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mariocki · 2 months ago

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New Scotland Yard: Error of Judgement (2.8, LWT, 1972)

"Well, why didn't Stevens identify this girl?"

"Oh, he said she was only a teenager, he didn't want to create family problems for her."

"You let a man hang because you've got family problems? I take it we did try to find her? This girl?"

"It was up to the defense to produce their own witnesses."

"You didn't even look for her?"

"Look, if we'd been asked to by the defense solicitors, if we'd been directed by a judge, if we'd known who to look for, if we'd had a description - nobody even produced a name for the girl!"

"Therefore she didn't exist."

"Not necessarily."

#new scotland yard #error of judgement #lwt #classic tv #oliver horsbrugh #victor pemberton #john woodvine #john carlisle #carmel mcsharry #billy hamon #hugh manning #hugh cross #bryan stanion #richardson morgan #thomas heathcote #valerie bell #alec wallis #richard grant #back to (slightly) more cerebral plots. an MP leading the charge for an inquiry into an execution some 12 years earlier is killed himself #in a car bombing. the question becomes not just who killed the MP but whether his cause celebre (a supposedly innocent man hanged #as a result of a missing witness) was indeed guilty of the crime he died for. Kingdom seems unusually subdued on the matter‚ despite having #been an officer involved in the original case 12yrs ago; no bleeding heart monologues here‚ nor wringing of hands over whether an injustice #has been done. indeed‚ he never really offers an opinion on whether or not he was or is convinced of the man's guilt or innocence #it's quite out of sorts for the character‚ who might normally have been expected to vigorously defend his previous conduct or to lament his #youth and inexperience in a poorly handled case. instead he says nothing‚ and skulks about concentrating on the modern day #killing. perhaps he's still shaken up by the events of the previous week‚ tho i doubt it (there isn't a great amount of reference between #episodes in this series and mostly they're very self contained to date). no big faces in the guest cast tho i always appreciate Heathcote #an undervalued actor who rarely got the kind of meaty roles he deserved (nor did he here alas)#this same year Hamon appeared in the superb To Encourage the Others‚ another tale of legal injustice‚ as Derek Bentley's co defendant #Christopher Craig‚ in Alan Clarke's incendiary dramatisation of the Bentley murder trial

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