The Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) funded Old Bailey Online digital archive has been used again as a resource by the makers of the award winning BBC1 drama Garrow’s Law for its second series airing Sunday November 14th.
Broadcast primetime on BBC1 the legal drama yet again used scripts that draw on stories taken from the AHRC funded Old Bailey Online digital archive.
The starting point for ‘Garrow's Law’, which had viewing figures of over four million per episode for its first series, were the tales of metropolitan street life of Georgian London and the subsequent courtroom dramas contained in Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org), which, when combined with the scholarly research which underpinned that project, has made these stories available to millions of researchers, family historians, and writers, supporting a wealth of further scholarship and creative activity.
Garrow’s Law, a BBC legal drama inspired by the real life story of 18th century barrister William Garrow, was recognised by the Royal Television Society (RTS) when it was announced as a winner at the RTS Programme Awards 2009.
Garrow's Law co-creator Tony Marchant had this to say about Old Bailey online "There's an immediacy about the Old Bailey online records, with transcripts of the actual trials which makes it both a fantastic oral and written history of those who went through the Criminal justice system, a riveting insight into the lives of ordinary people who were caught up in it and, of course, a revelation about the way that law was conducted then.”
Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: “Archives like Old Bailey Online provide an invaluable resource to academics and researchers as well as source material for creative industries.
"Garrow's Law has used Old Bailey Online to bring to life a fascinating aspect of our history”
Professor Rick Rylance, the AHRC Chief Executive, said “It is incredibly pleasing to see a digital resource of nineteenth century court proceedings, that might at first glance seem a dry subject to follow, being used as the basis for an entertaining and successful prime time television drama.”
The AHRC-funded ‘Old Bailey Proceedings Online’ makes available a fully searchable, digitised collection of all surviving editions of the Old Bailey Proceedings from 1674 to 1913. It allows access to over 197,000 trials and biographical details of approximately 2,500 men and women executed at Tyburn, publicly available and completely free of charge.
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Media Contact: Jake Gilmore, AHRC Communications Manager; T: 01793 41 6021,
E: j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk
Notes to Editors:
The Old Bailey Proceedings Online is a collaboration between the Open University, and the Universities of Hertfordshire and Sheffield, this project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Big Lottery Fund. Project Directors are Clive Emsley, Tim Hitchcock, and Robert Shoemaker. It is published by HRI Online Publications, and technical services were provided by the Higher Education Digitisation Service and HRI Digital at the Humanities Research Institute. http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/index.jsp
The second series of ‘Garrow’s Law: Tales from the Old Bailey’ airs at 9pm on Sunday November 14th on BBC One. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w5c5g
Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £112 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,300 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.