Line #126 Characters/LawAndOrderUK


1	[[foldercontrol]]
2
3	!Law
4
5	[[folder:Detective Sergeant Ronald "Ronnie" Brooks]]
6	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/BradleyWalsh
7
8	%% * TheAlcoholic
9	* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's mostly a friendly guy, but like Matt, he has a handful of moments where people realize that ticking him off is a ''bad'' idea.
10	* BigEater: Frequently seen snacking on various foods. It's even lampshaded by Natalie and Matt's constant teasing and when Alesha is savvy enough to bring him a pastry to bribe him into doing some research for her.
11	* DeadPartner: And ''how''--his backstory includes a partner who was killed, Matt's the one who accidentally reminds him of this, eerily {{Foreshadowing}} his own fate, and [[spoiler: DI Wes Leyton (not his partner, but clearly a good enough friend for both of these tropes to apply) is [[DiedOnTheirBirthday gunned down on his birthday]] at the beginning of the episode "Hard Stop"]].
12	%% * CoolOldGuy
13	%% * CunningLinguist: Speaks French.
14	%%
15	%% And how is that used in the work?
16	%%
17	%% * DeadpanSnarker: Not as much as his US counterpart, and it drops off noticeably after [[spoiler: Matt is killed]], but still there.
18	* DecemberDecemberRomance: In "Honor Bound", we learn that he had a relationship with a similarly aged fellow officer. Problem is, she was (and still is) married, and one of their trysts provides him with an alibi for a drug theft he's been implicated in.
19	* DisappearedDad: Much like his US counterpart, he has a rocky relationship with both of his daughters thanks to his alcoholism and his two failed marriages (which are themselves due to his drinking problem).
20	* {{Expy}}: As a rather rough-around-the-edges but golden-hearted veteran police officer with a drinking problem in his past, several failed marriages and a rather rocky relationship with his kids, and a rather snarky attitude towards life and his job, he is essentially a British version of Lennie Briscoe.
21	* HeroicBSOD: Breaks down after [[spoiler:his partner Matt is killed]]. It really doesn't help that the whole thing happened right in front of him and that he's already been through this with another partner. Has another break down after [[spoiler: Wes is killed too]].
22	* KindheartedCatLover: Ronnie is seen caring for and commiserating with Matt's cat during "Survivor's Guilt", and walking off with it at the end (in a deleted scene).
23	%% * KnightInSourArmor
24	* ILetGwenStacyDie: It's implied that he feels somewhat responsible for his previous partner's death, telling Matt, "There was nothing I could do". Later, after [[spoiler: Matt himself is killed]], he expresses a similar sentiment while confiding in his AA group--"I couldn't get to him in time"--and giving his statement to the other detectives--"I should have been with him".
25	* LikeASonToMe: Thinks this way about Matt, obvious even ''before'' [[spoiler: the latter is killed]] and stated outright when he talks with the mother [[spoiler: of his killer--"The police officer who died? His name was Matthew Devlin and he was like... MY son."]] Not surprising, considering how he screwed up with his actual children, thanks to his drinking problem.
26	* TheNicknamer: He often called Matt "Matty", "Matty-boy", or "Sunshine". Fan were NOT pleased when he once referred to Sam by the last one.
27	* OffTheWagon: [[spoiler:Comes ''very'' close to being played straight--note the scene in Matt's now deserted apartment where he stares at the beer bottles for what seems like an eternity as well as the ending where there's a glass of whiskey in front of him--but is ultimately averted in "Survivor's Guilt" with the help of his new partner, Sam. Comes even closer in "Hard Stop", where he actually goes so far as to buy a bottle of vodka before coming to his senses and walking out of the store without it.]]
28	* PapaWolf: He's very protective of Matt, his much younger partner who is of similar age as his children, and Alesha, too. He's protective of anyone younger than him who he can sense needs a surrogate father figure.
29	%% * StraightMan
30	* WhatTheHellHero: Gets a few of these:
31	** In "Anonymous" his underhanded attempts made to correct mistakes made in the initial investigation end up making Matt look dishonest and incompetent and thoroughly humiliated in court. Matt pointedly refuses to sit with him in court and later blasts him for putting him in such a bad position.
32	** In "Haunted", when asked how he and his then-partner missed crucial clues, he admits to his alcoholism--and his partner's amphetamine addiction. The man reads him the riot act, mentioning the numerous things he did to help him during his drinking days--to the detriment of his own personal life--and rebuffs Ronnie' s feeble excuses--"I was under oath"--and attempts to make amends--"I only eat with family and friends. And I lost my family covering your ass."
