Kavanagh Q.C.








It seems that John Thaw was always destined to play a role of some kind in the legal profession; indeed, his three most famous series even followed a natural progression: in The Sweeney he first became known as a streetwise rough-edged cop, in Inspector Morse he played an Inspector Detective, and in his final regular series Kavanagh Q.C., he took on the role of a full-fledged barrister, arguing cases in a British courtroom while dealing with personal crisis in his home life. Surprisingly, John almost never took the role because he did not like the idea of wearing a legal wig. "I know it sounds stupid," he explained, "But I hate wearing hats, and the last thing I wanted to do was have this grey horse-hair thing stuck on my head for a whole series."


Devised as a vehicle especially for John by producer Ted Childs, the character of James Kavanagh was envisioned as a crumpled yet charismatic northern barrister with an affinity for the underdog. Like John, the character was written as coming from Manchester, recently tested by his wife's waywardness at home while maintaing a razor-sharp mind in the courtroom. A lot of Kavanagh's domestic home life would be featured, giving John a chance to film some scenes in a more relxed jeans-and-sweatshirt atmosphere, a far cry from the way audiences were used to seeing him as the impeccibly-dressed Inspector Morse. To research the role, John visited London's Inn of Court to attend an actual murder trial at the Old Bailey. "Although the script is there for you, I like to observe human behavior and ask a lot of questions," he commented.


The series premiered on John's 53rd birthday, January 3rd, 1995, and was an instant ratings hit as more than 12 million people tuned in. "The British love crime and anything to do with it," he observed. "Maybe its because we were lawless at one time and still are in our hearts. There's also an element of 'there but for the grace of God go I.' You think, thank God that didn't happen to me." John carried over a part of the crusty Morse image into his interpretation of the new role, and people instantly took John's new character to heart. John realized that the world-weary, gruff exterior was an important part of Kavanagh's personna, as viewers watched him deal with the trails and tribulations of the world around him. When told by one person that Kavanagh seemed to be getting happier in later episdoes, Thaw responded, "Does he? I'll have to put a stop to that."





Having the series take place in and around Manchester afforded John an opportunity for a sentimental and nostalgic trip back to his hometown as the show moved there periodically for location shooting. In one episode, Tom Courtney guest-starred as a mild-mannered doctor accused of killing his wife. John was delighted with the chance to be able to work with his old friend from the Royal Academy days, and with whom John had starred in his very first motion picture "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" some 30 years before.




In the show's fourth year the producers killed off Kavanagh's wife, played by Lisa Harrow, to enable the show to focus more on the courtroom trials and showing John's character adapting to widowed life and learning to take care of himself more. Unlike the 2-hour Morse mysteries, Kavanagh Q.C. consisted of 90-minute episodes, allowing for a somewhat less demanding shooting schedule. John took advantage of this flexibility by returning to the stage at the National Theater in the 1994/1995 season by appearing as the strongly principled by weak-willed Labour party leader Gary Jones in "The Absence Of War." Critics called John's portrayal as nothing less than "spellbinding."




After a successful run of 5 seasons, the last regular episode entitled "End Games" aired on the 29th of March, 1999, and a special finale "The End Of Law" was broadcast on April 25, 2001. (For a complete episode guide CLICK HERE. For a look at Carlton-TV's official promotional brochure on Kavanagh, CLICK HERE.) Altogether Kavanagh Q.C. ran for 29 episodes, and in the final one the writers hinted at the possibility of James Kavanagh being made a judge, thereby keeping the door open for possible further development of the series. But midway through Kavanagh's run, Thaw had made an announcement that millions of his fans around the world had been looking forward to with anticipation. Having put some time and distance behind him since the last time he donned the famous raincoat, John announced that he was ready to return to the one role that had made him an international star: Inspector Morse would be returning.



Next: Inspector Morse Returns