Law & Order UK - series 2

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I'm glad to see this series return, but I was really hoping that it would have its own original UK stories now, not more adaptations from the US ones. I do so wish that they would remove the stuff that could only happen in America and not over here. That tabloid front page headline "EVIL" while the trial was still going on must be one of the worst they've had!

And there was no indication that the girls' names were withheld from the public, was there? Also I'm not sure that they needed to make that big distinction between prison and hospital, as she would be given treatment wherever she was sent.
 
I really enjoy this programme. I thought there was good acting this evening. I felt so sorry for the schizophrenic's sister, and the actor played the schizophrenic's part almost too well he seemed real.
 
So many procedural errors and taking to the bounds of credibility.

They have got to cut us loose from the adaptations of the US scripts or this will fail.

The acting (from the adults) was great, the direction great, the scripts/dialog were/was not in themselves/itself bad.

But there are vast differences in the US Law and Order version world of judicial procedure and UK judicial procedure. I remember the US L&O version of this story and it worked for me because my knowledge of US police & judicial procedure is limited - based on our system but I could suspend belief - and the child actors were a lot better (Why did the child whose mother was a crack head prostitute sound very home counties?)

Massive kudos to the woman playing the mother of the murdered boy though. She made me cry.
 
It's all quite strange! The only way I can explain it is the fact that the two major channels here (BBC1 and ITV1) rarely have a drama commission of more than 6-8 episodes (longer commissions are seen on the 'minority' terrestrial channels ie BBC2, Channel 4 and Five).

Occasionally drama series on the two major channels have longer runs, maybe 10 episodes (Spooks on BBC1 for example), although these tend to be established hits.

I would suggest they filmed the 13 episodes together as it's more cost effective to prepare 13 episodes in 1 block. However, as 13 episodes is a long commission (even by the standards of an established drama hit in the UK), they probably decided to 'test the water' with the first seven. If the ratings for those hadn't have been great, we'd probably have gotten the remaining 6 at something like 11pm on a Wednesday with minimal advertising just to get them out of the way.

In other places more used to longer runs of dramas (if I'm right, in many places a typical commission in 22 episodes so 13 is quite short) it makes sense to air as a 'shorter' season; which is what has been don in the UK.

What the season 1 UK set will comprise is anyone's guess though!
 
Well, 22 or 24 episodes is normal for the major US broadcast networks owned by major companies who want the ad revenue.

A high quality cable drama like Dexter, The Wire or The Sopranos has/had 10+ episodes. ITV show The Bill the year round so I don't see what's wrong with investing in a drama that lasts one quarter.

Given the excellent numbers that L&O: UK posted last time, basically our equivalent to what would be considered good ratings in the States, I think the next 13 episodes in the Autumn should be shown in a block.
 
I dunno; I consider the likes of 'The Bill', 'Casualty' and 'Holby City' to be soaps rather than dramas; they are one hour-long episode per week, but they are shown year-round so I consider them to be soaps.
 
Him losing it at the end of the trial was a bit pat, but done very well.
On balance I'd have the emotional scene and acting that we got there.

I don't watch ITV is this being trailed/promoted at all?
 
Im glad rent-a-mouth-on-everything-under-the-sun [ie Denise Fergus/Bulger] failed in her bid to getg it banned...madam thinks because she left her kid outside a shop that entitles her to dictate what we should watch. Too arrogant by half, that one.
 
Yes...with a publicity agent, two holiday homes in the Canaries and Portofino, a five-bedroomed house and three, yes, three cars, plus the inevitable chav designer clothes. Yes, coping very well indeed.
 
All I'm saying is, they could afford to expand a brand that is working well for them if they are willing flog the dead horse of a weekly drama that is The Bill!
 
I know and I agree with you. I suppose until the name is established on a major channel we'll have to put up with shorter seasons - I know Law and Order's a big name in the US but here it's pretty limited to Five and digital channels.

Wish it wasn't that way - there's actually very little on TV during the week that I can be bothered sitting down for on a weekly basis. Law and Order UK is one of the few shows that I make a point of catching.
 
I just love the show. I think all the actors were made for the individual roles they play.
I know the law part of the series has to be accurate so it shows how frustrating it is when there is a chance the culprit may get away with the crime.
I like the way it has a clean cut no nonsense delivery with an explanation of where they are at that time.
The one last week had me on the edge of my seat, what an ending and turn of events that was.
 
ITV is competing with BBC.
Splitting it into 2 it gives them something new to put up against Survivors or whatever the BBC has.
 
That is a little disingenuous.

As a mother I can not imagine the grief of loosing a child in such circumstances. But to portray her as an inattentive/bad mother is not particularly fair. Many a parent, myself included, has lost sight of a child. 999,999 out of a million the outcome is one cross mum and one oblivious child.

As for her current cicumstances, one of my cousins died of cot death. Since her death, my Uncle has had three further children and certainly progressed in his career. Should any parent of a dead child cease t live?
 
Well you've missed a lot of great TV then! I think it's a brilliant show, perfectly cast. How it would fare with episodes not based off the US Law & Order I don't know.

This was another brilliant episode, I thought, though I can't believe the two girls would be laughing in court, that seemed a bit much. Surely both of them would have been absolutely pooing themselves, not making faces at each other! And yeah the girl actors weren't believable as kids from an estate like that. Straight out of stage school, not a crack den!
 
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