Defending The Guilty

Caroline: What are we doing this for?


Will: Justice.


Caroline: Jesus, no. To win. Where do you get your fire? Were you bullied at school? Did your mum ignore you? Or your dad demean you? Who the fuck are you, Will? Because you need to find that. Because at the moment it’s all a bit …


Will: A bit what?


Caroline: Hufflepuff.

Caroline (Katherine Parkinson) and Will (Will Sharpe)

Caroline has been a criminal barrister for a while; Will is new to the profession. He is her Pupil; she his Master. It is her job to teach him the ropes, the codes, the practises that will secure him permanent work. As things stand, she doesn’t think he's much hope. The problem being - he has too much of it. An idealist, a romantic, raised on Gregory Peck and True Crime documentaries, he believes the law is there to right wrongs. Caroline, on the other hand, has had defendants lie to her for years. For her, law isn’t a moral crusade: she isn’t riding into battle with her white wig and steed to save innocents from police lies. It isn’t about representing them, being a voice for the voiceless, articulating the inarticulate; it’s about representing yourself, having your voice heard, to enhance your position – or at the very least, preserve some ego in the chambers afterwards. At least if Will was Gryffindor, he might have the derring-do to realise his vision, as it is he’s too bland, too grey for the black and white world of wigs and robes.


Defending The Guilty is a six-part sitcom based on Alex McBride’s book of the same name. Originally conceived as articles for Prospect magazine, the resulting memoir lifted the lid on what was involved in being a barrister. Court scenes are portrayed as high stakes poker on TV, yet the reality can be absurd and farcical. McBride’s account reveals the strange cases he’s worked on and the daft conversations he’s had. A kind of This Is Going To Hurt where the dichotomy is guilty/not guilty, as opposed to life and death.

The source material.

In a nice twist of fate, barrister Alex McBride has put his life in a civilian’s hands. Representing McBride in court is Kieron Quirke. Having never worked on a criminal case before, he is new to the profession. His previous experience as writer on Cuckoo and theatre critic means he is, however, versed in the twin arts: comedy and drama. This serves him well, as Defending The Guilty shouldn’t purely be seen as sitcom, since it has more thematic concerns and character development than genre comedy.


Will, for example, at the beginning is exactly how Caroline defines him. He’s nice, if a little bland. We can imagine he’s gone through education with few problems, doing well academically, having a secure girlfriend, with little in the way of setback and trauma. The first few minutes captures his bubbled state. Outside his block of flats, bikes are being stolen. Headphoned Will doesn’t notice. Too lost in music, he doesn’t pay attention to the world around him. Soon though, with Caroline’s harsh truths and the court’s tough lessons, he begins to harden. As the show develops, the Sorting Hat is more likely to put Will in Slytherin than any other House. This is Faust for comedy fans.  

The one place where Defending does conform the sitcom is in the Pupil’s room. In episode one we learn how four pupils, including Will, are competing for a permanent position. In law pupillage lasts around twelve months, after which time you can apply for tenancy. With the pay being incredibly low for trainees (around £12,000) securing permanent work is a must – well, depending on your financial background. Take Liam and Pia, for example: financially they can flourish on a paltry sum, since they’re valued shareholders in the bank of mum and dad. For Danielle though, she's working-class; she cannot survive on what's being paid. As she says to Will – meal substitute drink in hand – ‘I will go through you as fast as this stuff goes through me. And it won’t look good. It doesn’t look good.’ Her £1 all-your-meals drink reminds us that the law profession is barring poorer voices.

Liam (Hugh Coles), Danielle (Gwyneth Keyworth), Will (Will Sharpe) and Pia (Hanako Footman).

So, Liam, Will, Pia and Danielle are vying for one place. Their seniors sympathetically respond by running a book on them. Liam or ‘Lanky Poison Twat’ is favourite. (He’s unbothered by the nickname- appropriating it, giving himself the moniker LPT.) Pia or ‘Hot Robot’ is second. (She has to be reminded that feminists might take issue with the name.) Danielle AKA ‘Angry Chav’ is third. And Will ‘DJ Stupid’ is fourth. The joshing between the young students is redolent of Fresh Meat. 


I guess to sum up, I would urge you to watch Defending The Guilty. To do otherwise would be a gross act of negligence. I’ll let you go off now and trust you'll make the right decision.


Defending The Guilty is available on iPlayer