Crown Court

Daytime television in the U.K. didn't used to be about make over shows, 'Loose Women', and confrontational programmes of the 'Jeremy Kyle' variety. Back in the '70's, we had 'Crown Court', a series of intelligently written courtroom dramas, starring the cream of Britain's acting talent. The secret of the show's success lay in its simplicity; we rarely saw what was going on in the outside world, all we knew of the respective cases was what we heard from the witnesses, and that was enough. The jury was chosen from members of the public, who'd then deliver a verdict based on the evidence. Perhaps the most disturbing case was 'Destruct, Destruct' in which a sci-fi obsessed juvenile suffocates a boy with a plastic bag. Every time the camera focused on the accused, we'd be privy to his thought processes, which consisted of weird electronic noises. In 1976, Granada revamped 'Crown Court', putting it out on Saturday nights in hour-long shows. It didn't work, however, and soon returned to its natural habitat.