For those who haven't seen Law & Order before, could you explain the setup?
"It'sa show that's distinctly split into two halves. The first half is apolice procedural and the second takes you to the courtroom. Eachepisode starts with a crime that's usually a murder, then the policeinvestigates for two acts, usually ending in an arrest. The second twoacts are the court proceedings, where our hero prosecutor tries to geta conviction against the person responsible."
For the first series of the British version you're reusing scripts from the original US show, aren't you?
"We'readapting them. To be honest we're probably adapting them more than weoriginally thought, because to make them contemporary and to make themBritish actually took more [work] than we anticipated. Which is goodfor the audience who know both shows, and good for us to make them feelmore distinctive."
What was the thinking behind using non-original scripts?
"Ithink it was partly contractual with [format owner] Dick WolfProductions, but also the fact that we know those stories worked.They're great stories - but the changes we needed to make with thesecond halves to make them work with the British legal system resultsin disctinctive stories."
From the US show you have over 18 years' worth of stories to choose from. How did you decide which to use?
"There is a Law & Orderbible that has every episode listed in it, with a paragraph for eachsaying what the story is. Showrunner and lead writer Chris Chibnallwent through as many of them as he possibly could, got the DVDs,watched them, and then made the choice as to which ones would make verygood British television. He picked 15 or 16 stories and we chose ourfavourite 13. One of them we had to replace because when we looked atthe adaptations on the legal side it didn't quite work."
If you get a second series do you think you will still use the US scripts for inspiration?
"That'sa tricky question. If we get a second series we'll be very happy and Ithink at that point we'll start making those kind of decisions."
How involved has Dick Wolf, the creator, been with the British version?
"DickWolf signed off on all the casting for the main parts. He's been sentall the scripts, which fortunately he loved. He could have very easilyraised his eyebrows about how they've been adapted to the Britishsystem. In the last few weeks we've been sending him over the firstload of episodes too."
And what has Chris Chibnall brought to the table as showrunner?
"Well I've worked with Chris for the last couple of years on Torchwood, so I know him very well. He's a brilliant writer, with a great history in shows like Torchwood, Life On Mars and Born and Bred,but he's also been gaining a fantastic experience in production. As aresult we have a really great creative partnership. He's got a veryclear idea about how the brand works and I think he's a great voice forthis show on British television."
Your commission is 13episodes, which is quite long for this kind of British drama. Whatchallenges has that presented production-wise?
"The onlyreal challenge is everybody pacing it so they don't fall over abouthalfway through. It's completely achievable, so it's about going inwith the mindset of knowing it can be done rather than thinking 'we'reused to doing four-parters and six-parters, so how the hell are wegoing to do 13?' That is my biggest challenge - to make sure everybodykeeps moving forward and all our deadlines keep getting hit."
Who's on the cast?
"BradleyWalsh is our lead cop, DI Ronnie Brooks, who's got a murky past - he'san ex-alcoholic, but now he's found an inner peace. He's almost a sortof Obi-Wan Kenobi figure! His partner is DS Matt Devlin, played byJamie Bamber, who's a little less wise and more willing to go for thejugular. Their boss is DI Natalie Chandler, played by Harriet Walter, afantastically experienced stage actress. She's there to make sure theystay in line, don't cut corners and also to challenge them. Almost toplay devil's advocate and push the characters to make sure they'regetting the right information.
"In the second half, on the legalside, we've James Steel (Ben Daniels), the lead London prosecutor. He'sthe absolute moral centre of the show. His assistant is AleshaPhillips, played by Freema Agyeman. She's basically a brilliant youngbarrister who James has taken on as a mentor. Finally, their boss isplayed by Bill Paterson, a character called George Castle who's thehead of the crown prosecution service for London."
With Bradley Walsh as lead, is it a straight role for him?
"It'sabsolutely a straight role. I think people will be really, reallypleasantly delighted and surprised with his performance. He's a reallyterrific actor and a smart guy. I think a lot of people will haveexactly that same question you just asked - it's a role I can't waitfor people to see."
Law & Order: UK airs on ITV1 from Spring 2009.
