrowing, but also well played. 10/10 Bethany Cox

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.