Shadow of the Noose
GenreLegal drama
Created byRichard Cooper
Directed bySebastian Graham Jones
Matthew Robinson
StarringJonathan Hyde
Michael Feast
Leslee Udwin
Terry Taplin
Trevor Ray
Julian Firth
Gary Files
Phil McCall
Richard Moore
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes8 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerColin Rogers
ProducerColin Tucker
Running time60 minutes
Production companyBBC Productions
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release1 March (1989-03-01) –
19 April 1989 (1989-04-19)

Shadow of the Noose is a BBC television legal drama series about the life and career of barrister Sir Edward Marshall Hall. It starred Jonathan Hyde as Marshall Hall; Michael Feast as his clerk, Edgar Bowker; Leslee Udwin as Henriette Marshall Hall; and Terry Taplin as solicitor Arthur Newton.[1] All eight episodes were written by Richard Cooper, produced by Colin Tucker, and first transmitted between 1 March and 19 April 1989 on BBC Two. It was a co-production with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Television New Zealand.[2]

Main cast

Episode list

No. Title Written by Directed by Original air date
1"An Alien Shore"Richard CooperSebastian Graham-Jones1 March 1989 (1989-03-01)
London, 1894. After the brief is refused by a number of other barristers, Edward Marshall Hall takes on the seemingly impossible defence of Marie Hermann (Victoria Fairbrother), an Austrian prostitute accused of killing one of her clients.
2"Noblesse Oblige"Richard CooperSebastian Graham-Jones8 March 1989 (1989-03-08)
After a period of illness, Marshall Hall needs a case to both bring in much-needed funds, and to re-establish himself in the public eye. Reluctantly he agrees to represent Lady Scott (Siân Phillips) in a criminal libel action brought by Lord Russell (Christopher Lang), the husband of her daughter, Lady Mabel (Amanda Elwes), having accused him of being homosexual. This horrifies Marshall Hall's fiancée, Henriette Froeger (Leslee Udwin).
3"Gone for a Soldier"Richard CooperSebastian Graham-Jones15 March 1989 (1989-03-15)
Lady Frances Fairbrother (Mary Conlon) engages Arthur Newton to arrange the defence of her maid, Annie Dyer (Natalie Forbes), who is accused of killing her baby, who was actually the illegitimate child of Lady Frances's husband, Captain James Fairbrother (David Rintoul). Bowker (Michael Feast) tries to decline the brief, fearing it will bring back memories of Marshall Hall's unhappy marriage to Ethel (Irina Brook), who died during a botched illegal abortion after an affair with Lieutenant de Ponthieu (Tim McInnerny).
4"Beside the Seaside"Richard CooperSebastian Graham-Jones22 March 1989 (1989-03-22)
Marshall Hall defends womaniser and conman Herbert Bennett (Vincenzo Ricotta), who is accused of murdering his estranged wife, Mary (Caroline Quentin), at Great Yarmouth.
5"Gun in Hand"Richard CooperMatthew Robinson29 March 1989 (1989-03-29)
Marshall Hall travels to the Black Country to defend Edward Lawrence (David Bradley), a wealthy and popular brewer accused of killing his mistress, Ruth Hadley (Nicola Duffett).
6"Turn Again"Richard CooperMatthew Robinson5 April 1989 (1989-04-05)
The actress Hettie Chattell (Sian Thomas) believes she has been libeled by gossip printed in the Daily Mail, but when Marshall Hall agrees to represent her - and wins - he incurs the wrath of the newspaper's owner, Alfred Harmsworth (David Schofield).
7"The Camden Town Murder"Richard CooperMatthew Robinson12 April 1989 (1989-04-12)
Marshall Hall defends Robert Wood (Peter Capaldi), accused of murdering Emily "Phylis" Dimmock in the case that became known as the Camden Town Murder.
8"Sentence of Death"Richard CooperMatthew Robinson19 April 1989 (1989-04-19)
Having successfully defended the flamboyant publisher Horatio Bottomley (Phil Rose) against a charge of fraud, Marshall Hall is offered the brief for Hawley Harvey Crippen (David Hatton), accused of murdering his wife .

Tie-in novel

A novel by Cooper, also called Shadow of the Noose, was published at the time the series was transmitted.[3] The narrative of the novel mainly comprises a vast expansion of the story of Marshall Hall's first marriage to Ethel and her subsequent death, as featured in Gone for a Soldier. The book ends with the Marie Hermann case from An Alien Shore.

Home media

Although the complete series was never released on commercial home video, An Alien Shore and Gun in Hand appeared on Vol. 1 Nos. 3 and 8 of BBC Video World, a fortnightly subscription-only service, primarily for expatriates, issued in May and July 1989 respectively. The complete series was released on DVD in early 2017.[4]

References

  1. ^ "BBC Four - Shadow of the Noose".
  2. ^ "Welcome". TheTVDB.com. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  3. ^ Cooper, Richard (1989). Shadow of the Noose. ISBN 978-0140113990.
  4. ^ "Shadow of the Noose - the Complete Series". Amazon UK. 20 February 2017.

External links

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