Search - Kavanagh Q.C. - Memento Mori on DVD

"There are times when the best you can do is create a fog."

Mary Whipple | New England | 05/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With two of the series' best Kavanagh episodes in this CD set, lovers of Kavanagh QC (and John Thaw, in his final series) will find this group of episodes superb. All three episodes from the first half of the fourth season (1998) are cases involving domestic violence, featuring defendants in the grip of their illusions. Kavanagh, often assisted by the rock-and-rolling barrister Emma Taylor (Valerie Edmond), is trying to put his shattered life back together, and his busy caseload helps.

In "Memento Mori," a physician is accused of having poisoned his wife. The doctor-husband (wonderfully acted by Tom Courtenay) has been treating her himself so that she will not be embarrassed socially by his diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and she has apparently overdosed on lithium. The doctor's arrogance makes him an unsympathetic defendant, difficult for Kavanagh. In "Care in the Community," one of the best episodes of the entire series, a young child has died, and an autopsy shows that she has suffered from serious abuse in the past. The uneducated parents, who themselves have had no parenting or real guidance in their own lives, inspire no sympathy because of their hostility to the entire judicial system. This episode, extremely well acted, is one of Kavanagh's most thought-provoking cases.

"Briefs Trooping Gaily," a title which originates in Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury, in which barrister Jeremy King Louis Aldermartin has the lead role in an amateur production, requires Kavanagh to defend two different clients. The serious case being argued here concerns a woman who killed her abusive husband and insists upon pleading guilty, though Kavanagh believes that the most she is guilty of is manslaughter. Jeremy Aldermartin, usually the comic relief because he never quite "gets it," also needs to be defended, however. He has had charges brought against him for deliberately violating professional ethics by studying a defense brief left on a table in his club. He desperately needs Kavanagh to keep him from being disbarred. The contrast between these two cases throws the vagaries of the judicial system and its solicitors into sharp relief, while providing viewers with a terrific episode, filled with both humor and pathos.

John Thaw as Kavanagh is able to explore his character in greater depth here than in the Inspector Morse series, wonderful as that series is. A family man with family responsibilities, Kavanagh pays a visit to his father here. His legal mentoring relationship with the exuberant rock-and-roller Emma Taylor (Valerie Edmond) keeps him in touch with life's excitements and the point of view of a much younger generation. A terrific collection of Kavanagh cases which fans will love. n Mary Whipple

Kavanagh QC, Set 1, 1995
Kavanagh Q.C. - True Commitment, Season 2, 1995
Kavanagh Q.C. - A Sense of Loss, Season 2, 1995
Kavanagh Q.C. - Mute of Malice. Season 3, 1997
Kavanagh Q.C. - Diplomatic Baggage, 2nd half of Season 3, 1997

"

John thaw is excellent

Irving M. Wnuk | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 09/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have enjoyed John Thaw's work as Morse and now as
Kavanagh Q.C. The personality is different but his
work as the character is the same."