1990 — Season 1, Episode 6: Whatever happened to Cardinal Wolsey
Drama • 55 min • 2 seasons, 16 episodes • ★ 6.5/10
Episode synopsis
The Ombudsman's Court supposedly exists to hear and review appeals by citizens and consists of a tribunal of judges, but every appeal is rejected despite the legitimacy of the claim. However, one judge, Philip Carter, is determined to fight the corrupt legal system and continually votes to uphold legitimate claims despite always being outvoted by the Chairperson and a weak-willed third judge. Angered by Carter's defiance, the Attorney General demands that Skardon and the PCD find a way to silence Carter. The PCD's plan: a campaign of threats and intimidation against Carter's pregnant wife, who has already miscarried twice. With the help of an American news colleague, Kyle tries to find a way to help the Carters, but the PCD's sadistic Inspector Jones may have already struck too hard at Mrs. Carter.
About 1990
The series is set in a dystopian future in which Britain is under the grip of the Home Office's Department of Public Control (PCD), a tyrannically oppressive bureaucracy riding roughshod over the population's civil liberties. Edward Woodward plays Jim Kyle, a journalist on the last independent newspaper called The Star, who turns renegade and begins to fight the PCD covertly. The officials of the PCD, in turn, try to provide proof of Kyle's subversive activities.