33	** Jimmy Valentine ''tries'' to pull this in "Honor Bound" and cites the many times he covered for a drunk or hungover Ronnie. But the fact that he expected Ronnie to repay him by turning a blind eye to him being a murderous DirtyCop completely eclipses his argument.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Detective Sergeant Matthew "Matt" Devlin]]
37	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/JamieBamber
38
39	* AffectionateNickname: Ronnie calls Matt "Matty", "Matty-boy" or "Sunshine".
40	* AbusiveParents: Strongly implied--his contempt for a child abuser--"I know people like you", his feelings about victimized children in general, his empathy with an abused kid--"I've been that kid, Ronnie", and with a young woman who refers to her father as a "bastard"--"Are we related then, do you think?", but neither the extent nor specific perpetrator is ever made clear.
41	* BadassAdorable: He's gorgeous, amazingly polite... and in at least every other episode he runs down, disarms and disables a suspect, all while never cracking that well-mannered veneer.
42	* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's a pretty nice guy... until/unless nasty abusers, rapists etc. tick him off.
43	--> (As they interrogate a suspect)
44	--> '''Matt:''' Come on, man. Don't make me play "bad cop".
45	--> '''Ronnie:''' You wouldn't like him when he plays "bad cop".
46	* ByTheBookCop: To the point where he once arrested a friend for using cocaine--right in front of him.
47	%% * {{Expy}}: Mike Logan, at least at first.
48	* FairCop: He's an extremely attractive cop. Numerous people have reacted to his good looks, ranging from come-ons and compliments to sarcastic put-downs--even the man suspected of [[spoiler: being behind his murder (he isn't)]] refers to him as "Pretty Boy Cop".
49	* ForgottenFallenFriend: Despite his importance as a character and his relationship with Ronnie, Matt is never explicitly mentioned again after the episode dealing with [[spoiler: his murder]]. Even when another of Ronnie's friends, [[spoiler: DI Wes Leyton, is shot and killed]], there is still no mention of him and how similar the two events were for Ronnie. The closest reference we get is that Ronnie's grandson, born on the day [[spoiler: Matt died]], is named Matthew. Despite this clearly being done in his honor, it still fails to spark any discussion of him.
50	* GoodIsNotDumb: He's a charmer, looks like an angel, and has a ready smile for everyone, which has led to many, many suspects underestimating him because he tends to ConfoundThemWithKindness.
51	* InnocentBlueEyes: Has blue eyes the heroic and innocent, good-guy variety. His eyes are the last we see of him.
52	* KindheartedCatLover: Alesha is delighted to learn he has a cat in the episode "Deal", [[spoiler:and Ronnie is seen caring for it (and commiserating with it) in "Survivor's Guilt"]].
53	* ILetGwenStacyDie: It's implied that he feels somewhat responsible for his friend's suicide because he didn't protect him from the priest who was molesting him, nor realize that he was contemplating killing himself.
54	* MistakenForRacist: The attorney for [[spoiler:his killer]] implies that he was a racist simply because he was a white police officer. Alesha tearfully and angrily denies this.
55	%% * MrFanservice
56	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In "Honor Bound", becomes suspicious of the murky events in the episode's prologue and continues to investigate despite several people warning him not to. It exposes the actions of a DirtyCop... who tries to implicate Ronnie as payback, resulting in the latter's humiliation when his alcoholic past is brought up, as well as his ex-lover's own humiliation when their adulterous affair is revealed as well. By episode's end, Ronnie is devastated at the loss of two people he clearly cared very much about and Matt is forced to apologize for his part in the whole thing.
57	* OfficerOHara: He reveals his heritage while trying to gain the trust of a young prostitute he's interrogating--very noticeably thickening his accent and pinpointing almost exactly where she grew up. In another episode he states that he was given a lot of grief about it during his rookie years--"they called me "Mick" for the first six months because my family are Irish."
58	* PrettyBoy: Charming, youthful-looking, blue-eyed and sandy-haired cop with a face of an angel.
59	* RapeAsBackstory: By proxy. In "Confession", we learn that two of his childhood friends were molested by their neighborhood priest, but it is left ambiguous as to whether Matt was a victim as well. He denies it throughout the episode, but at the end, admits that he's repressed things so much that he's genuinely uncertain as to what, if anything, happened to him.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder: Detective Sergeant Sam Casey]]
63	!!! '''Played By''': Creator/PaulNicholls
64	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: There's no explanation for his absence in Season 8.
65	* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: Despite some obvious similarities with his predecessor--young, good-looking, absent (and possibly abusive) father, there were some equally obvious differences--Matt's temper was generally limited to certain issues, whereas Sam appeared to have a short fuse about ''everything''. Matt also clearly cherished the surrogate father he had in Ronnie. Sam seemed to resent Ronnie's attempts at being this--despite generally getting along, the two simply did not have the rapport that Matt and Ronnie did.
