Law and Order UK Bill Patterson gets his day in court

Bill Patterson discusses CPS director George Castle's return to court for the first time in 20 years to defend an old friend in ITV1's Law & Order UK...

Do we get more of an idea of George's back-story in this episode?
"Normally the episodes of Law and Order are more story-based than character-led, but throughout the series you do learn more about the main characters and their back-stories - and in this episode George becomes a more significant figure than usual."

Why does George return to court?
"He does it out of friendship. He doesn't have any great burning urge to return to prosecuting."

Will we learn more about the main characters this series?
"You find out little snippets about them. Throughout the series you do learn a little more about the characters, but one of the features of the series is that the back-stories aren’t the driving force of the plots."

Is there much conflict between the police officers and the lawyers this time round?
"There are a couple of stories were that is brought into awareness. But for my money, I prefer the stories where the coppers and the legal people are separate and don't get too directly involved with each other. But I understand why, from an audience point of view, there's an interest in their paths crossing."

What do you think is the series' appeal?
"In a world of colossal choices, Law and Order is quite a safe choice. You know what you're getting and you don't have to worry if you've not seen the other episodes. I find that iPlayer and Sky+ and all these things can be a wonderful way of missing programmes twice!"