Series 4

Episode 1 - Lost and Found

Thursday 13 January 2005, 8.00pm, BBC One

A young female solicitor asks Jo Mills if she'd run the defence of a man who was arrested and charged with attempted murder sixteen years ago, then escaped custody. Jo is planning a sabbatical for domestic reasons. But the solicitor persists. When Jo learns two of the detectives involved were also involved in a case she lost at appeal she is drawn in...

Episode 2 - Above The Law

Thursday 20 January 2005, 8.00pm, BBC One

Menace and intimidation fill the air in Deed's court when three young men are charged with shooting a rival gang member. The trial is soon in danger of collapsing when the main prosecution witness is killed in a hit and run. Then jurors go sick. The Home Secretary attempts to further his political agenda: jury-less trials. Deed is left with a tough choice - continue without a jury or abandon the trial...

Episode 3 - In Defence Of Others

Thursday 27 January 2005, 8.00pm, BBC One

Deed has before him a prisoner who killed a paedophile; Jo Mills argues defence of others, which the judge resists. Nevertheless the jury find him Not Guilty. At a press conference the man calls the country to arms, shocking Jo deeply.

Meanwhile, Michael's real father turns up from South Africa, ending Jo's hopes of adoption. Jo starts seeing him, sending John into a jealous rage. He foolishly starts an affair with a Claimant. When Jo discovers, she decides to move to South Africa, Deed must move heaven and earth to stop her...

Episode 4 - Defence Of The Realm

Thursday 3 February 2005, 8.00pm, BBC One

Deed's fellow judges turn against him for his indiscretion with a Claimant. He's exiled to Warwick. Meanwhile Jo sits as a judge in an embezzlement trial: an overweight PA is accused of embezzling £4.4 million from his high-powered boss. His boss is chairman of an electronics corporation that has many defence contracts.

During the trial allegations are made about a Government Minister, Neil Haughton, taking bribes to accept false billing on defence contracts. Jo is threatened and Deed returns out of exile. Can he protect her and continue the trial as the stakes get higher and higher?

Episode 5 - Separation Of Power

Thursday 10 February 2005, 8.00pm, BBC One

Deed presides over a civil action against a waste incinerator company accused of damaging the health of the community. Jo Mills is losing the case for the distraught parents and their damaged child, when it's discovered that the company deliberately hid a design fault that caused the pollution...

Meanwhile, Rufus Barron provides evidence that the Home Secretary accepted a bribe on a defence contract. But when the evidence goes missing Neil Haughton insists Deed is impeached...

Episode 6 - Popular Appeal

Thursday 17 February 2005, 8.00pm, BBC One

During a reality TV show one contestant, in an explosion of stress-filled anger, kills another on camera. Judge John Deed hears the trial of the producers, who are charged with manslaughter when its learned psychologists profiled contestants to find those with 'The most entertaining flashpoints'.

Meanwhile, the judge is pushing for a police enquiry in the death of Rufus Barron. But as the judge gets closer to the truth so the armaments manufacturer, Sir Tim Listfield is provoked into more extreme measures...