The Burning Deck

A fire has been set in a naval barracks, and a bed has been burnt. Kavanagh defends Lieutenant Ralph Kinross, played by Rupert Penry-Jones, who is charged with starting the fire. His co-accused is Patrick Jones, a sailor played by Alan Gilchrist, a childhood friend who is a sailor in the same unit. Jones had lent money to the sailor whose bed was set alight.

Eleanor Harker, the barrister played by Geraldine James, defends Jones. She has problems at home, and they begin to impair her judgement, so she is not at her best opposite Kavanagh. The defence has a more promising line. It focuses on the role of Chief Evans, the senior rating in charge of the engineering department, who was also Jones's main tormentor. If the fire was a response to bullying, then the question is who caused it.

TVDB describes the film in terms of the lieutenant. Kavanagh, it says, represents the son of a Vice Admiral who is charged with arson. Despite his best efforts the court finds his client guilty. The truth of the matter, however, turns out to be more complex. The summaries do not say what that truth is.

In chambers, Julia Piper receives a proposal of marriage, and the Kavanagh children organise a surprise anniversary party for their parents. These domestic scenes sit beside the court-martial in the manner of the first three series, in which, as the Classic Film and TV Café put it, the show mixes private life and cases.

Russell Lewis wrote the film and Charles Beeson directed. The cast lists Keith Bartlett as Captain Ian Tredinnick, Sean Chapman as Lieutenant Commander Hugh Mills, William Chubb as Commander Driscoll and Rick Bacon as Burrell. Rosalind Bailey appears as Cynthia Kavanagh, with Oliver Ford Davies, Anna Chancellor, Daisy Bates and Tom Brodie in their regular parts.

The same reviewer notes that Kavanagh represents military officers in court-martial hearings during the series. This is the second of the second series' six films, following Men of Substance, and it was shown on Monday 11 March 1996. Central Television made it for ITV.

IMDb voters give it 7.4 out of 10, the second-lowest score in the whole run.

The summaries do not say who set the fire or what finally happened to the two accused, so the account stops at the point where the court has found its verdict and the truth is said to be more complicated.