| Based On: | play The Dock Brief by John Mortimer |
| Director: | Raymond Menmuir |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes[1] or 50 minutes.[2] |
| Company: | ABC |
| Network: | ABC |
| Released: | (Sydney) |
| Released2: | (Melbourne)[3] |
The Dock Brief is a 1960 Australian TV play directed by Ray Menmuir and starring Reg Lye and Moray Powell. It was based on the play by John Mortimer.[4]
The barrister Morgenall is given a brief to defend a bird seed seller, Fowle, accused of murdering his wife.
The play was made in Sydney under the direction of Ray Menmuir. A radio version of the play had been performed in Australia the previous year.[5]
Menmuir said "as first seen the characters are quite comical but as the play progresses we begin to laugh with them rather than at them."[6]
Douglas Smith designed the set which consisted of two areas: the prison cell and the imaginary courtroom. Special effects were used to create a "courtroom of the imagination" for a later scene.[7]
The Sydney Morning Herald called it "beautifully acted" praising Menmuir's "admirably deft and very imaginative production."[8]