• Air date: 03 Mar '97 6 episodes
      Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Central Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It is often repeated on ITV3, and series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs. The series starred John Thaw as barrister James Kavanagh QC who comes from a working-class upbringing in Bolton, Greater Manchester. This is only discovered in later episodes as his parents' health deteriorates and through an exchange with a colleague who presumed that Kavanagh was actually a Yorkshireman. The series dealt with his battles in the courtroom as well as his domestic dramas which include the death of his devoted and affectionate wife. Later he begins dating a fellow barrister. In court Kavanagh is usually seen to be defending a client who seems likely to be convicted until a twist in the case occurs, but occasionally Kavanagh is seen in a prosecuting role. The main plot often features Kavanagh confronting cases with a subtext of racism, sexism or other prejudice. In sub-plots comedy came from the...
  • List of Episodes (6)
    • 1. Mute of Malice

      03 Mar '97
      Kavanagh defends a client who has become mute after announcing that he has killed his brother.
    • 2. Blood Money

      10 Mar '97
      When surgeon Hilary Jameson successfully operates on a computer tycoon involved in a car accident, she has every reason to suppose he'll survive. Within a matter of minutes, however, the patient's wife learns that he is dead. What happened in that brief period? This is the problem Kavanagh must solve when he prosecutes on behalf of the widow.
    • 3. Ancient History

      17 Mar '97
      Kavanagh prosecutes an apparently blameless family doctor in an unprecedented war crime trial. The court hears devastating testimony as victims of Nazi atrocities re-live their experiences in concentration camps, but it's left to a witness for the defence to reveal the final truth.
    • 4. Diplomatic Baggage

      24 Mar '97
      Kavanagh discovers how dark the corridors of power can be when he defends the daughter of a British ambassador on a charge of murdering an Austrian journalist. Meanwhile, Kavanagh's son moves into a squat.
    • 5. The Ties That Bind

      07 Apr '97
      Kavanagh fights for justice on behalf of a young man brutally killed, in a rare private prosecution for murder. The odds, however, are against him, since there are powerful reasons for the truth to be kept hidden.
    • 6. In God We Trust

      14 Apr '97
      Driven by a desire for justice, and to help his former colleague Julia Piper, now married to an American lawyer, Kavanagh flies to the US to assist with the appeal of a convicted murderer on Florida's death row.