Behind Closed Doors: The Complete Series 1-3

By: Clara Glynn

Narrated by: Claire Rushbrook, full cast, Susie Riddell

Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

Series 1-3 of the BBC Radio 4 legal drama, starring Claire Rushbrook and Clare Corbett.

Behind Closed Doors is a courtroom drama with a difference - it centres around civil law, not criminal. In these nine plays, London barrister Rebecca Nyman takes on cases ranging from workplace harassment to the sensitive, secret trial of a terrorist and a morally complex ‘right to die’ hearing. 

In Series 1, Nyman represents a senior policewoman in a case of sexist bullying at work in 'One of the Lads', while 'Tilting the Odds' sees her helping an equine vet accused of serious professional misconduct. In 'Safe House', a suspected terrorist has his movement and activities severely restricted by the security services - can Nyman clear his name so he can get his life back?

Series 2 features 'A Bad Night Out', in which a man claiming wrongful arrest seeks police compensation; 'Excluded', which sees a teenager facing permanent exclusion from school; and 'Catastrophic Injury', in which a mother claims her baby’s cerebral palsy is due to medical negligence and is fighting the hospital for compensation.

In Series 3’s 'Contact', a sperm donor is trying to get a court order to allow him to see 'his' daughter, but Nyman’s client, the mother, wants him to keep his distance. In 'Section', the barrister hopes to convince a tribunal that a patient who has spent seven years in a secure mental hospital is fit to be released. And in 'Protection', Rebecca represents a man whose wife has been in a minimally conscious state for over three years - should she be allowed to die?

Written by award-winning dramatist Clara Glynn, these nine compelling dramas provide an intriguing glimpse into the little-known world of civil litigation, with all its challenges, complexities and controversies.

Audio updated as of January 2020.

©2019 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2019 BBC Worldwide Ltd

Interesting stories

This book looks at civil litigation cases and is a compelling listen.

To those who have mentioned about the missing audio files, I have reported this to [e-mail], as I do with all of these BBC titles, giving them the time stamps at which the issue starts and finishes. I did this for King Street Junior and Revisited, Tracks both series etc. I'd suggest instead of complaining in the review sections of these titles, get on to Audible and let them fix it. After all, why keep a book that isn't complete?

Great courtroom drama series

This is a great series with good writing and great performances, the initial missing episode error has now been corrected by Audible

Good dramatisation but....

I really enjoyed the series and the performances. However, chapters 7 and 9 were the exactly the same and had been duplicated. So in essence there are only 8 chapters.

Great stories but a problem with the audiobook

Great stories and brilliant performances. However, the last chapter is a repeat of one of the other stories.

Some episodes better than others

First of all, I can confirm - having bought this in January 2020 - that the missing episode problem reported by earlier reviewers has been fixed. All nine episodes are here.

This is a good collection, but a bit of a mixed bag. I didn't *not* enjoy any, just that some were better than others. The first - 'One of the Lads' - was for me the best, a case of sexual discrimination in the police force. The really good thing, listening to all the evidence given by the witnesses and subject matter experts, is that you don't know what the final verdict's going to be. It's certainly not predictable - and the lead character, our barrister Rebecca Nyman, doesn't win all of the time!

Considering there are only nine episodes, I was slightly disappointed by the fact that there's a change, from series 3, of the actor playing the key role. Having become accustomed to Claire Rushbrook's tones for 6 episodes, Clare Corbett takes over. Not that one is any better than the other, just that I'd been used to the one actor's voice for the majority of cases. But perhaps that's just nit-picking!

I look forward to some more cases, and I see that there's a series 4 now available to buy. However I will save myself a credit by listening to it on Radio 4, where it's available to listen to for "over a year" from today's date (20 Jan '21).

Bite size stories

I really enjoyed this, specifically the short (45 mins ish) stories

None of them were predictable.

Good performances

Would recommend

Just the ticket

Brilliant, controversial and thought provoking. The wheels of justice sometimes creak but these stories come from the heart of society, are real and revealing and I would highly recommend taking the chance that you will have a happy 6 and a half hours of listening to a great cast doing a superb job.

excellent

brilliant, interesting, a defo 5 star read highly recommended would like more like this please

OUTSTANDING!!!!

A different take from other legal dramas. Instead of the focus being upon heroic criminal lawyers whom step in to save the day this book centres around the lives of those seeking to be heard in civil cases. surprising moving.

Problems Sorted but not without a struggle

I reported the problem to customer service who seemed determined that it was my fault in the way I downloaded it. This was daft and eventually they referred it to the techys after I started writing in capital letters
Now fine