Hanlon - In Defence of Minnie Dean

In the series, we show Hanlon’s human side. He’s not only a great orator in court, he’s also a bit of a bastard.

– Lex Van Os (Producer), NZ Listener, 20 July 1985

I liked the ironic despair with which it invested a lot of the protagonist’s triumphs. I liked also the other irony — that the plots would have had only 60% of their impact if they had been set in a society without death row.

– Review by David Hill, NZ Listener, 21 Sept 1985

I wanted to look at some of the social issues that were around then and still crop up now — racial prejudice, de facto relationships, and, dare I say it, we touch on homosexuality. I just wonder if that episode will go to air when they are doing the vote.

– Lex Van Os (Producer), NZ Listener, 20 July 1985