Series Description

The Crown Court TV show was a 30 minute legal British drama series on ITV that took place almost exclusively in a courtroom. Defendants and witnesses were questioned just like in a real life courtroom and then a jury decided whether the defendant was innocent or guilty.

Crown Court Cast

Peter Wheeler .... Court Reporter
Joseph Berry .... Court Usher (1972-1979)
Richard Colson .... Clerk of Court (1972-1979)
Derek Hockridge .... Clerk of Court
David Ashford .... Charles Lotterby (1972-1978)
William Mervyn .... Justice Campbell (1972-1976)
Bernard Gallagher .... Jonathan Fry QC
John Barron .... Justice Mitchenor (1972-1982)
Richard Wilson .... Jeremy Parsons QC (1973-1978)
Dorothy Vernon .... Helen Tate (1972-1975)
John Alkin .... Barry Deeley (1972-1974)
Charles Keating .... James Elliot QC (1972-1979)
John Flanagan .... John Lloyd (1973-1984)
Jonathan Elsom .... Marcus Golding (1973-1983)
John Horsley .... Justice Mowbray (1973-1983)

Crown Court Trivia:

The courtroom where all of the cases took place was located in the fictional town of Fulchester.

Just about every type of criminal trial was held in Crown Court and there were also civil cases including insurance fraud, copyright infringement, and libel.

Nearly every case featured on Crown Court took three episodes on three consecutive days to complete. This was very successful at getting viewers back to ITV for two additional segments. Otherwise, what would be the point of watching the first episode?

The jury members on Crown Court were not actors. They were picked at random from the Manchester electoral rolls. The verdicts were not scripted so even the shows writers and producers weren't sure as to how the jury would rule. Many of the episodes had two endings written so that the final statements would apply to either an innocent or a guilty verdict.

While each case aired over three days, all three segments of an episode were filmed in one day. Unlike real life, the jury was given only 30 minutes to reach a verdict.

The Crown Court ending theme song was titled, "Distant Hills". It was composed by Cliff Twemlow and was the "B" side of the UK #1 single hit, "Eye Level" which was performed by "Simon Park Orchestra".

There was an unaired pilot episode of Crown Court titled, "Doctor's Neglect?". Two other episodes were not originally broadcast titled, "Traffic Warden's Daughter" and "Heart to Heart". All three of those episodes were seen more than 30 years later on the satellite channel "Legal TV".

Many actors who would go on to become famous were featured on Crown Court including some who would become international stars like Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley!