The Professionals Episode Reviews – DVD set one


Linda:
Let me get this out of the way: they both drink and Doyle drinks as part of the job. Does that count for drinking?

Female Factor is the first episode that really seems like 'Pros' to me. By that I mean that both Martin and Lewis seem to be comfortable in their roles, the banter seems natural and film quality/cars don't seem as dated.

I like this ep even though on watching it to do this review I realized that the plot relies on too many logic jumps for realism. Who cares? Not me.

There is so much to love about this ep. The lads in formalwear of course, the banter in the car before going to the club, limp Doyle, action man Bodie saving him. It's like a buffet! Did I mention they look great all scruffy and unshaven? Woof!

I can't say there are any parts I don't like. The cliché 'anything for a fix' is annoying given the health and mental sharpness of the girl, but that's quibbling. And Carol's right, there is somewhat of an interesting mystery of how Ann (?) became a hooker. I see her as having made a bad relationship choice, getting pregnant, the guy leaving her and then finding herself with alone with no jobs skills and a baby. So being fond of the nicer things she gives away the baby and start her new career.

The bad guys are so far from my idea of dangerous that I wonder what the heck central casting was thinking. It's a surprise whatshisname didn't drop dead of a heart attack before Bodie shot him not to mention what sound like dubbing of his voice. Hmmmm.

It's not my fav ep, but it's on the very good list.

Debs:
Yer I love Female Factor as well. Must admit a soft spot for the boys all scruffy and unshaven and I'd love to know what Bodie's date whispered in his ear because I just love the cheeky smile, very cute!

Yet poor Anne, the nice things in life don't make up for a shitty lifestyle like that I don't think that running off just dressed in heels and a mink is too smart a choice either.

The bad guys should have been shot just on principal alone with those clothes choices, what the hell where they thinking????

Also love the graveside banter when Bodie tells Doyle he can tell the girls he got his would doing something "really" dangerous - how typical of him, making jokes of the seriousness of it all.

Defiantly up there among my fav eps.

Jo:
And it is Female Factor time! Yay. And more importantly, I have found time to watch and review. What else would I be doing on a Wednesday night?

and wow, it feels like ages since I did one of these reviews.

We open on a typically sleazy politician talking on the phone to someone called George. Is this meant to be Cowley? It is clear that he is meant to be high up, as he talks about not being PM 'yet' and having meetings with the PM. He tells his driver he will drive himself back to London. The seasoned TV watcher will immediately be on the alert for Something Dreadful to happen. And so it proves. He passes a Comically Dressed Baddie, and then a young girl throws herself under the wheels of his car. The Comically Dressed Baddie harangues him, and then smiles smugly when the politician fusses over the girl as she plays at being injured. And so the scene is set.

He takes her home (wonder if my local MP would do that for me if he ran me over?), and she invites him in. Mr Sleaze (Charles Milvern) doesn't take much persuading. Isn't it a sad reflection of politics today that I don't find this surprising.

Later, the Comically Dressed Baddie clears up as Anne arrives in her fur coat whinging about her night's work. She sees the picture of young Sarah, panics and bolts without dressing as soon as the guy leaves the room. Quite what she expects to achieve this way is beyond me. It would have been far more sensible to sneak out casually some other time, preferably when at a time when the alarm wouldn't have been raised. Other than that, the scene is set quite well, as we get to know some major players, how they work, and what is being set up. The Bad Guys give chase as she dashes to an apartment block asking for Ray Doyle. Duh-duh-duh ...

We learn that Doyle moved away three years ago, to Chelsea. Very exclusive, and always nice to get these rare snippets of background information.

