Bungay (Mark Mitchinson) is a defense attorney in New Zealand who refuses to conform to the norms of society. He drinks too much, makes too much noise and wears old brown shoes to court. He also fools around on the women he's involved with and makes life difficult for his partners. But the fact is he's a good lawyer in court.
Oddly enough he almost never stepped foot in a court room. Just out of the service and trying to support his wife and child he decides to go back to school. Standing in line trying to decide what to instruction to take he flipped a coin with one side accountancy and the other law. To the chagrin of many judges later on the law won.
While his record as a lawyer is covered here in the series it doesn't skyrocket until he takes on the case of William Sutch who was accused of espionage in 1975. That case shot Bungay's standing through the roof and soon he is defending more criminals than he knows how to handle. Eventually he was a lawyer in over 100 cases for murder.
That's Bungay's life in court. When not there he is show spending far too much time in a nearby bar where he drinks in excess and usually heads home late and plastered. This never seems to endear him to the women in his life. The fact that he not only drinks too much at the bar but hits on nearly every woman who enters doesn't help matters much.
The series takes us through both sides of the man and shows him at his best and his worst. It also provides a glimpse into why he behaved the way he did though not near enough time is spent on that part of his life. While those we would describe as "characters" might offer and entertaining look at a person in this series he comes off as a sad man who let his demons get the better of him."
The titles comes from an incident in his life where he defended Karori murderer Alf Benning. After being convicted Benning sends a letter to Bungay that wished him a "long, lingering and very painful death". Bungay's reply was simply "Dear Murderer, My friends and I are heading out to the beach shortly to enjoy a leisurely picnic. What are you doing?" In return for the letter he sent he was reprimanded by the courts and nearly lost his license to practice.
Mitchinson plays the role with over the top bravado bringing life to a man who could have been seen as a man dealing with past demons looking for sympathy or a complete buffoon who happened to luck out most of the time. Instead he presents us with a man who loved life and all of its excesses to the fullest but who had a keen mind when it came to the law. It's not an easy task to pull off but he does a remarkable job of it.
Once again we have the opportunity via DVD to experience TV from another country, to get a glimpse at what others are watching around the world. Acorn Media has again offered a show of high quality and deep interest that will have you watching to see what happens next. If you enjoy shows with this type of storytelling I highly recommend this one.
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