Law & Order: UK/Characters

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Law

DS Ronnie Brooks

• The Alcoholic
• Badass Grandpa
• Big Eater: Frequently seen snacking on various foods. It's even lampshaded by Natalie and Matt's constant teasing and when Alesha is savvy enough to bring him a pastry to bribe him into doing some research for her.
• Cartwright Curse/Dead Partner: His backstory includes a partner who was killed. Even worse, it's Matt who accidentally reminds him of this, and we all know what happened to him. . .
• Cool Old Guy
• Cunning Linguist: Speaks French.
• Disappeared Dad: Much like his US counterpart, he has a rocky relationship with both of his daughters thanks to his alcoholism and his two failed marriages (which are themselves due to his drinking problem).
• December-December Romance: In "Honor Bound", we learn that he had one of these with a fellow officer. Problem is, she was (and still is) married, and one of their trysts provides him with an alibi for a drug theft he's been implicated in.
• Drowning My Sorrows / Off the Wagon: Comes very close to being played straight--note the scene in Matt's now deserted apartment where he stares at the beer bottles for what seems like an eternity--but is ultimately averted in "Survivor's Guilt" with the help of his new partner, Sam.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Walsh, to simulate Brooks' sugar craving acquired after he gave up alcohol, gained two stone in weight.
• Expy: Lennie Briscoe, although less snarky.
• Hollywood Pudgy: Despite the abovementioned weight gain, Brooks is at worst moderately overweight, yet teased as though he's morbidly obese.
• Knight in Sour Armor
• Playing Against Type: Walsh is a well-known comedic actor who has been thoroughly impressive as Brooks.
• Straight Man

DS Matt Devlin

• Abusive Parents: Strongly implied--his contempt for a child abuser--"I know people like you", his feelings about victimized children in general, his empathy with an abused kid--"I've been that kid, Ronnie", and with a young woman who refers to her father as a "bastard"--"Are we related then, do you think?", but neither the extent nor specific perpetrator is ever made clear.
• Berserk Button: Several--child abuse, established in the episode "Unloved", Alesha Phillips, established in Alesha, and Ronnie Brooks, established in Honor Bound.
• Beware the Nice Ones/You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry: He's a pretty nice guy. . .until/unless you tick him off, usually by pushing one of the abovementioned buttons.

(as he and Ronnie arrest Dr. Merrick, Alesha's rapist) Merrick (yelps in pain as Matt cuffs him): "You're hurting me!" Matt: "Yeah, I know."

(as they interrogate a suspect) Matt: "Come on, man. Don't make me play "bad cop". Ronnie: "You wouldn't like him when he plays "bad cop".

• Blue Eyes: and we get a heartbreaking close-up of them in his final moments
• Expy: Mike Logan, at least at first.
• Fair Cop/Estrogen Brigade Bait: And how, to the point where numerous people have reacted to his good looks, ranging from come-ons and compliments to sarcastic put-downs.
• Good Is Not Dumb: He's a charmer, looks like an angel, and has a ready smile for everyone, which has led to many, many suspects underestimating him because he tends to Confound Them With Kindness.
• Hidden Badass: At least every other episode he runs down, disarms and disables a suspect, usually while being amazingly polite.
• Killed Off for Real :
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: We learn he has a cat in the episode "Deals", and Ronnie is seen caring for it (and commiserating with it) in "Survivor's Guilt".
• Raised Catholic: Mentions having lit a candle for a murder victim, "Once a Catholic. . .", but in the episode "Confession", he states that he hasn't been in a confessional in over 20 years, and the events of that episode offer a pretty strong indication of why he's become disillusioned with his faith. . .
• Rape as Backstory: By proxy. In "Confession", we learn that two of his childhood friends were molested by their neighborhood priest, but it is left ambiguous as to whether Matt was a victim as well. He denies it throughout the episode, but at the end, admits that he's repressed things so much that he's genuinely uncertain as to what, if anything, happened to him.

DS Sam Casey

• Disappeared Dad: And is not looking for Ronnie to replace him.
• Expy: Mike Logan, temper-wise. There are hints of Ed Green as well.
• Fair Cop
• Good Cop, Bad Cop: Guess which one he is.
• Hot-Blooded: Sam's got a short fuse.
• Hot Dad
• Idiot Ball: Oh, Sam. You had to know that joking to a black suspect about what you have to do to get two weeks in Barbados would come back to bite you, right? No? Well how about sleeping with a perp posing as a "victim?'
• Kick the Dog: Subverted; he leads him outside by the leash.
• Perma-Stubble
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
  • Not quite. Despite some obvious similarities with his predecessor--young, good-looking, absent (and possibly abusive) father, there are some equally obvious differences--Matt's temper was generally limited to certain issues, whereas Sam appears to have a short fuse about everything. Matt also clearly cherished the surrogate father he had in Ronnie. Sam rebuffs such efforts--despite generally getting along, the two simply do not have the rapport that Matt and Ronnie did, though that could easily be chalked up to the short time that they've been paired, plus Ronnie's lingering grief.