66	* DisappearedDad: He had one and he is apparently unwillingly this to his own son, only getting to see him once a month.
67	%% * FairCop
68	%% * GoodCopBadCop. Guess which one he is.
69	* HeroicBSOD: Suffers an emotional shut-down throughout "Tracks", starting when he's unable to save a young victim of the train crash.
70	%% * HotBlooded: Sam's got a short fuse.
71	* IdiotBall:
72	** Oh, Sam. You had to know that joking to a black suspect about what you have to do to get two weeks in Barbados [[MistakenForRacist would come back to bite you, right?]] No?
73	** Well how about sleeping with a perp posing as a "victim"? Not his smartest idea.
74	%% * KickTheDog: Subverted; he leads him outside by the leash.
75	%% * PermaStubble
76	* WeHardlyKnewYe: Lasted only two series and disappeared without any explanation, just as he was getting interesting.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Detective Sergeant Joe Hawkins]]
80	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/BenBaileySmith
81	%% * BerserkButton: Taunting him about his light skin and presumably biracial heritage.
82	%%
83	%% How angry does he get?
84	%%
85	* ButNotTooBlack: He's mocked about his light skin by a dark-skinned suspect, who alternates between seeming jealous--insinuating that he's had an easier time because of it--or being contemptuous--calling him a "mongrel". He didn't take too kindly to it.
86	%% * {{Expy}}: Ed Green.
87	%% * FairCop
88	* HalfBreedDiscrimination: As cited above, his reaction when a suspect calls him a "mongrel" indicates that this isn't the first time he's dealt with comments like this.
89	* NaiveNewcomer: Subverted. He's new to the Homicide Division, but he's been a detective for some time.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Detective Inspector Natalie Chandler]]
93	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/HarrietWalter
94	%% * DaChief
95	%% * {{Expy}}: Anita Van Buren.
96	* IronLady: Despite her obvious grief and anger, she waits until she's alone in her office with the blinds drawn to cry over [[spoiler: Matt's death]], and she refuses to break down despite the overwhelming evidence that her father is a killer.
97	* MamaBear: Is fiercely defensive of her subordinates, takes it badly when someone is criticizing or harming them (e.g. Alesha's assault), and them screwing up provokes a reaction much like that of a disappointed/angry parent.
98	* PutOnABus: Her absence in Season 7 is explained as her taking a leave of absence to care for her ill mother. [[TheBusCameBack She resurfaces in the 4th episode of Series 8, but technically not as a cop, but rather as the daughter of their prime suspect.]]
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Detective Inspector Wes Leyton]]
102	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/PatersonJoseph
103	* DiedOnTheirBirthday: [[spoiler: He celebrates his birthday in the ColdOpen of the episode "Hard Stop"... and is shot and killed after leaving the party]].
104	%% * HappilyMarried: We only see his wife once, but this trope clearly applies.
105	* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: [[spoiler:He's abruptly gunned down a few minutes into "Hard Stop".]]
106	* WeHardlyKnewYe: Appeared for only a series and a half [[spoiler:before his death]].
107	[[/folder]]
108
109
110	!Order
111
112	[[folder:Senior Crown Prosecutor James Steel]]
113	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/BenDaniels
114
115	* ChekhovsSkill: His previous experience as a defense attorney saves his bacon when he's charged with "perverting the course of justice".
116	* {{Determinator}}: His reluctance to give a case up or use any means necessary to win is legendary, and actually comes back to bite him in the ass in his last episode: he gets arrested for perverting the course of justice after some evidence that would have exonerated a murder suspect six years previously was found to have gone missing. The same episode says that his conviction rate is '''ninety three percent'''.
117	%% * HeelRealization: Claims he gave up being a defense attorney because he couldn't sleep at night. Oddly enough, he fails to display this trope during some of the many stunts he pulls as a prosecutor.
118	%% * HelloAttorney
119	%% * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast
120	* OfficeRomance: He has relationships with his female colleagues. And his final scene with Alesha (as well as his reaction to her rape) reveals that he has feelings for her as well, even though it never gets beyond attraction.
121	* PutOnABus: Although acquitted of charges of perverting the course of justice, he still feels ultimately responsible for the MiscarriageOfJustice that occurred--an innocent man went to prison, while a guilty man went free and killed several more victims--and decides to resign from the CPS.
122	* TranquilFury: His matter-of-fact demeanor when he declares that he'd like to see Alesha's rapist "locked in a room with his victims" does little to hide the fact that he'd like to be included.
