Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Week-long wait for Crown Court jury verdict is criminal
Crown Court just as the heavy snow began to arrive last Friday was wonderfully evocative. Back in the 70s and 80s one of the best things about school getting snowed-off was that you could go home and watch Crown Court.
Obviously it wasn’t aimed at kids but it was a fairly simple format with a very definite end – there was a crime and someone was either guilty or not guilty.
Although I wasn’t aware of this at the time, it also featured pretty much every jobbing actor and actress working in TV. Some of them became household names, including Coronation Street’s Malcolm “Norris Cole” Hebden, who played a clerk on several occasions in the early days.
The most familiar face in this new version so far is Rob Rinder who, prior to his Strictly run last year, was best known for his daytime courtroom hit Judge Rinder. Rinder, pictured, introduces the story then pops up at various intervals to offer recaps and explanations. I don’t know if the legal term for his interjections is “courtus interruptus” but I really hope it is. The good news is his presence doesn’t spoil the flow. The first case – a murder – was just as engrossing as the ones I recall from my childhood. The only bad news is ITV’S foolish scheduling decision. We must wait a whole week for the jury’s verdict. If I ever get my hands on that scheduler, I’ll probably be in the dock for series two.