From the team that created Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes is Eternal Law, a six-part drama about a law firm with a difference. Due to start on ITV on Thursday 5 January 2012, the two main lawyers – Zak Gist (played by Samuel West) and Tom Greening (played by Ukweli Roach) – are actually angels placed on earth to do good.
This little fact is hidden from barrister Hannah English (played by Hattie Morahan), who has strong reciprocated feelings for Zak, but feelings he cannot explore without straying from his angelic path and risking becoming mortal. Helping him out is Mrs Sherringham (played by Orla Brady), who is human but has the job of keeping the angels in line. But what secrets is she hiding?
The chief baddy is dark angel Richard Pembroke (played by Tobias Menzies), also a lawyer but with a determination to undo the good works of Tom and Zak.
Set in York, the series is said to provide a mix of grittiness, vibrancy and the magical.
Actors in Eternal Law
Samuel West was nominated for a Bafta for one of his best known roles, that of Leonard Best in the 1992 film Howard’s End. His TV career started early than that, notably as King Caspian in Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Later roles have included Thomas Rice in Waking the Dead, Anthony Blunt in Cambridge Spies and the older Peter Scabius in Any Human Heart. He is also in the upcoming feature film Hyde Park on Hudson, directed by Roger Michell, playing King George VI.
Fairly new on the acting scene, Ukweli Roach made his name in the 2010 film Streetdance 3D as Jay. He also appeared in Shakespeare’s Globe: Romeo and Juliet as Tybalt and as a rapper in the film One Day. He is currently filming Starlings for Sky One.
Hattie Morahan won the Magnolia Award at the Shanghai International TV Festival in 2008 for her role as Elinor Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility. Other parts have included Beth Lucas in Bodies, Sally Lawson in Trial & Retribution, Enid Fairley in Lark Rise to Candleford, Martina Twain in Money and Jane in Outnumbered.
Irish actress Orla Brady has been seen in Fringe as Elizabeth Bishop and was Catherine in the science-fiction series The Deep, but is probably best known for playing Siobhan Dhillon in Mistresses, a role that earned her one of her four Irish Film & Television Awards nominations, the other three being for playing Maureen Boland in Proof, Flora Ryan in Servants and Sheila Kelly Cloney in A Love Divided. She is currently filming as Taryn for the upcoming Sky One production of Sinbad.
Tobias Menzies was also in The Deep, as Raymond Hopkins, but is best known for playing Brutus in Rome. Other roles have included Frank Gallagher in Casualty, Ian Flemming in Any Human Heart and Ross McGovern in The Shadow Line.
Also appearing in the first episode are Paul Woodson as Sean, Simon Harvey as Harry, Lauren Sheriston as Ruby, Sophia di Martino as Lucy Orchard, Oscar Finch as David and Tom Lloyd-Roberts as the judge. Episode two sees Sean Gallagher as Dave Fenwright, Jennifer Hennessy as Jenny Fenwright, Freddie Butterfield as Hal Fenwright, Rosalind March as Anna Atkinson, Angela Murray as the foster mother, Maxine Finch as the doctor, Sarah Hope as Dave’s lawyer and Nick Brimble as the judge.
Team Behind Eternal Law
Writers and creators Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham are also the creative team behind the hit shows Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. They wrote all six episodes and were executive producers. The show is a co-production between Kudos Film and Monastic for ITV.
“Eternal Law can not operate as a regular legal drama,” said Matthew Graham in an ITV press release. “Nor did we want it to. The law stories serve as a mechanism to deliver the characters and put them into conflict. We needed to dispense with policemen and drawn out courtroom scenes. This had to be an angel show, not a law show.”
Alison Jackson and Jane Featherstone were the producers at Kudos. Also on the production team was Georgina Lowe. The directors were Adrian Shergold and Jamie Payne.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
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