Key details

Genre
Sitcom
Broadcast
1980
Channel
ITV1
Episodes
6 (1 series)
Stars
Hugh Paddick, Sheila Steafel, Robert Dorning, Michael Barrington, Charles Lamb and Valerie Phillips
Writer
Dennis Woolf
Director
Eric Prytherch
Producer
Brian Armstrong
Company

Justice must be seen to be done, and in some cases justice must seen to be believed - as in this comedy series which turns courtroom drama into courtroom farce.

The scene is a British small-town magistrates' court. No murders, treason or crimes of passion unfold before the Bench; instead the petty crimes of every day are exposed for the ludicrous episodes they so often are. A local council win their case, and then find themselves in the dock for a similar offence. The line-up of witnesses on another case includes six small dogs. Three charges of drunk and disorderly come up in quick succession one morning.

These are just some of the legal tangles to be sorted out by three long-suffering magistrates and their even more long-suffering clerk Pettigrew, who does his best to keep the course of justice running smoothly with the repeated, plaintive cry of "Can we get on now, please?"

Additional details

Production
Studio
Camera set-up
Multi-camera
Picture
Colour

Website links

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Monday 2nd June 1980 at 8pm on ITV1