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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Brett H
TOP 50 REVIEWER
I think the most fascinating aspect of Garrow's Law is that this is not a fictional account. Although not as widely known as perhaps he warrants, William Garrow was a prominent English lawyer, initially specialising in defence and subsequently becoming a Member of Parliament and Solicitor General.
Garrow is widely credited as being the father of the adversarial system of justice which is in use in many countries with forthright cross examination of witnesses. His insistence that hearsay evidence should not be admissible led to the rules on `best evidence'. Each of these episodes is based on a true case from the annals of the Old Bailey, England's premier criminal court, although not necessarily one which Garrow was involved with. For example this season's first episode concerns a disturbed individual called James Hadfield. He has directed a shot towards the Prince Regent at Drury Lane Theatre and, it emerges, was attempting suicide in what would be described in the modern idiom as `death by cop'. A quick search through Google will confirm that, as with all cases in Garrow's Law, this was a real case.
Garrow's personal life is also based on fact, as he had a long term relationship and later married Sarah, who had previously borne a child by a Viscount. Obviously the script writer has had to fill in the gaps, but it appears that the significant facts which can be checked out are correct so what we have here is a fascinating insight into the workings of the legal system a little over two hundred years ago, and the life and work of a highly influential individual.
As in the previous two series the main criticism is that the season is so short, comprising only four episodes to go with the eight previously. There is a tendency in the UK towards short series although four seems to be taking this to extremes. Perhaps basing the stories on real cases is the limiting factor here. The really bad news is that it has now been confirmed that there will be no more series of Garrow's Law for reasons which are not clear.
Garrow is widely credited as being the father of the adversarial system of justice which is in use in many countries with forthright cross examination of witnesses. His insistence that hearsay evidence should not be admissible led to the rules on `best evidence'. Each of these episodes is based on a true case from the annals of the Old Bailey, England's premier criminal court, although not necessarily one which Garrow was involved with. For example this season's first episode concerns a disturbed individual called James Hadfield. He has directed a shot towards the Prince Regent at Drury Lane Theatre and, it emerges, was attempting suicide in what would be described in the modern idiom as `death by cop'. A quick search through Google will confirm that, as with all cases in Garrow's Law, this was a real case.
Garrow's personal life is also based on fact, as he had a long term relationship and later married Sarah, who had previously borne a child by a Viscount. Obviously the script writer has had to fill in the gaps, but it appears that the significant facts which can be checked out are correct so what we have here is a fascinating insight into the workings of the legal system a little over two hundred years ago, and the life and work of a highly influential individual.
As in the previous two series the main criticism is that the season is so short, comprising only four episodes to go with the eight previously. There is a tendency in the UK towards short series although four seems to be taking this to extremes. Perhaps basing the stories on real cases is the limiting factor here. The really bad news is that it has now been confirmed that there will be no more series of Garrow's Law for reasons which are not clear.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars
22 reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
BBC says no more Garrow's Law, which is inexplicable!
Jun 18 2012
By Happy Reader
- Published on Amazon.com
"Garrow's Law" is so interesting. It boggles the mind when you watch the cases (especially in the first series) and think, wait a minute, they can't do that! - when, of course, they can, because there was no adversarial judicial system as we are used to. And because being part of the nobility, even a small part, used to make you immune. Each episode stars a new case, and all of them are based on real cases tried in England during the time period.
The characters are great, and knowing it's based on real-life makes it even better. But it is the scripts and cases that keep me coming back for more.
The reasons given for axing "Garrow's Law" don't seem adequate to a fan. See the RadioTimes on-line article I copied at the end of this review. But, alas, Series 3 is the last we'll see of William Garrow, played with stubborn high-mindedness by Andrew Buchan. Garrow (the real Garrow) was called to the Bar in 1783, and made his name as counsel for the defence (Brit for defense) - the period we see in the TV show. In 1793, though, he did rise to become a King's prosecutor, and was eventually knighted.
If you'd like do a little fun perusing of the kind of cases William Garrow handled, check out
oldbaileyonline org
This is an online listing of cases heard in the Old Bailey between 1674 and 1913. It doesn't always give a lot of detail. Sometimes, though, an entry includes a full transcript, questions and answers, the older ones in "old English". These include transcripts of actual William Garrow court appearances. I found the following entry for a court case involving Sir William, which occured years after those shown in the TV series:
LAWRENCE HALLORAN , alias LAWRENCE HYNES HALLORAN , alias WILLIAM CHARLES GREGORY , was indicted for that he, after the 1st of July, 1802, to wit, on the 9th of January, in the 57th year of his Majesty's reign , feloniously did forge and counterfeit the hand-writing of a certain person, to wit, Sir William Garrow , Knt. , the said Sir William Garrow, then being a member of the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and being entitled to send letters by the post to places within the said United Kingdom, free from the duty of postage, in the superscription of a letter to be sent, and which was afterwards sent, by the post, to wit, from London to Broseley, in the county of Salop, in order to avoid the payment of the duty of postage upon and in respect of the said letter, against the statute .
