2001

S4.E1 ∙ Lost and Found

Wed, Jan 12, 2005

Appearing before Judge Deed, Jo Mills, with Charlie Deed as her junior, defends Terry Rogers who has been on the run for 16 years. He escaped from custody before he could tried and is now a reformed man. Once a crackhead who regularly committed crimes to feed his drugs habit, he is now a reformed man and a respected school teacher. At the center of the defence is the fact that two of the four policemen involved in the case have since been convicted of corrupt practices and served time in jail. In her private life, Jo Mills is still struggling with whether she will adopt Michael Hulsey a former client's now orphaned son. Deed recommends against it but Jo seems determined to proceed.

8.1 /10

S4.E2 ∙ Above the Law

Wed, Jan 19, 2005

Judge Deed presides over a case of three street gang members who are charged with murdering a rival drug dealer who was starting to sell drugs on their turf. The accused have no respect for the court system, interrupt regularly and refuse to abide by the judge's instructions. When a key witness is killed and members of the jury are threatened, Deed is faced with a dilemma. The government is pushing the concept of trial by judge alone as a means of reducing the cost of the judicial system. All judges, including Deed, are strongly opposed as they see trial by jury as the cornerstone of the British justice system. As such, Deed very much wants to continue the trial with a jury. Jo Mills continues to struggle with the child welfare authorities in her attempts to adopt a former client's now orphaned son, Michael. She gets support from an unexpected quarter.

8.2 /10

S4.E3 ∙ In Defence of Others

Wed, Jan 26, 2005

Judge Deed presides over the murder trial of a prison inmate who killed a fellow prisoner. His defense is that the victim was a known pedophile and he killed him 'in the defense of others' a defense that is normally used in moments of dire emergency or threat. Jo Mills, for the defense, argues that there was a pressing need for the accused to act in the defense of other children that the victim might molest. In a separate case, Deed hears an argument from a woman who wishes to sue the town council for not providing enough information on her adopted son, a very violent teenager who not only raped her daughter, but also is currently before Judge Everard charged with raping his teacher. Jo's life is turned upside down when the adoption authorities advise her of an important change in Michael Hulsey's family situation.

7.8 /10

S4.E4 ∙ Defence of the Realm

Wed, Feb 02, 2005

Sir Ian Rochester is again out to get Judge Deed to resign, this time over his indiscretion with a claimant who had appeared before him. While his fellow judges review the case, Deed finds himself lecturing for two weeks at a seminar for prospective judges. Sitting as a recorder, Jo hears the case of an embezzler, Rufus Barron, who illegally acquired over four million pounds from his employer, Sir Tim Lisfield. When Jo seems to be giving too much leeway to the defense, she is threatened and Deed comes to her assistance. When there is evidence that some of the money was used to bribe a Cabinet Minister, the case takes a far more serious tone.

8 /10

S4.E5 ∙ Separation of Powers

Wed, Feb 09, 2005

The powers that be continue in their efforts to have Judge Deed removed from the bench. All the more so now that he has suggested an inquiry into allegations made at his previous trial that the Home Secretary accepted a bribe from industrialist Sir Timothy Listfield. This is also tied to his current trial where a young couple, the Peacocks, are suing the owners of a nearby waste disposal plant. Mrs. Peacock has previously had a miscarriage and her daughter was born with severe physical deformities which they blame on the pollutants produced by the plant. Charlie Deed learns that both Listfield and the Home Secretary at one time served on the board of directors of a company linked to the case. Deed thinks his time may have come however when the Government refers his case to both Houses of Parliament seeking his impeachment.

8.5 /10

S4.E6 ∙ Popular Appeal

Wed, Feb 16, 2005

An angry contestant in a Reality TV show (The TV Dungeon) kills another competitor on camera, and the show's producers face charges of manslaughter in Deed's court.

8.2 /10