A single drama set in 1830s Australia, questioning the impartiality of colonial justice.
Fresh from England, the new Attorney General for New South Wales, Thomas Morland (John Clements), is immediately confronted with a crisis. After the drunken Lieutenant Ned Louden (James Sharkey) kills an aborigine named Jacko (Sonny Pillay), Morland makes the unprecedented decision to charge a white officer for a crime against a native. This action puts him on a collision course with the colony’s military establishment, led by Captain Alcot (Richard Vernon), which closes ranks to protect its own. As the authorities attempt to suppress the case, Morland’s resolve to uphold the law is severely tested.
This single play, originally an award-winning Australian script titled ‘The Sergeant of Burralee’, brought a sharp critique of colonial history to British television. Philip Grenville Mann’s teleplay is a tightly constructed moral drama, examining prejudice and the hypocrisy of imperial justice. The production, directed by Harold Clayton, is notable for its refusal of easy sermonising; its power is rooted in a sober depiction of institutional corruption. The narrative’s grim conclusion, where the officer escapes conviction, makes its indictment of the legal system all the more potent. At the story’s centre is John Clements’ performance as the principled Attorney General.
Broadcast: BBC, 1 Episode, Thursday 22 June 1961
Written by: Philip Grenville Mann
Producer: Harold Clayton
Director: Harold Clayton
Main Cast: John Clements (Thomas Morland), André van Gyseghem (Nathaniel Carlton), Olive McFarland (Bessie Constantine), Anthony Bate (Sergeant Lane), Norman Mitchell (Sergeant Constantine), James Sharkey (Lieutenant Ned Louden), Richard Vernon (Captain Alcot), Sonny Pillay (Jacko), Ronald Adam (Robert MacDonald), Carole Ann Ford (Martha Salisbury), Anthony Valentine (Jack Salisbury)