ELEVEN OTHER COUNTS, varying the manner of laying the charge.
To which indictment the prisoner pleaded
GUILTY . Aged 53.
Transported for Seven Years .
First Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Baron Graham
.............................................
Here's the February 6, 2012. RadioTimes on-line article, by Jack Seale, giving the bad news:
Garrow's Law has been axed by BBC1, the channel has confirmed.
The drama, co-created by Tony Marchant, centred on real 18th-century lawyer William Garrow (Andrew Buchan), whose daring acceptance of unfashionable or controversial cases helped to liberalise the legal system.
Garrow's Law had seemed to be a continuing success: at the end of 2011 it had more than four million regular viewers on Sunday nights, despite being up against the likes of The X Factor and I'm a Celebrity... on ITV1.
"BBC1 will screen more than 20 new dramas this year, but Garrow's Law will not be returning," confirmed a spokeswoman for the channel - and the decision not to renew Garrow's Law underlines BBC1's commitment to new drama under controller Danny Cohen.
Cohen has already chopped popular existing dramas, such as Zen and Lark Rise to Candleford, to make way for new series - a strategy that is arguably working well at the moment in the form of the ratings-busting Call the Midwife. With Garrow's Law having already run for three series, and with the series three finale serving as a viable swansong for the programme as a whole, it was perhaps an obvious target for Cohen's axe.
In any case, like Lark Rise - axed primarily because its writer, Bill Gallagher, no longer wished to continue with it - Garrow's Law is perhaps a casualty of how in-demand its main writer is. Tony Marchant has already written Public Enemies for BBC1 this year and has been commissioned to pen Leaving for ITV1. He also has plans to revive and update his 1997 breakthrough, Holding On, the state-of-the-nation drama about disparate characters living in London.
...............................................
The characters are great, and knowing it's based on real-life makes it even better. But it is the scripts and cases that keep me coming back for more.
The reasons given for axing "Garrow's Law" don't seem adequate to a fan. See the RadioTimes on-line article I copied at the end of this review. But, alas, Series 3 is the last we'll see of William Garrow, played with stubborn high-mindedness by Andrew Buchan. Garrow (the real Garrow) was called to the Bar in 1783, and made his name as counsel for the defence (Brit for defense) - the period we see in the TV show. In 1793, though, he did rise to become a King's prosecutor, and was eventually knighted.
If you'd like do a little fun perusing of the kind of cases William Garrow handled, check out
oldbaileyonline org
This is an online listing of cases heard in the Old Bailey between 1674 and 1913. It doesn't always give a lot of detail. Sometimes, though, an entry includes a full transcript, questions and answers, the older ones in "old English". These include transcripts of actual William Garrow court appearances. I found the following entry for a court case involving Sir William, which occured years after those shown in the TV series:
LAWRENCE HALLORAN , alias LAWRENCE HYNES HALLORAN , alias WILLIAM CHARLES GREGORY , was indicted for that he, after the 1st of July, 1802, to wit, on the 9th of January, in the 57th year of his Majesty's reign , feloniously did forge and counterfeit the hand-writing of a certain person, to wit, Sir William Garrow , Knt. , the said Sir William Garrow, then being a member of the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and being entitled to send letters by the post to places within the said United Kingdom, free from the duty of postage, in the superscription of a letter to be sent, and which was afterwards sent, by the post, to wit, from London to Broseley, in the county of Salop, in order to avoid the payment of the duty of postage upon and in respect of the said letter, against the statute .
ELEVEN OTHER COUNTS, varying the manner of laying the charge.
To which indictment the prisoner pleaded
GUILTY . Aged 53.
Transported for Seven Years .
First Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Baron Graham
.............................................
Here's the February 6, 2012. RadioTimes on-line article, by Jack Seale, giving the bad news:
Garrow's Law has been axed by BBC1, the channel has confirmed.
The drama, co-created by Tony Marchant, centred on real 18th-century lawyer William Garrow (Andrew Buchan), whose daring acceptance of unfashionable or controversial cases helped to liberalise the legal system.
Garrow's Law had seemed to be a continuing success: at the end of 2011 it had more than four million regular viewers on Sunday nights, despite being up against the likes of The X Factor and I'm a Celebrity... on ITV1.
"BBC1 will screen more than 20 new dramas this year, but Garrow's Law will not be returning," confirmed a spokeswoman for the channel - and the decision not to renew Garrow's Law underlines BBC1's commitment to new drama under controller Danny Cohen.
