Judges are meant to dispense justice in an impartial way free of biases. Pretty difficult when most of them come from a public school, Oxbridge background.
Especially back in the 1970s when the judiciary came from even a more narrower class.
This story shows how much a desired outcome at the court could depend on the litigation lottery.
James Eliot has a good personal injury case. His client Bob Graham (Alun Armstrong) was paralysed in a workplace accident and is looking for compensation. However he faces an element of contributory negligence as he failed to use a guard for his machinery.
Almost no one used the guard at the factory. However one employee will claim on behalf of the management that Graham knew of the risk of using the machine without a guard.
The other side make a good offer to settle the claim but it is not enough. Eliot is confident that the other side's witness will be exposed as a liar. He had previously been sacked for stealing.
Unfortunately the judge is not too keen on Eliot and both are at loggerheads. Graham could be the loser in this contest.
Meanwhile Harriet Peterson has to keep a young nanny June Robertson out of prison. She was employed as a nanny and charged with abandoning a baby in the local park.
June had a baby out of wedlock and her devoutly religious father made her give the baby up for adoption. Harriet has her work cut out, June was already on probation for stealing.
A weak case but Eliot tells Harriet that she has a chance to keep her client out of jail. She just needs a sympathetic judge.
There are rumours that these days a clever barrister can swerve their clients away from troublesome judges if they know in advance. Not always guaranteed when they go outside their home courts.