DI Natalie Chandler

• Da Chief
• Expy: Anita Van Buren
• Iron Lady: Despite her obvious grief and anger, she waits until she's alone in her office with the blinds drawn to cry over Matt's death.
• Mama Bear: Is fiercely defensive of her subordinates, to the point where criticizing or harming them (Alesha's assault, Matt's death) is essentially a Berserk Button for her, even as them screwing up provokes a reaction much like that of a disappointed/angry parent.

Order

James Steel

• Awesome McCoolname / Names to Run Away From Really Fast
• Determinator: His reluctance to give a case up or use any means necessary to win is legendary, and actually comes back to bite him in the ass in his last episode: he gets arrested for perverting the course of justice after some evidence that would have exonerated a murder suspect six years previous was found to have gone missing. The same episode says that his conviction rate is ninety three percent.
• Expy: Benjamin Stone
  • And his penchant for bedding female colleagues is straight out of Jack McCoy's handbook.
• Hello, Attorney!
• Tranquil Fury
• What the Hell, Hero?? His "win at all costs" method of handling a case has led him to do some borderline reprehensible things, all of which tend to have the same theme:
  • In "Paradise" takes advantage of his friendship with another lawyer, jeopardizing the man's career, in order to garner necessary information. Upon finding out what he's done, the other lawyer gives him a blistering "The Reason You Suck" Speech and rebuffs James' attempts to make amends (one of the few times he was genuinely sorry for the problems that he'd caused), saying, "I don't want to be your collateral damage anymore".
  • In "Anonymous", humiliates Matt Devlin in court over an error made during the investigation, accusing him of being both dishonest and incompetent (despite knowing full well that he's neither), discrediting not only his testimony, but possibly his tenure as a detective. When Alesha blasts him for this, he dismisses it as "collateral damage".
  • "Skeletons". Similarly embarrasses an ex-lover over their past relationship and declares that her sole reason for testifying against him is to get back at him for dumping her. Alesha blasts him for this as well, asking if the woman's reputation was, of course, "collateral damage."

Jacob Thorne

• Casanova: Much like James Steel, he seems to have bedded or flirted with nearly half the female lawyers in London.
• Expy: Jack McCoy, even moreso than his predecessor
• Hello, Attorney!

Alesha Philips

• Berserk Button: Thanks to her experience, rape, as well as women who lie about it.
  • As seen in the episode "Alesha", she also serves as a Berserk Button for everyone in the group--infuriated by what's happened to her, they go all out to bring her rapist to justice. And note that James can barely stand to watch the video of her rape, while Matt can't bring himself to watch it at all.

Iron Lady DI Chandler: "I'd like to cut off his dick with a rusty hacksaw and ram it down his throat!"

• • She doesn't like sexist putdowns either, or people trying to play the race card to garner her sympathy for a cop killer--especially since said cop was her friend and died saving her life.
• Broken Bird: And how. Raped by her doctor, loses her friend/mentor before they get a chance to explore their feelings for each other, and another friend is killed saving her life before they can explore their feelings for each other. Unlike most examples of this trope, she appears to have come out of each tragedy stronger than before.
• Expy: An interesting case, as she appears to be an amalgam of several of the original's female characters rather than being based on one in particular--Dr. Olivet's rape, Claire Kincaid's inexperience (initially), etc. She even shows a few flashes of Paul Robinette (the abovementioned scene where she bristles at a defense lawyer's race-baiting).
• Hello, Attorney!
• Idiot Ball: In "Alesha", where she tries to entrap a doctor who touched her inappropriately and gets raped
  • Heroic Sacrifice: An Alternate Character Interpretation of the above. She essentially jumped on a grenade, knowing something bad would happen, in order to get justice for all of Merrick's other victims, and knowing he would never pay for her. Indeed, when Matt asks why she went back after he'd already assaulted her, she admits that she wasn't expecting him to rape her, but states, "Someone had to stop him. At least now we can lock the bastard up."
• Stoic Woobie: in the above mentioned episode when Matt tries to comfort her in the fallout she simply hands him a videotape of her assault and asks that he arrest her attacker please.
  • Despite flashes of anger and grief, she manages to keep it together during the investigation into Matt's death and the prosecution of his killer.
  • In the episode "Line Up", conducts a virtually flawless prosecution of a young girl's gang rape. Although she's clearly motivated by her own experience, she shows no signs of letting it adversely affect her.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With James and with Matt.

George Castle

• And Starring
• Badass Grandpa
• Da Chief
• December-December Romance: In the episode "Denial", it's strongly implied that he and the current victim had a relationship back in their younger days, and their present-day conversation indicates that the feelings are still there.
• Expy: Adam Schiff
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Bill Paterson once appeared in a mini-series called Criminal Justice as a policeman. For added irony, he called the Crown Prosecution Service "the Can't Prosecute Service"
• Papa Wolf: Much like DI Chandler, is fiercely protective of his underlings, yet doesn't tolerate mistakes from them.

Henry Sharpe

• And Starring: Occupies this spot now that Bill Patterson has left.
• Badass Grandpa
• Da Chief
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute