More investigations and adjudications are in store when the detectives and prosecutors of Law & Order UK return to telly in 2014.
ITV has recommissioned the popular crime drama, part of Dick Wolf’s worldwide Law & Order franchise, for another eight-episode series. The seventh series, which recently completed its run in the UK, bested all other programs in its time slot. And in the US, being the lead-in to the hit crime drama/mystery series Broadchurch on BBC America didn’t hurt its US ratings either.
On the law side of things, Bradley Walsh (Coronation Street, Torn) will reprise his role as DS Ronnie Brooks, who will have a new partner: DS Joe Hawkins, played by newcomer Ben Bailey Smith (Derek, Midsomer Murders). Paterson Joseph (Survivors, William and Mary) will also return as DI Wes Leyton of the London Metropolitan Police.
For order, Dominic Rowan (The Hollow Crown, North Square), Georgia Taylor (Casualty, Coronation Street), and Peter Davison (The Last Detective, Doctor Who) will reprise their respective roles as Jacob Thorne, Kate Barker, and Henry Sharpe of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Some of the storylines include the death of a psychiatrist who specializes in violent juveniles, a hotel-room killing without a body, a drug dealer who repeatedly beats the justice system, and DS Brooks’ investigation of other senior police officers.
Filming of the new series will begin in London in October 2013 for broadcast in the UK on ITV next year. Fingers crossed that BBC America will also air it in the US as part of its Dramaville programs.
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