Channel-hopping the other evening I happened upon a programme on ITV in which Stephen Fry plays an affable country solicitor in the picturesque Norfolk town of Market Shipborough.
Kingdom, I have since discovered, is in its third series and Fry, who plays the eponymous hero Peter Kingdom, pootles around the town in his rather flash car solving the problems of the people in his community.
In the episode I saw, Kingdom had to deal with issues surrounding the abduction of a child, born to an illegal immigrant, by its English father who runs a business that exploited migrant workers, as well as a breach of contract regarding the supply of poles for a dyke-jumping competition.
Having been taught by Kingdom the importance of going the extra mile for his clients, Lyle Anderson, Fry’s newly qualified sidekick, offers to marry the young mother to keep her in the country. Kingdom rightly advises against this illegal course of conduct and the marriage ultimately does not go ahead.
This gentle comedy does not seek to portray the reality of life in a law firm. But as a fan of Stephen Fry, I think having him play a canny and caring local solicitor with the personal touch gives the profession some much-needed positive coverage, at a time when it needs all the positive coverage it can get – given the increased competition from the likes of the Co-op and Halifax.
Kingdom seemed a good advert for the personal and human touch offered by an accessible and friendly local solicitor – surely the kind of image the Law Society will be keen to build on in its new advertising campaign planned, as the Gazette has reported, for this autumn.
But what, I wondered, do solicitors make of it?
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