The T'ang dynasty of 7th century China was the unlikely setting for this unusual detective series which only survived for 6 of its planned 7 x 60 minute episodes. Michael Goodliffe starred in the title role as a travelling judge, jury and sometime private detective assisted by Garfield Morgan, Norman Scace, Arne Gordon and three wives. The series was produced by Howard Baker and scripted by John Wiles from the original historically-based stories by Robert Van Gulik.

A reference to this series in the UK Radio Times back in 1969 said: "Thanks to the resolutely British casting — Michael Goodliffe as the judge for example — this short lived drama series was unintentionally hilarious".

In één van de afleveringen speelde Timothy Dalton een gastrol.

At the same time, observes PNS editor Andrew Lam, ordinary Indonesians are strongly drawn to Chinese culture, old and new. The popularity of a new Hong Kong-produced TV soap opera, based on the millennium-old tales of Judge Dee, is a case in point.