 |
Brothers in Law is a 1955 comic novel by British author Henry Cecil, a county court judge, about Roger Thursby, a young barrister experiencing his first year in chambers. It was followed by two sequels Friends at Court and Sober as a Judge .
At the age of 21, Roger Thursby has just completed his barrister's examinations and has been called to the bar. He commences his pupillage in the chambers of Mr Kendall Grimes, but finds he learns more from Henry, his colleague, and fellow pupils Peter and Charles, to say nothing of Alec, the chambers clerk. Although supposed to 'shadow' Grimes, he finds himself on his feet before a judge within a few days, all at sea on a knotty legal point.
Roger lives with his slightly vague widowed mother, and also balances the affections of two girlfriends, Sally and Joy. Joy obtains his first brief for him from her uncle, a solicitor; an undefended divorce case, which Roger manages to lose, to the lady's fury.
Roger slowly gains more experience and confidence. He is given a 'dock brief', a case of fraud. Despite the odd behaviour of his client, Roger gets him off.
As his period as a pupil comes to its end, Henry leaves to take a position in another set of chambers, and Roger considers joining him.
In 1957 the book was made into a film starring Ian Carmichael and Terry-Thomas, directed by Roy Boulting. Eric Barker won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Film for his role as a barrister's clerk, even though he had appeared in a number of other films, and had a radio career.
In 1962, Frank Muir and Denis Norden adapted the book as a television series featuring an early performance by Richard Briers in the leading role, though Richard Waring wrote five of the thirteen episodes. The series also spawned a spin-off, Mr Justice Duncannon , also written by Cecil.
There were also two radio adaptations, one in 1955 starring Donald Sinden, and in 1970 in which Briers reprised the role. The latter radio series by the BBC ran for thirty-nine episodes in three series. They were adaptations by Richard Waring of the TV series. The cast included John Glyn-Jones (Grimes, Roger's pupil master) with Julia Lockwood (Sally) and Bridget Armstrong (Joy) as the women in Roger's life.
 | This BBC Radio–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to a BBC television programme is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Richard David Briers was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television.
Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC Radio's Take It from Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio quizzes My Word! and My Music for another 35. Muir became Assistant Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC in the 1960s, and was then London Weekend Television's founding Head of Entertainment. His many writing credits include editorship of The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose, as well as the What-a-Mess books that were later turned into an animated TV series.
Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, often underdogs. The popularity of the TV series led to the stories being presented in other media, including books and radio.
Roger William Allam is a British actor who has performed on stage, in film, on television and radio.
The Jury is a British television serial broadcast in 2002. The series was the first ever to be allowed to film inside the historic Old Bailey courthouse.
Michael Anthony Robbins was an English actor and comedian best known for his role as Arthur Rudge in the TV sitcom and film versions of On the Buses (1969–73).
Henry Cecil Leon, MC, who wrote under the pen-names Henry Cecil and Clifford Maxwell, was British barrister, judge, and a writer of fiction about the British legal system.
Benjamin Charles Miles is an English actor, best known for his starring role as Patrick Maitland in the television comedy Coupling, from 2000 to 2004, as Montague Dartie in The Forsyte Saga, from 2002 to 2003, as propagandist and television executive Roger Dascombe in 2005 film V for Vendetta, as Peter Townsend in the Netflix drama The Crown (2016–2017) and George in episode 8 "The One That Holds Everything" in the TV drama The Romanoffs (2018).
Chambers was a BBC radio and television sitcom. It was written by barrister Clive Coleman and starred John Bird and Sarah Lancashire in both versions. The radio version was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in three series between 1996 and 1999, and the television version was broadcast on BBC One. The theme music was "Dance with Mandolins" from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.
Marriage Lines is a British television sitcom first broadcast between 1963 and 1966. The series gave Richard Briers and Prunella Scales, its lead stars, a significant boost in their careers. At first titled The Marriage Lines, the programme was written by Richard Waring, and was later adapted for radio.
Sally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress who began her career on stage and then moved into film. She has received several awards including a Golden Globe Award in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and two British Academy Film Awards.
Edward Hall is an English theatre and film director who founded the all-male Propeller Shakespeare company of which he is Artistic Director, in 1997. He also became Artistic Director of Hampstead Theatre in 2010. He is known for directing Shakespeare productions, musicals such as Sunny Afternoon and multiple screen productions, including William Boyd's TV adaptation of Restless.
Mr. North is a 1988 American comedy-drama film starring Anthony Edwards and featuring Robert Mitchum and Lauren Bacall, based on the novel Theophilus North (1973) by Thornton Wilder.
Silk is a British television drama series produced by the BBC which was broadcast over three series on BBC One between 22 February 2011 and 31 March 2014. Created by Peter Moffat, the series follows the daily goings on of Shoe Lane Chambers and its members in their personal and professional lives.
Brothers in Law is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Richard Attenborough, Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas and Jill Adams. The film is one of the Boulting brothers successful series of institutional satires that begun with Private's Progress in 1956. It is an adaptation of the 1955 novel Brothers in Law by Henry Cecil, a comedy set in the legal profession.
Brothers in Law is a British television series inspired by the 1955 comedy novel Brothers in Law by Henry Cecil Leon. It first aired on the BBC in thirteen half-hour episodes between 17 April and 10 July 1962 and followed the trials of an idealistic young lawyer entering the legal profession. The series was adapted by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, two of the most prolific sitcom writers of the era, as well as Richard Waring.
Pump Court is a courtyard in Temple, London, in the City of London, England, now primarily housing barristers' chambers. It is the first on the left in Middle Temple Lane from 6 Fleet Street, leading to Inner Temple Lane and Lamb's Buildings. Its name referred to the pump in the middle.
The Shardlake series is a series of historical mystery novels by C. J. Sansom, set in 16th century Tudor England. The series features barrister Matthew Shardlake, who, while navigating the religious reforms of Henry VIII, solves crime and tries to avoid getting caught up in political intrigue.
Friends at Court is a 1956 comedy novel by the British writer Henry Cecil. It was published in the United States the following year by Harper Publications. It is a sequel to his bestseller Brothers in Law. Roger Thursby, the hero of the original novel, is now flourishing in the legal profession and has hopes of soon being made a Queen's Counsel. It was followed in 1962 by a third book in the series Sober as a Judge.
Sober as a Judge is a 1958 comedy novel by the British writer Henry Cecil. It is the last in a trilogy that began with Brothers in Law.
