One of the absolute stone-cold classics of early 2000 AD, The Day The Law Died set the template for all later Dredd epics: corruption within the Judges! Dredd on the run! A ludicrously OTT villain! Political intrigue! Alien mercenaries! Obviously not all of that would work on the screen, but the dodgy Judges in Dredd could easily lead to the crazy rise of Chief Judge Cal. Inspired by the equally insane Roman emperor Caligula, Judge Cal was a character unlike any other Dredd had faced up until that point: one who was not only on his side, but was his superior. His ascension to the top of the Grand Hall of Justice happened in the background of other serials, which would be your first act: Dredd and Anderson doing their usual business around Mega-City One, rounding up perps and the like. Then things start going off the rails, as Cal tries to frame Dredd for all sorts of crazy stuff, perhaps leading Anderson to try and figure out what's going on, and clear Dredd's name. Then they're all freed up for the finale, where the increasingly erratic Cal is running the city under an iron fist - at one point in the comics he bans any items that could bring any member of the populace happiness, along with building a big wall with gun turrets to stop anyone leaving - and has the Judges under his command, leaving it to common crim Fergee (note: please don't cast Fergie in this role) to pull the trigger. Maybe one of the crims that gets away in that opening montage, bringing it all full circle? Lovely. Or not so lovely, as Dredd and Anderson take Fergee in for both the earlier crimes and the murder of the Chief Judge. The ironing is delicious. And isn't that what Dredd's all about? I mean, that and the Snuff Box theme tune.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
