Previous Convictions

Another outstanding performance from the late and lamented John Thaw as the crusty QC, Kavanaugh. I like the way the various stories, including his personal life and interfaces, are weaved together almost seamlessly for this episode. Actually, the entire ensemble give stellar performances. The story line is probably the weakest link, but you can't help but be taken in by the great performances.

John Thaw, who most will remember in his unforgettable role of Chief Detective Inspector Morse, created a completely believable role as a Queens Counsel, a husband and a father in this series. Both characters shared a love of poetry as shown in this episode. The strength of his character is shown by the hard choices he must make in defending clients who by all means are not the most popular, in this episode in particular. Each Kavanaugh episode is a gem in itself. This episode was well constructed and had, in my opinion, no wasted scenes or characters. If you love John Thaw, then you will love this episode if not the entire series

You do wonder when you see an episode almost a quarter of century after it was made, whether new viewers might have caught the references.

An expert witness makes a remark of being 'economical with the actualite.' A hark back to a similar statement made in court by a senior civil service in the dying days of John Major's Tory government.

On the other hand, Jeremy Aldermarten QC who had ambitions to be a Tory MP in the earlier series. Now plans to be a Euro MP in New Labour colours. They were now in government and someone like Aldermarten feels they can fit right in, once they got to know some working class people.

Class warfare is the heart of the story. A RAF jet plane crashes onto a motocross event resulting in the death of 22 people. Matt Kavanagh was present at the event.

Now some time later, Charlotte Sinclair is accused of conspiracy to murder. She has been involved in a radical terrorist group and does not even recognise the court.

To his son's anger, Kavanagh has agreed to act for the defence. Charlotte is a difficult client, it seems her parents were also involved in terrorist groups in their youth.

Charlotte had befriended an air force mechanic who might have sabotaged the plane that caused it to crash. She admits to using him to get access to the base and the boyfriend later killed himself.

It was a dense story, one of the expert witness that Kavanagh got is a bit of a conspiracy freak. A vulnerable but difficult client did not help matters. At one point I thought Kavanagh might go for a mistrial as it seems that the Ministry of Defence might not want to air dirty laundry in public.

I agree completely with the previous reviewer about this episode, outstanding sums it up perfectly. The story while not as good as the performances, writing and production values is still gripping and well constructed like the episode on the whole. John Thaw is brilliant as Kavanagh, and I was really impressed also with Tom Brodie as his son Matt. Here I felt really sorry for Matt as he went through having to cope with a friend's death, and Brodie acted very well indeed on that behalf. Also Amanda Ryan is excellent as the defendant as she is accused of causing the accident that killed people and injured others. The writing is excellent, as are the direction and production values, plus the scene with the commemoration for those who died with the lament Ombra Mai Fu playing in the background was very moving. Overall, outstanding. 10/10 Bethany Cox