Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A barrister known as a virtuoso of the courtroom, who made his name successfully defending famous clients including Jeremy Thorpe and Ken Dodd.
On the island
Eight records
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61Favourite
Yehudi Menuhin, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
This I heard him play at the Albert Hall at a memorial concert for his sister Hepzebar. It was so moving that I went out and bought the record and played it almost continuously for a month, and it's remained in my mind ever since.
Uh she was an Irish woman. She gave me great encouragement. She was a great loss in my life when she died so young. And when I was a little boy she used to sing to me, Uh when Irish eyes are smiling, and that is a record I'd like to take with me onto the desert island.
which uh lifted up the spirits of this country so much and uh impressed me with its great success as a child.
Romeo and Juliet (Overture-Fantasy)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
one of the most beautiful things is to see uh a ballet danced beautifully to romantic and beautiful music. and therefore I would like to take with me Tchaikovsky's overture to Romeo and Juliet.
it sums up my own philosophy of life that one should not have regrets.
He sang this song with such infectious warmth that when I want to be cheered up on the desert island I shall play this record with pleasure.
I would lose uh perhaps above all the company of my own dear son Dominic, who has been and is very close to me. and I have very happy memories of when he was a little boy. and we used to have a few parties for friends, and he and I used to do a double act of singing a Beatles' number when I'm sixty four.
Mischa Dichter, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner
the music that she likes most and I associate it a great deal with uh Romantic feelings in one's life
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:11Do the roles of priest and advocate have anything in common?
Well, I doubt if they have, except that I imagine both uh wish to convey messages to the general public at large. The priest's message, I imagine, is a spiritual one, and the barrister is the message of his client.
Presenter asks
2:13Why did you give up the priesthood?
Oh, I hadn't got a vocation, and I discovered that I liked women.
Presenter asks
4:12Is the barrister more of a psychiatrist, analysing the material and looking for its weaknesses and strengths?
I don't think it's a psychiatrist. I think it is, of course, uh an analysis of human affairs. which has to be made in order to prepare it for presentation to a court.
Presenter asks
12:23Is it true that you were ordered by the master of Balliol to get a first, and if so, why?
The keepsakes
The book
Francis Turner Palgrave
I'd a very enthusiastic English master who made me read and learn. And later I understood fully, I think. the beautiful poems contained in [Palgrave's] Golden Treasury.
The luxury
A painting of the Grand Canal at Venice at sunset
a painting that I have of the Grand Canal at Venice and the sunset. because again one would like to have something very beautiful to look at.
Oh, I I think it's true. I'm I'm bound to say that Baliol had this tradition of expecting the best from you, or better than your best. and indeed a diplomatic order was given. and I reluctantly endeavoured to comply.
Presenter asks
21:26Why is it a golden rule that a good advocate should never ask a question to which he does not have a strong idea of the answer?
I think because uh It's highly dangerous to ask questions to which you don't know the answer. It can damage a case enormously. and its intelligent anticipation. It's a intelligent forecast of the way the evidence should emerge. And of course it's a question of strict economy. Uh do not venture into areas unknown. It's dangerous territory.
Presenter asks
31:25You once said barristers make bad husbands. Do you say that for any other reason than that you're twice divorced, or is there a greater truth there?
Oh, it's probably a justification on my part. But I'm sure my colleagues will forgive me if I say that's probably true.
“No, I think as I've said to medical friends, one feels uh more like a doctor, uh the difference being that the doctor only sees the uh patient naked physically, we have to see them naked uh mentally.”
“Oh, I hadn't got a vocation, and I discovered that I liked women.”
“The art of advocacy is not the search after the truth, it's the presentation of the case and it's for the court to decide where the truth lies.”
“personal horror at what he'd done and uh A degree of personal dislike of the man, but quite irrelevant to the task in hand.”
“Oh, it's probably a justification on my part. But I'm sure my colleagues will forgive me if I say that's probably true.”
“I think it would have to be Beethoven's violin concerto.”