Since Merlin Mann just posted a video of a sketch from one of the Secret Policeman’s Balls, I figured it was high time I introduced the world to two of my favourite sketches from the series.
This first one is Peter Cook’s magnificent Biased Judge sketch. I first heard this when I was studying law at Ludlow College, and it stuck with me ever since. At one point I had planned to perform it in class as part of a ‘last lesson before Christmas break’ thing we’d planned for the day, but the whole plan ended up getting scrapped.
This video is a slightly different rendition than the one I’d heard on the LP of the best performances of the show, and I can’t help but feel the copy I had was a better and more nuanced performance. Even with that reservation however, it’s a fantastic piece of satire. There’s another version on YouTube which includes background information on the Thorpe Affair, which was the inspiration for this sketch.
