This was a total treat that snared many tennis fans,scheduled as it was for five straight nights after the Wimbledon coverage,during the second week of the tournament.
The wan ,blinking visage of Ben Wishaw (Perfume ,I'm Not There , Brideshead Revisited) carries the piece,with the support of the remarkable Pete Postlethwaite. As with "the Wire" those on the "wrong side of the law can often seem more "together" than those in the "Justice" system... Bill Patterson portrays a jaded,corner-cutting Policeman.David Harewood seems much more assured as the Prison "King-Pin".. Lindsay Duncan is the driven lawyer professional to the point of callousness. Con O'neill (Learners) has never been better as the cynical but effectively pragmatic journeyman lawyer. Ben Wishaw is going from strength to strength ( a bit like a British Ryan Gosling?)..i had only seen him in "Stoned" as Keith Richards.. In an inversion of his role in the Fairy Tale Perfume the story of a murderer here he plays an innocent convict, and the serious flaws of the system are layed bare by writer Peter Moffat ,ex barrister.