Eternal Law: Review: Series 1 Episode 1

Some lawyers appear to be on the side of the angels – Zak and Tom literally are…

If you’d been told ten years ago that a series about a police officer in a coma in hospital believing that he’s been thrown back in time to the 1970s, complete with a Jack Regan-esque copper as his boss, would be one of the best dramas of the decade, you’d almost certainly laugh. So it would be wrong to dismiss this new show from the creators of Life on Mars purely because it appears to be so quirky.

Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham’s Eternal Law is unlike anything you’ve seen before, and that’s a recommendation. In part it’s a legal drama: there’s the experienced professional who’s tried every trick and knows which ones work and which will lead to disaster; there’s the novice who is fired up with zeal but no practical knowledge; there’s the opposing barrister who will use any ruse he can to win.

But then you’ve got the angelic bit – all of our leading characters are angels. As in, sent down from Heaven angels, not ones working for Charlie Townsend. The bad guy is even a fallen angel (shades of John Milton), and Sam West’s character Zak is obviously not particularly enamoured of God (or Mr Mountjoy as he’s known), especially when it seems that he’s being toyed with by the deity.

First episodes are always difficult, particularly when there’s so much exposition that has to be got through, but this is strong enough to grab the attention and make you want to see how this rather odd legal team will handle ordinary cases.

Verdict: Definitely worth catching, even if it won’t be to everyone’s taste. 7/10

Paul Simpson

Our review of episode 2 >>>> 

Click here for part one of our interview with Matthew Graham about Eternal Law