The Dock Brief by John Mortimer

[Riklaa]

The Dock Brief by John Mortimer

BBC Third Programme - 1957-05-16

128K

The pathetic comedy of an elderly unsuccessful barrister who finds himself picked out in a Dock Brief by an equally unsuccessful criminal as his counsel. Together the two disappointed men create their own castles in the air, imagining a brilliant trial in which the lawyer shines and the criminal is acquitted. However, the trial turns out otherwise, and the criminal manages to console the lawyer, knowing but unwilling to divulge, that he has been given a reprieve as being inadequately defended. This situation is subtly falsified by both to produce a happy partnership at the end of the play.

This was John Mortimer's first produced play.  It was such a success that it was remade for TV and was the basis for a 1962 film called "Trial and Error" starring Peter Sellers and Richard Attenborough.

Incidental music composed and conducted by Antony Hopkins and played by Stephen Trier (clarinet and bass clarinet) and Francis Baines (Double Bass)

Michael Hordern ............ Wilfred Morgenhall, a barrister
David Kossoff ....................... Mr. Fowle, the accused

Produced by Nesta Pain

The Dock Brief LINK

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From http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/jmortimer.html
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Summary of an article written by Nesta Pain in 1961:

It was about six years ago that I first asked John Mortimer if he would be interested to write for radio. I knew and admired his work as a novelist and knew that he was a barrister. I thought he might write a dramatic programme with a legal setting. We discussed the idea and he was interested. But he was busy.

Weeks passed, and months, and I heard nothing. I rang him up from time to time but still no script arrived. Then, two years later, a friend told me that John had an idea for radio. I rang him and found that it was true.

Laid out in a couple of pages, the plot of The Dock Brief sounded strange. An elderly unsuccessful barrister gets a dock brief to defend a murderer (impossible, as any barrister, including John Mortimer, will tell you). The barrister, who has not had a brief for years, goes to see his client and instead of trying to find out the facts, he spends his time rehearsing imaginary scenes in court in which he ties the witnesses in knots, melts the hearts of the jury and dazzles the judge. The fantasy is shattered when the pair are summoned to court and reality has to be faced. When the case is over, the barrister cannot hide from his despair; but soon his fantasy life reasserts itself and the play ends on a note of wry gaiety.

The play is a minor masterpiece and was awarded the Prix Italia in 1957. It was also on television and later performed at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith and the Garrick.

An interesting result of the play is that John now prefers to write for performance rather than writing novels.

Nesta Pain

[codepop]

Thank you.

[WWB]

Thanks Rick.

[Gordon Sabaduquia]

Many thanks, Rick! Michael Hordern is a great actor and always a treat to hear in a radio drama - (and he is Galdalf!)

[Riklaa]

I agree totally!  ---------------------  R

[Gerald Lea]

Wow!

[Jim Robarts]

Thanks Rick.

[Gayle Crane]

Thanks for this play, Rick, and for the accompanying info.