Cut from Anne being murdered to Bodie dancing with the Girl of the Week and Doyle playing backgammon (?) with his own Girl of the Week. Both in disheveled finery. They have clearly been partying all night, but haven't made it to bed yet. This is a wonderful scene, worth the entry price alone. Ignore the girls, they are just window dressing. Watch the lads. The characterisation is great, especially Doyle talking himself out of and then into answering the phone, and Bodie keeping half an eye on him as he answers it, even while playing with his girlfriend. Never off duty. Three cheers for that ex-neighbour of Doyle's, sensible chap raising the alarm like that. And setting the whole thing off. Doyle frets. Bodie gets rid of the girls and with resignation agrees to go check it out. He knows he will get no peace otherwise: Doyle will fret and fret until he knows what is going on. He is one of life's worriers.

Love Bodie's reaction to the Drug's Squad reference. Could it be that our Ray talks about this quite often? That Doyle's acquaintance with Anne was three years plus ago is reinforced.

Unshaven lads in dishevile (sp?) Yum. Another lovely scene as they search for Anne along the river.

Anne's body is found. Ray is clearly taking it very personally, worrying over the details. Bodie knows that there is no getting out of this now. Fantastic conversation in the car, great stuff. Serious yet light hearted - I like how Bodie manages to cheer Doyle up even while working on the problem. 'What a full and formative life you had, eh. Pimps and high class hookers.' The Lads are playing off each other at their best. 'See, I was enjoying myself while you were in the army.' Hahaha.

I love Doyle breaking into Anne's house. And Bodie's reaction.

Back to Sarah and the Comically Dressed Baddie, who surely must have a name if only I had caught it earlier. And we meet the Big Boss, who Sarah calls Uncle Sam. The CDB told Anne he had only met Sarah a month earlier - he pulled a very fast job to get her so dependent so quickly.

Cowley is Not Happy about being called in by the local police. I love him sticking up for the lads to the cops, then chewing them out in private. Doyle sticks up for himself quite ably, and Bodie backs him up. And then Cowley changes his tune on seeing the PMs phone number, which Charlie had quite inexplicably scribbled on a notepad while he was there. I love this 'small print' in CI5's authority that gets hauled out on occasions like this. Works every time - they never actually have to show it to anyone.

Cowley gives the Lads whiskey. That's the drinking for today's ep. Doyle is very vehement about what a good person Anne was, upset over her death. It is a nice touch to his personality. He cares - too much at times.

'Charlie' visits Sarah again, and the trap is sprung. Poor Charlie, hoist by his own petard. And we see Sarah snorting cocaine – very gritty for 70s TV.

More lads riffing off each other as they continue the investigation. Doyle seems to be getting a real kick out of being back to police work, teaching Bodie how it works - he is on his own turf here, and no mistake. Paula the hooker is great. 'She (Anne) took a jump into the Thames and did deep-breathing exercises.' And Bodie's oh-so casual one-handed fight is also great. He enjoys that.

Love how Doyle gets money off Bodie for the pay phone. And dear hooker Joanna (not me!) who pops up as Agent Susan later. Great stuff. And Doyle playing drunk. Wences the pimp is nicked, and poor Charlie is a broken man. Sold to the Russians. Ah, the Cold War - ever a source of storylines. And that is Roger Lloyd Pack (Ramos from Long Shot) dubbing the voice over the Russian.

Sarah really is a spoilt brat demanding her stuff. But at last the CDB has a name. Simon. That is my brother's name - why couldn't I remember that?

And ooh, there's Betty. Thorough as ever, she unearths the connection - Sarah is Anne's daughter. Love Cowley calling Wences Anne's 'technical adviser'.

The net is closing in on the bad guys, and young Sarah proves the weakest link, as she overhears Simon getting killed (rather noisily and messily by the wooden and heavy Russian, Turkov) and makes a run for it.

Wences meanwhile has spilled the beans on Simon and the badger job Sarah was being used for. Who will find her first ...?

