Ancient History

Ancient History is the film that took the series furthest from its usual territory. Kavanagh prosecutes a family doctor, an apparently blameless man, in what Wikipedia calls an unprecedented war crimes trial. The accusation concerns events of fifty years before.

The distance in time is the issue. As Kavanagh works the case he finds himself wondering about the fallibility of human memory, because the case depends on what survivors can recall after half a century. The court hears devastating testimony, as victims of Nazi atrocities relive their experiences of the concentration camps. The film is set in a courtroom that has to decide whether remembered faces and voices can be trusted.

TVDB adds that it is a witness for the defence who reveals the final truth. The summaries do not say what that truth is, whether it is a guilty man or a mistaken identity, and neither says which way the verdict goes. The title points to the age of the events, not to their outcome.

Kavanagh asks his son to do some research. Matt, played by Tom Brodie, is the family member who helps with the case, which gives the film a domestic link to the courtroom.

Nigel Kneale wrote the film. IMDb credits the series' creators Ted Childs and Susan Rogers as well, but Wikipedia names Kneale alone. The show dossier lists him among the notable names on the series' writing roster. Tristram Powell directed. The film runs for 90 minutes on IMDb's figure, against 75 or 76 for most of the series' films.

The cast includes Jonathan Adams as Karol Somper, Robin Bailey as Lord Probyn, Gillian Bevan as Lucy Beck, Anna Cropper as Marian Beck, Rowena Cooper as Christine Dodd, Ann Castle as Betty and Nigel Carrington as the clerk of the court, with Oliver Ford Davies as Peter Foxcott QC, John Thaw as Kavanagh and Tom Brodie as Matt.

It was shown on Monday 17 March 1997, the third of the series' six films, and was made by Central Television for ITV. IMDb voters give it 8.4 out of 10, the highest in its series and one of the three films the site recommends.

The Classic Film and TV Café reviewer observes that British barristers can prosecute as well as defend, unlike American lawyers, and compares it to Perry Mason working as a prosecutor. The film is the third on the opening disc of the BFS Video DVD release of the third series, with Mute of Malice and Blood Money.

The summaries do not say how the trial ends, so neither does this account.