123	* WhatTheHellHero His "win at all costs" method of handling a case has led him to do some borderline reprehensible things, all of which tend to have the same theme:
124	** In "Paradise" he takes advantage of his friendship with another lawyer, jeopardizing the man's career, in order to garner necessary information. Upon finding out what he's done, the other lawyer gives him a blistering TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and rebuffs James' attempts to make amends (one of the few times he was genuinely sorry for the problems that he'd caused), saying, "I don't want to be your collateral damage anymore."
125	** In "Anonymous", he humiliates Matt Devlin in court over an error made during the investigation, accusing him of being both dishonest and incompetent (despite knowing full well that he's neither), discrediting not only his testimony, but possibly his tenure as a detective. When Alesha blasts him for this, he dismisses it as "collateral damage".
126	** "Skeletons", he embarrasses an ex-lover over their past relationship and declares that her sole reason for testifying against him is to get back at him for dumping her. Alesha tells him off for this, asking if the woman's reputation was, of course, "collateral damage".
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Senior Crown Prosecutor Jacob Thorne]]
130	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/DominicRowan
131
132	* TheCasanova: He seems to have bedded or flirted with nearly half the female lawyers in London.
133	%% * {{Expy}}: Jack [=McCoy=], even moreso than his predecessor
134	* HelloAttorney: He's an attractive lawyer.
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Junior Crown Prosecutor Alesha Philips]]
138	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/FreemaAgyeman
139
140	* BreakTheCutie: She's adorable, but gets drawn through hell: raped by her doctor, loses her friend/mentor before they get a chance to explore their feelings for each other, and another friend is killed saving her life before ''they'' can explore their feelings for each other. Unlike most examples of this trope, she appears to have come out of each tragedy stronger than before.
141	* CharacterDevelopment: She starts out as a NaiveNewcomer, but grows more and more confident and competent as time goes on--by Series 2 she handles the questioning of several witnesses, by Series 5, prosecutes several cases on her own, and the final mention of her at the beginning of Series 7 is that she's been transferred to a senior position in another division.
142	* CompositeCharacter: As a black woman, she is a combination of the first junior ADA from the original Series/LawAndOrder, Paul Robinette, and his female successors, especially Claire Kincaid, who also had feelings for her mentor. The episode where she was raped was a remake of the original Series/LawAndOrder episode in which Elizabeth Olivet was raped.
143	* EveryonesBabySister: As seen in the episode "Alesha", when everyone in the group is infuriated by what's happened to her and they promptly go all out to bring her rapist to justice. James can barely stand to watch the video of her rape, while Matt can't bring himself to watch it at all.
144	--> '''{{Iron Lady}} DI Chandler:''' I'd like to cut off his dick with a rusty hacksaw and ram it down his throat!"
145	* HelloAttorney: She's a very attractive female lawyer.
146	* HeroicSacrifice: When she tries to entrap a doctor who touched her inappropriately, she gets raped. She essentially jumped on a grenade, knowing something bad would happen, in order to get justice for all of Merrick's other victims, and knowing he would never pay for her. Indeed, when Matt asks why she went back after he'd already assaulted her, she admits that she wasn't expecting him to rape her, but states, "Someone had to stop him. At least now we can lock the bastard up."
147	* PutOnABus: In the season 7 premiere, it's mentioned that she was transferred to a senior crown prosecutor position in another office. This narrowly averts a literal BusCrash, as she would have been a passenger on the ill-fated train otherwise.
148	* TwoferTokenMinority: Is black and female. But even though she's the only non-white member of the main cast, it's hard to really call her a "token", given that London's incredible diversity is well represented among the supporting players.
149	%% * UnresolvedSexualTension: With James and with Matt.
150	[[/folder]]
151
152	[[folder:Junior Crown Prosecutor Kate Barker]]
153	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/GeorgiaTaylor
154
155	%% * HelloAttorney
156	* IdiotBall: Chats with an opposing attorney about the tactics Jake is likely to use, then acts shocked when (a) the woman undermines their strategy by preparing her witness, and (b) Jake and Henry read her the riot act for what she's done.
157	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Their personalities are radically different, but she still falls into the "pretty young woman" slot that Alesha filled.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Director George Castle]]
161	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/BillPaterson
162
163	%% * AndStarring
164	* ChekhovsSkill: Like James, was a defense attorney for a while. Despite nearly two decades having passed since then, he does an excellent, if ultimately unsuccessful job of representing an old friend on a manslaughter charge.
165	%% * DaChief
166	%% * {{Expy}}: Adam Schiff
167	* PapaWolf: Much like DI Chandler, is fiercely protective of his underlings, yet doesn't tolerate mistakes from them.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Director Henry Sharpe]]
171	!!!'''Played By''': Creator/PeterDavison
172
173	%%* AndStarring: Occupies this spot now that Bill Patterson has left.
174	%%* DaChief
175	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: For George Castle.
176	[[/folder]]

Context Characters / LawAndOrderUK