And so we reach the climax, with everyone closing in on the increasingly desperate Sarah. Doyle appears to be wearing bright red trainers. Odd. Fetching, but odd. The Lads work the stairs like the Professionals they are and then split up as Doyle kills Sam. Sarah's white dress is most unsuitable for running in, and she just has no redeeming features at all. Can't even hide quietly and properly. Doyle saves her from Turkov but gets shot himself in the leg, managing to snap off what should have been a killing shot as he falls, if Turkov wasn't so oddly indestructible. Bodie finishes the job with not a drop of blood spilled. I thought I could see some on Doyle but no, it was the red trainers. He acts pain well, though and, Professional as ever, sends Bodie to check on the girl first. A worried Bodie then snaps angrily at Cowley when he arrives. Then we get a close up on Doyle and yes, there is blood on his hands as he clasps his injured leg. Ah, realism.

Cowley forces Charlie to resign from government. If only Real Life sleazy politicians could be got rid of so easy.

And Bodie takes Doyle (on crutches) to Anne's grave. Nice touch, and very fitting to both personalities - Doyle that he would want to go, and Bodie that he would take him. I liked Doyle's outfit in that final scene, and also Bodie trying to talk him into using the sticks to pull birds. Imagine the scenes in the pub, if Doyle could be talked out of his morose mood and into going, of Bodie inventing wilder and wilder stories to impress girls, and Doyle going along with it ...

Overall: I liked it. The story made sense, and the Lads were fantastic, working together and bouncing off each other exactly as they should.

Karen:
This is one of the ones I remember really clearly from original transmission - another one is Killer With a Long Arm because I always remember Bodie bawling out Doyle at the end for not firing from the door (or whatever it is he says).

I love the scene with the girls because they are so totally surplus to requirements ... what are best mates for but to dump the girlfriend and go off into the sunrise with each other!

I love it when Bodie goes "Now look, Ray" cos you always know he is going to cave
right in and do what Doyle wants him to. Big softy!

Naomi:
This has bugged me too but I finally came up with a semi-rationalisation for it. She gets home and, shortly after, Wences arrives. He immediately recognises the photo of Sarah. Presumably Anne has, at some time in the past, shared the secret of her daughter's existence with him? If so, and she's aware he's due at the house, then she would need to leg it fairly quickly, knowing that Wences will spill the beans to CDB. If she stuck around, she couldn't possibly pretend nothing had happened and would certainly be in danger because they'd know they could never trust her after what they'd done to her daughter.

It's stretching it a little, perhaps, and does depend on her expecting Wences to turn up when he does. If it were me though, I'd still have taken a moment to grab some clothes, distraught or not!

Karen:
Simon (was it Simon) told her Wences was arriving and she could talk to him herself - and Wences seems to recognise the daughter ... which ties up why she does a runner. What I never understand is why the ex-neighbour of Doyle's doesn't ask her into the hallway of the flats at least. That's the bit which never made sense to me.

Sue:
Coming late to this topic. Jo, I love your reviews, they're great! Only problem is, I can never think of anything else to add to them, they're so complete :)

I love FF though and if it were possible to wear out a DVD, then Carol's would be worn out at the point where Doyle breaks into Ann's flat. We always have to watch that at least three times. I love the way he just seems to stroll up to the window ledge - mmmmm, lovely!

It's also one of those episodes I remember very clearly from first time around.

Jo:
am I talking too much? *g*

I love the break-in. Such a class moment, and so casually done. As though kicking in someone's window and breaking into their house is nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, it is the best way to do it - people so rarely disturb someone who looks like they are meant to be doing what they are doing, no matter how odd it may be. *g*

Birgit:
The scene that has worn out the slo-mo button on *my* remote control (old h/c junkie wot I am) is of course Cowley kneeling down to support poor aching Doyle (who does *almost* stoic so convincingly), all worried and fatherly, not at all like the ruthless bastard he usually appears to be (also quite convincingly). Nice touch, that, and together with Bodie's rather frantic remark, it adds depth to the relationship between the three of them.

Jo:
ah, that scene where Cowley comes *this* close to spoiling his carefully cultivated image. Or rather, does ruin his carefully cultivated image. He has other moments like this, like lying in wait to cover the lads after setting them up in ... what's that episode
again?

He generally manages to appear totally ruthless even toward his men, but can't always carry it off.

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