Cohen has already chopped popular existing dramas, such as Zen and Lark Rise to Candleford, to make way for new series - a strategy that is arguably working well at the moment in the form of the ratings-busting Call the Midwife. With Garrow's Law having already run for three series, and with the series three finale serving as a viable swansong for the programme as a whole, it was perhaps an obvious target for Cohen's axe.
In any case, like Lark Rise - axed primarily because its writer, Bill Gallagher, no longer wished to continue with it - Garrow's Law is perhaps a casualty of how in-demand its main writer is. Tony Marchant has already written Public Enemies for BBC1 this year and has been commissioned to pen Leaving for ITV1. He also has plans to revive and update his 1997 breakthrough, Holding On, the state-of-the-nation drama about disparate characters living in London.
...............................................
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
UK historical courtroom drama
Jun 16 2012
By Harold Wolf
- Published on Amazon.com
Based on reality. Historically keen. One plot connects 4 episodes. Each episode also has a challenging court/social issue of the period. Andrew Buchan (Return to Cranford) is a convincing Garrow (1760-1840). Southouse (Alun Armstrong -New Tricks, Little Dorrit) is back as law mentor. Rupert Graves (Forsyte Saga) continues as Sir Arthur. Returned are Lyndsey Marshal, Aidan McArdle, and Michael Culkin, all having been in every previous Garrow's Law episode.
SUBTITLES for each episode as well as the behind the scenes bonus, filmed in the Scottish location studio. It's a brilliant third series, in my opinion, and my wife's, but then we fell in love with the first episode. All 3 series are recommended BBC viewing. Costumes/sets and atmosphere are believable. Even some of the dialogue was taken from court records, I heard on the bonus.
1 "Insanity Plea" Mad or murderer? Garrow tries to prove the failed suicidal assassin a lunatic but that even riles King Go. III, not altogether himself. Then there's Lady Sarah (Lyndsey Marshal) and a brief nude shot.
2 "King's (States') Evidence" "Worker conditions." Garrow agrees to defend two weavers charged with loom breakage. One claiming it the other. Southouse fights jail fever & death. Lady Sarah has a confrontation over ongoing troubles.
3 "Political Corruption" Garrow prosecutes a bad colonial Gov. & exposes a corrupt system. Will Garrow fall victim to the corruption for Lady Sarah's sake?
4 "Limit police power" Garrow grieves. Sarah leaves. Sir Arthur rages. Pinnock (Harry Melling in last of 3 episode appearances) finds Garrow yet another case; one of murder at the polls. An explosive, emotional end to Garrow's Law.
I'm hoping for a Series 4.
SUBTITLES for each episode as well as the behind the scenes bonus, filmed in the Scottish location studio. It's a brilliant third series, in my opinion, and my wife's, but then we fell in love with the first episode. All 3 series are recommended BBC viewing. Costumes/sets and atmosphere are believable. Even some of the dialogue was taken from court records, I heard on the bonus.
1 "Insanity Plea" Mad or murderer? Garrow tries to prove the failed suicidal assassin a lunatic but that even riles King Go. III, not altogether himself. Then there's Lady Sarah (Lyndsey Marshal) and a brief nude shot.
2 "King's (States') Evidence" "Worker conditions." Garrow agrees to defend two weavers charged with loom breakage. One claiming it the other. Southouse fights jail fever & death. Lady Sarah has a confrontation over ongoing troubles.
3 "Political Corruption" Garrow prosecutes a bad colonial Gov. & exposes a corrupt system. Will Garrow fall victim to the corruption for Lady Sarah's sake?
4 "Limit police power" Garrow grieves. Sarah leaves. Sir Arthur rages. Pinnock (Harry Melling in last of 3 episode appearances) finds Garrow yet another case; one of murder at the polls. An explosive, emotional end to Garrow's Law.
I'm hoping for a Series 4.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Garrow's Law
Nov 5 2012
By M. Harrison
- Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase
Recently the first series of "Garrow's Law" (set in the 1780s at London's Old Bailey) was shown on commercial television in Australia without any mention of the later series, so I bought all three from Amazon. It turns out to be one of the best costume dramas to come out of the UK in years. All the court cases are horribly true. For those of us lucky enough to live under a legal system derived from England can see that some things have improved in 200 years. This is not a documentary of course, but a cracking drama lead by Andrew Buchan and Alun Armstrong. Watching Mr Buchan weep for a little boy his character has failed to save from the gallows is something never to forget.
The series is also remarkably funny with Alun Armstrong getting the best lines: " Well, you have made an enemy of the Attorney General, so there is some progress". Don't miss this.
The series is also remarkably funny with Alun Armstrong getting the best lines: " Well, you have made an enemy of the Attorney General, so there is some progress". Don't miss this.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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