One of the most interesting things about Defending the Guilty is that it upholds the perfectly accurate stereotypical view that barristers are middle-class, rather posh and believe themselves to be infinitely superior not only to their clients but also to everybody else on earth who isn't a barrister or a member of the Royal family.
Believe it or not, barristers are actually trained to believe themselves superior to everybody else.
Another of the most interesting things about the series is that it dispels the entirely inaccurate stereotypical view that barristers are necessarily good at their job.
Believe it or not, some barristers are absolutely shite at their job and, if you ever find yourself in need of a barrister, you would do very well indeed to remember that fact when choosing one.
An anecdote based upon the widespread perception of barristers as pillars of respectability tells of the occasion I was having lunch with a friend of mine who happens to be a barrister in Manchester. He was paying but, when the bill arrived, he had his cheque book in his pocket but no cheque guarantee card because he'd left his wallet in his office.
(A cheque book? You can tell how long ago this incident took place!)
I offered to pay, of course, but he wouldn't hear of it.
The manager was called over to the table and the waitress explained the situation.
My friend explained that he was a barrister from a nearby set of chambers and asked the manager if he would be prepared to accept a cheque without a guarantee card.
Given that he looked pretty much like a barrister and spoke pretty much like a barrister, the manager decided that he probably was a barrister and therefore not the sort of person who goes around issuing dud cheques for not-overly-expensive lunches. Accordingly, the manager said he was happy to accept the cheque.
The establishment at which we were dining was "Henry's Café Bar", the first-ever café bar to open in Manchester and a Mecca for yuppies and celebrities from the mid-1980s until 2007 when it closed.
My friend opened his cheque book and the manager asked him to make the cheque out to "Henry's Café Bar" at which point my friend paused for a moment before asking "How do you spell 'Henry'?"
The manager and the waitress looked at each other for a moment as each immediately began doubting that my friend had in fact ever been to school, much less qualified as a barrister.
Reading their minds, my friend added: "I mean is it the English version or the French?"
The manager smiled happily as he realised that the forthcoming cheque was probably not as bouncy as he'd thought it might be only a couple of seconds earlier.
I think that's a very funny story but perhaps you had to be there? 
