CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Mudtown: Let off a pet killer? This soft-touch magistrate will live to regret it…

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Mudtown (U&Alibi)

Are you someone who is sympathetic and compassionate towards others, often associated with a more liberal perspective? Let’s take a straightforward test to discover this, using a scenario from the South Wales crime drama, Mudtown set in a courtroom.

Picture yourself as a judge. A young man named Sonny Higgins (Lloyd Meredith) appears before the court. A quick look at his psychiatric records reveals a challenging upbringing – raised in public housing, when he was seven, his foster mother took her own life. He found her body.

Here’s a possible way to rephrase the sentence while maintaining its original meaning and making it easier to read:

“An unexpected turn of events has led Higgins to court, this time for animal cruelty, as he allegedly threw his ex-girlfriend’s Chihuahua from an eighth-floor balcony.

When questioned about his actions, he casually informed the court with a grin, “A dog was barking, my partner was yelling, so I sought some tranquility, and it succeeded.

In my opinion, that’s absolutely inexcusable. If there were still an option, I would give him a lifetime imprisonment.

That’s totally unacceptable to me. If we could, I’d condemn him to spend his life behind bars.

Judge Claire (Erin Richards) sees things from a unique perspective. Higgins appears to have made a change for the better. As a result, he receives a fine instead of a more severe punishment.

At the culmination of the initial installment of this six-episode thriller series, it became apparent that fate or justice had a cosmic recompense in store for Claire.

Higgins’s new partner is none other than his daughter, Beca (Lauren Morais), who is an accomplished A-level student. However, it seems that Oxford or Cambridge university entrance exams are not part of their future plans.

The series is shot near Cardiff, specifically in Newport by the coastline, where the well-known courthouse for magistrates stands out notably.

The docks have a subtle, romantic glow, almost like a soft-focus sparkle, which could also be due to a gentle rain falling.

Georgia Lee, a magistrate herself, along with Hannah Daniel, who previously portrayed attorney Cerys in the Welsh series “Keeping Faith”, conducted some of their research by observing actual trials from the court’s public viewing area.

Enthusiasts of the series ‘Keeping Faith’ would find appeal in ‘Mudtown’, as both narratives revolve around resilient, capable female protagonists grappling with past regrets, managing careers and families amidst husbands who are less than helpful.

In the series, Claire’s spouse is portrayed by Matthew Gravelle, an actor who made such a convincing performance in Broadchurch that I’d find it hard to believe him even in a role as saintly as Saint Francis of Assisi.

However, the person posing the greatest threat to her is Pete, her ex-childhood sweetheart, who has transformed into a small-town tycoon reminiscent of a “Mr. Big.

In simpler terms, he unexpectedly appears in the women’s restrooms at the court, attempting to scare Claire into imprisoning a defendant who poses a threat to him.

‘Don’t let him out,’ Pete warns menacingly. ‘He’s gonna be safer inside.’

Instead, she grants the young man bail, allowing him to walk free. Regrettably, he ends up receiving two gunshots to his abdomen while going out to buy fish and chips.

He’d have been better off if Claire was the lock-’em-up-and-throw-away-the-key type.

However, she was raised in impoverished conditions within a public housing complex, and often finds herself connecting with common folks. During her coffee breaks, for instance, she engages in conversations with homeless individuals, which is quite typical of her.

Oh, and don’t call them tramps, says Claire. They’re ‘human beings’. Yes, your Worship.

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2025-08-21 02:34