Care (Law & Order: UK)
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Episode 1
by Robert Nathan
and Sally Nemeth
| "Care" | |
|---|---|
| Law & Order: UK episode | |
 First intertitle from the episode | |
| Episode no. | Series 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Omar Madha |
| Written by | Chris Chibnall |
| Based on | "Cradle to Grave" by Robert Nathan and Sally Nemeth |
| Original air date | 23 February 2009 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Care" is the first episode of the British police procedural and legal television programme, Law & Order: UK. "Care" follows the case of a dead infant dropped off at a hospital to the corrupt estate agent whose negligence caused his death.[1] Written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Omar Madha,[2] and produced by Richard Stokes,[3] "Care" originally aired on 23 February 2009.[2]
The episode is based on the original Law & Order second season episode, "Cradle to Grave" which was written by Robert Nathan and Sally Nemeth[2][3][4] and originally aired on 31 March 1992.[5]
After midnight on 6 January, the corpse of a poisoned nine-month-old boy is found in a holdall[6] at Royal Hope Hospital. Brooks and Devlin's investigation leads them to Kings Cross; there, they find the child's flat and a sabotaged gas heater: the source of his poisoning. Following leads to the child's mother, Dionne Farrah (Venetia Campbell), they then investigate the babysitter, Serena Jackson (Angela Terence), whose statement leads the detectives back to Farrah's fellow tenant Mike Turner (Tony Maudsley). Turner has been hired by the flat's management company to harass the tenants into leaving, so that the owner—Maureen Walters (Ashbourne)—can renovate the units for better capital gain.
Represented by the devious and unprincipled Robert Ridley QC (Malahide), Turner is charged with damaging the Farrah's heating unit, causing the fatal gassing of the child. However, on 7 April, the judge is forced to declare a mistrial after the building's French-speaking caretaker, Daniel Matoukou (Babou Ceesay), is improperly translated. Uncovering that Walters has been paying bribes to environmental inspection officials, DS Brooks (Walsh) secures such evidence as to bring her to trial for failing to maintain the flats and leading to the boy's death. After Turner flips on Walters for a reduced sentence, the jury finds her guilty on 5 May.
Production
Regarding the opening scene, where two PCSOs discuss which should open the holdall they suspect contains a bomb, Producer Richard Stokes conceded that in reality, they would have called the bomb squad. On the series as a whole, he admitted, "if there's a choice between technical accuracy and powerful drama, the drama will always win."[6]