“'It is the bedrock of how you keep a society civilised.'”
Why it's great
It makes one legal idea sound like the floor a whole society stands on.
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Formal
Use it yourself
It is the bedrock of how you keep a team honest.
00:00 / 02:20
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Everyone Is Watching at the Party, Explained
National Theatre Live: Prima Facie · 2022
Chapter 5 of 22 · 2'20"
On the surface this is a drunken chambers party: prosecco, tequila, dancing, and a barrister bragging that he won a massive drug appeal. Underneath, the boast that he "manoeuvred his way around the rules" sits beside a speech about innocent until proven guilty, until a wandering hand is flicked away with "Hey, hey, everyone is watching!"
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:36–1:32
Getting Around the Grove Appeal
56s - 1:40–2:18
Everyone Is Watching, Then an Uber
38s
Everyone Is Watching at the Party, explained
What happens
Chambers colleagues drink too much prosecco and four tequila shots each. Jackets come off, they dance, and he boasts of a drug appeal, a hand on her waist. She answers with a defence speech, flicks his wandering hand, and calls out that everyone is watching. A big case tomorrow means staying primed. She will not go home with him. She peels him off, orders an Uber, and kisses Alice goodbye.
What's really going on
The party runs a creed and a flirtation in the same breath. Someone says, "We believe in the law. We believe in the system," and calls innocent until proven guilty "the bedrock of how you keep a society civilised." Prosecutors are told they are "fighting for jail time," while defence is "human rights" and "Your liberty, your life is in our hands." In the same stretch he boasts that he "manoeuvred his way around the rules" on the Grove appeal, right after calling the win "bloody incredible." The hands do not follow the lecture. A wandering hand is flicked away, and the next line is "Hey, hey, everyone is watching!" a stop called in front of the others. Alice gives a look and an eye roll. She already knows there is no going home together, because a big case tomorrow means staying primed. He is peeled off, an Uber is ordered, and the goodbye kiss goes to Alice.
Key lines & what they mean
- “'It is the bedrock of how you keep a society civilised.'”
- It answers the line before it: innocent until proven guilty is not just a catchphrase, but the base that keeps a society civilised.
- “'You, you are fighting for jail time!”
- Aimed at prosecutors in the party argument: they say they fight for justice, but this line says what they are really fighting for is prison time.
- “'The right to innocence unless there is reasonable doubt.'”
- In the speech this is the right being claimed: a person stays innocent unless there is reasonable doubt.
- “'Hey, hey, everyone is watching!'”
- Shouted as a wandering hand is flicked away. It is a public order to stop, said in front of the others.
- “'Those... Those who do not pre-judge you, who trust the system, that is us.'”
- Defence is cast as the people who do not judge you first and who trust the system, set against the prosecutors just accused of wanting jail.
- “'It's our job to find holes in the case, keep the police honest, protect society.'”
- The speech sums up the defence job: find the weak points in a case, keep the police honest, and call that protecting society.
Theme
- Justice — The speech calls innocent until proven guilty the bedrock of a civilised society, in the same room as a boast about getting around the rules on an appeal.
- Pride — A won drug appeal is called bloody incredible, and the room is told to want the best of the best, a price shouted at the top.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
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Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“'You, you are fighting for jail time!”
Why it's great
It keeps the verb and swaps justice for prison, jabbing you twice.
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Informal
Use it yourself
You are fighting for a fine, not for a fix.
“'The right to innocence unless there is reasonable doubt.'”
Why it's great
It grants a right and cuts it in the same breath with unless.
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Formal
Use it yourself
Students have a right to explain unless the proof is already clear.
“'Hey, hey, everyone is watching!'”
Why it's great
It turns the crowd into a reason that hand has to stop.
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Informal
Use it yourself
Hey, everyone is watching the door, so wrap up the toast.
“'Those... Those who do not pre-judge you, who trust the system, that is us.'”
Why it's great
It stumbles, then draws a circle around who gets to count as us.
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Formal
Use it yourself
Those who finish the notes, that is us.
“'It's our job to find holes in the case, keep the police honest, protect society.'”
Why it's great
Three beats turn poking holes into a duty, then into protecting society.
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Formal
Use it yourself
It's our job to check the numbers, keep the client honest, and protect the firm.
Up next · 06ethical tightropeThe scene: Sophie Walks the TightropePeople also search
Questions, then the linesWhy bring up the Grove appeal?
A massive drug appeal is being told as a win just scored, and that win is called bloody incredible. The Grove appeal is the one where he manoeuvred his way around the rules. It is a boast about how the win was got.
Why is "everyone is watching" a call to stop, not a remark that people are watching the dancing?
A wandering hand has just been flicked away. The line that meets it is "Hey, hey, everyone is watching!" It is a stop called in front of the others, not a pleased note that the room is watching the dancing.
Why does bloody incredible land on the drug appeal?
The win is still being told when bloody incredible is added, loud and pleased. It cheers the appeal as amazingly good. It is a British swear of admiration, not a description of blood.
Does "the best of the best" include the smartest, most agile minds?
No. "You want the best of the best, yeah?" only stacks the boast to the top. "You want the smartest, you want the most agile minds" is the following line, not part of that phrase.
Why say that Adam never comes out?
Colleagues from chambers are being named, Alice and Julian among them, and Adam is crossed off with "Oh, he never comes out." He never shows up to these nights.