Very mild spoiler alert: No specific shows are discussed, but the review does discuss tendencies in the show that might help you guess some endings.How about a defense drama where most of the clients are guilty, most of the rest may or may not be guilty (so the defense's efforts may well set a dangerous person free) and only a tiny, tiny minority are truly exonerated by crafty court work?How about one where the defense is not motivated by passion for justice but by the money one can make by skillfully defending the guilty while either lying to themselves about their motivations or simply embracing their own sociopathy? (How about some nice codas where the star sees a newspaper headline about the guy he freed killing someone?)How about a show where habitual criminals found holding the murder weapon are more likely to have committed the crime than upper-class people with no apparent motive, where police sometimes arrest people based on evidence rather than the need to clear a case by railroading the innocent and where basically everyone on earth aside from our hero (and you, dear enlightened viewer) isn't a racist, sexist jerk?If you answered a resounding "No" to all of those questions, then you might enjoy Kavanagh QC, though it's still just a poor man's Rumpole. If, on the other hand, you'd like a show about the law that plays something like life rather than every other law show in history, then pass.

The only reason why I didn't give this a 10, is because I still think that Morse is John Thaw's best role. But I just want to say, he is absolutely magnificent here. Like Morse, Thaw put a bit of himself into the character, which is always very appealing. The episodes aren't complicated, not like Judge John Deed, and there have been a great flow of British actors like Larry Lamb, Ewen McGregor, Tom Courtenay, Stuart Laing and Richard Pasco. ( who was also in the saddest Inspector Morse, dead On time)The music is beautiful, and it also boosted the careers of Shakespearean actress Lisa Harrow, Eastenders'Cliff Parissi and Anna Chancellor, who all brought a brief but pleasing shine to the drama. And a vast majority of the courtroom scenes are just mesmorising, thanks to Thaw and the scripts, which are of exceptional quality. If anything, I wish it lasted longer, but Thaw died before they could do another series. 9/10. Bethany Cox

I agree with Chris from Australia re this series -- it is outstanding, intelligent TV (the kind no longer produced in the USA.)John Thaw is absolutely magnificent in the title role; his quiet, but incisive courtroom style is the kind I'd want from a lawyer representing me.This series was certainly a counterpoint to that other great British TV series "Rumpole of the Bailey" in the way it portrays their legal system; Rumpole plays it for laughs, with the judges as incompetent boobs; Kavanagh plays it straight. Both top-notch series, but polar opposites.As with Chris, the only one of the shows I didn't enjoy was the final one in which Kavanagh flies to my home state of Florida and meets up with a prejudiced Governor and court system. Besides, was it really necessary for the producers to end the series (in that same show) on such a downbeat note by having Kavanagh's wife Lizzie reveal to him that she has inoperable cancer?Otherwise...first rate series TV.

This series is adult British drama at its best. Kavanagh is a lawyer magnificently portrayed by John Thaw and surrounded by a multitude of interesting characters. It never ceases to amaze me that this type of program is able to attract perfect believable actors for even the smallest roles. Many of the cases are thought provoking and the only one I didn't like was the American set "In God We Trust" which came across as well as US programs do when they portray UK situations! The only negative is that some of the video work when light is poor looks rather grainy. This might look good in some situations, but not in the court-rooms. This is a minor criticism. I thoroughly commend the series.