Ex Corrie star Walsh
Law and Order:UK launched last night on the ITV channel and I for one was pleasantly surprised at the quality and how close they kept to the original franchise in the USA. Apart from the obvious difference like geographical location, accents and different criminal processes it was in fact Law and Order US!!!! I think this will be a huge hit and if the ratings echo my sentiments I’m sure a second series of more than seven episodes will be ordered.
Bradley Walsh (DS Ronnie Brooks) stars as the main police detective and to be fair did a much better job than I expected. I went in fearing the worse and was more than pleasantly surprised at his delivery. His sidekick (DS Matt Devlin played by Jamie Bamber) was funny (although I’m not sure if we were supposed to take him seriously or not!) and the pair struck up a very comfortable screen partnership. One of the great selling points of the Law and Order format is the speed at which things move. Half the programme relates to the police investigation and the other deals solely with the criminal justice, crown prosecution and the struggles to get the case to court.
Freema - where's the Doctor?
Welcomed back on the small screen is ex Doctor Who/Torchwood star Freema Agyeman who plays the young junior prosecutor Alesha Phillips. She does a good job and helps to gel the two main characters on the legal side namely the director of the CPS and crown prosecutor. Last nights’ episode dealt with an overzealous property tycoon who stopped at nothing to get her tenants out of their contracts and make money on the redevelopment of the property. As I’ve mentioned, it was a slick operation and had me enthralled from start to finish.
The iconic “dumb dumb” noise as each location is shown on the screen is there as is the type face used on American screens showing said location. The much loved banter and quick paced conversation between the detectives is still there despite the miles separating the United States and London! Oh yes, the UK version is set in London, forgot to mention that!
So in all, it was a very positive start to the series and long may it continue and go from strength to strength. Following on from the previous mini series Whitechapel, ITV look to be moving into a more classy line of drama for Monday nights. Long may it continue!
