The factual accuracy of the series is often criticised by legal professionals and journalists; many of the decisions taken by Deed are unlikely to happen in a real court.
A complaint was made by a viewer about one episode claiming biased and incorrect information about the MMR vaccine, leading the BBC to unilaterally ban repeats of it in its original form.
[4][5] Newman wrote the series intending to give the audience an exploration of the law without patronising them or getting caught up in an explanation of legal proceedings.
[5] The series has been credited with renewing the "cop genre" by moving the story from a "maverick detective" to a high court judge,[6] though as a comparison to Newman's previous work, a Guardian writer called it "rather soft" and doubted, from seeing the pilot, whether it would provoke questions in the House of Commons like Law and Order did,[5] while the show went on to provoke much hostility from many groups which it portrayed as corrupt or negligent.
The British Film Institute's Screenonline notes that "Almost every week, Deed is seen presiding over cases being prosecuted by his ex-wife or defended by his on-off girlfriend (with occasionally help from his daughter)", highlighting how unlikely it would be for a real judge to have so many conflicts of interest in his court.
It also notes that Deed's faults, such as his affairs with his therapist and with Francesca Rochester, prevent him from being "a completely idealised heroic figure", and the fact that because all of his family and friends practise law, he is firmly entrenched in the legal system that he is constantly fighting against.
[21] Despite being picked apart by legal professionals, the cast and Newman were invited to the annual dinner of the Association of Women Barristers in 2006 as part of a drive to raise the profile and attract new members to the group.
[23] The 2006 series caused controversy for the misguided information presented in "Silent Killer" (2006), which suggested a link between TETRA radio emissions and motor neurone disease.
Statements were released by the TETRA Industry Group and the MND Association, the latter emphasising that while there is some evidence to suggest a link, it is not a single contributory factor.
[24][25] "Heart of Darkness" (2006) was criticised for portraying a causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism, and the BBC received complaints on the matter.
[1] The episode was cited in From Seesaw to Wagon Wheel, an internal BBC report on impartiality in its output that was published in June 2007, a section of which highlighted that the name of the Westwake character bore more than a passing resemblance to that of Dr Andrew Wakefield.
Television pundits have criticised the writing of the programme; Robert Hanks of The Independent calls the scripts "often corny, even painfully so", using Monty Everard's line "You'll come to regret crossing swords with me, sir!"
[29] Hanks also wrote about what he called "moral oversimplification" of the storylines; the same episode featured "a wealthy and self-important businessman—who had already been banned from talking on a mobile phone while driving—ran over and killed a mother and her two small children while talking on his mobile phone to his mistress, to whom he was explaining that he had to take his wife to a function at—the icing on this shabby cake—Downing Street.
He then legged it and subsequently faked mental illness to avoid a trial; a gambit that might have worked had Deed not cunningly threatened to send him to Broadmoor, at which point the man stood up and started protesting vociferously".
[31] Despite the criticism given to the programme, the series is praised as being at its best when tackling topical issues, such as reality television, human exposure to telephone masts and incestuous relationships.
[3] The production style also rates highly; writing in The Guardian, Mark Lawson called the pilot "glossier and more populist than Newman's earlier work".