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  Average Rating for Law and Order UK: Series 2 [2009] - 2 out of 5

  
  (based on 1 user reviews)
• Law and Order UK: Series 2 [2009]

  Barnaby Walter 25 February 2010

  

  Law & Order: UK is like a big ball of baffling Television elastic-bands, all tangled together. Is it brilliant? I don't think so. Is it utter rubbish then? Not quite. But strangely, and in a way not privy to normal television viewers, it sort of works, as long as you don't look at the individual strands too closely. It can be frequently ridiculous, but it also has moments of excellence which are hard to shake off. If you get a corker of an episode, you're in for a treat. If you get a poor one, you might as well be in Narnia for all the sense it makes. At the end of one of the bonkers episodes, I end up wondering if the writers pen the scripts using glitter-glue and crepe paper.
  
  If you haven't stumbled across this weird beast on ITV1, here's how it works. The superb Bradley Walsh and photogenic Jamie Bamber investigate crimes in a meticulous manner. When they think they have a case against someone, they check with their boss Harriet Walter who considers their reasoning and does her trademark chewing-on-a-wasp expression before giving them the nod to charge their suspect and hand them over to the CPS. But this is when it all gets a bit silly (and where a potentially great episode starts to become a script-writer's joke). Ben Daniels, as the Prosecuting Barrister, insists on speaking every line as if he's quoting something Latin, Bill Patterson murmurs in the background like a tired old terrier and Freema Agyeman.....ah, dear Freema. She's actually not bad, but the script gives her the most awful, explain-the-plot-while-drinking-coffee lines, and in the end she comes across as the office dim-wit. Even when she's made a breakthrough on a case, her dialogue is so weighted and emotive we feel as if we should clap and give her a sticker. But maybe that's why she's so lovable.
  
  I'll stick with Law & Order: UK for as long as it lasts. But please, writers, please - can you stop representing the Crown Prosecution Service as a hire-for-the-day, go-get-em law team who'll come to the rescue of any grieving family however much it costs them in time or money? In one episode of this second series, the CPS feel sorry for the parents of a dead drug-smuggler after her sleazy boyfriend gets off in court, so they go through all his tax details and business paperwork desperately trying to find something to charge him with. Is this legal? Ethical? A realistic portrayal of how CPS employees spend their time? Who knows. I've stopped caring. After all, it's just television.
  

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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. In the city of London, where crime never sleeps, the team are faced with their toughest challenges yet as the acclaimed Law & Order UK returns for Series 2. The Crown Prosecution Service are still reeling in the aftermath of the previous series' heart-wrenching finale, but there's little time for contemplation as a raft of new cases quickly pile up. Bradley Walsh (Coronation Street), Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica) and Harriet Walter (Atonement) battle at keeping the streets free of crime, delivering criminals into the capable hands of CPS stalwarts Ben Daniels (The State Within) Freema Agyeman (Dr Who) and Bill Paterson (Little Dorrit). Episodes Comprise: 1. Samaritan 2. Hidden 3. Community Service 4. Sacrifice 5. Love & Loss 6. Honour Bound Actors Bradley Walsh, Jamie Bamber, Ben Daniels & Freema Agyeman Certificate 15 years and over Year 2009 - 2010 Screen Widescreen 1.78:1 Languages English - Dolby Digital (2.0) Stereo Subtitles None listed Duration 4 hours 34 minutes (approx)

All six episodes from the second season of the UK-based spin-off of the US crime drama series. Police officers DS Ronnie Brooks (Bradley Walsh) and DS Matt Devlin (Jamie Bamber) continue their battle to keep the streets free of crime, delivering criminals into the capable hands of Crown Prosecution Service stalwarts James Steel (Ben Daniels) and Alesha Phillips (Freema Agyeman). Episodes comprise: 'Samaritan', 'Hidden', 'Community Service', 'Sacrifice', 'Love and Loss' and 'Honour Bound'.