My Top Ten Kavanagh QC Stories: No 7 Mute of Malice

Make me one, please! No tomato though...

Mute of Malice… (First screened in the UK television on 3rd March 1997, writer Charles Wood.) Kavanagh defends a client who has become mute after announcing he has killed his brother. The suspect is an ex-soldier who served with UN forces in Bosnia; could the trauma of his time spent there in some way be connected?

How do you communicate with someone who either can’t speak or won’t, not to mention bring it over on screen and keep everyone interested? This would have been hard thing to do with anyone else, but in the hands of James and Alex it comes off with compassion for their client.

The opening scene in Bosnia with the dead bodies is very disturbing, and you can appreciate from the start that the priest Edgar is going to have problems.

Loved the scene with the judge and Jeremy’s wig business, had me in fits of laughter, and then buying himself a new one, and the judge still being strange with him.

Nice of James to make lunch, though he didn’t make me one, mind I don’t like tomatoes so that’s most likely why, ha-ha!!

Richard Pasco was inspiring as the vicar and so different from his role in Dead on Time, lovely to see him again.

Also the scene with Lizzie at home alone, having all the lights on and stereo and TV to make it seem as if the house was full, felt sad for her, as I know how that feels being isolated.