Reviewed Jan 2005

Jo said: By special request…

Hallelujah. We have reached DVD set 2. I won't go into details on how long the first set took, because that would be depressing. Suffice it to say that we are well on course for my estimated completion date of 2010. How exciting.

Hunter Hunted is just so much fun.

We open in a semi-constructed warehouse type place, with some chappy scooting around high in the rafters, and soldierly types scouting around below. A gunman takes aim with a laser sight, which of course is instantly recognisable today. How unusual would it have been in 1978? The gunman turns out to be Cowley. He takes careful aim…right in the huntee's eyes. With this red light shining in his eyes, the huntee screams, topples off his lofty perch, and lands in a handily positioned pool of water, whereupon all the concealed solders start yelling and rush him in boyish high spirits.

Me, I'm a little concerned about the laser light in the eyes. Did they not know that was a good way to blind someone?

Hoo. Bodie and Doyle, nice and early in the episode. Clear evidence that this will be a good'un. Cowley lectures them on the joys of laser locked sights, and hands the rifle to Doyle with the terse instruction "try it."

Doyle does not need a second invitation. He massacres many innocent cardboard targets, and has great fun so doing. Bodie rolls his eyes. Cowley looks highly pleased.
Cowley: Ah, very impressive.
Doyle: Couldn't miss.
Bodie: Nobody could.
Doyle: Thanks.
Bodie: Well, not with a thing like that.
Doyle: Friend.
Bodie (after their retreating backs): Well don't I get a go?
Apparently not, hehe.
Cowley: It's not a toy, Bodie.
Look at Doyle's face at that, smug and grinning happily. So much fun.

They make their way away, past the soldiers and the dripping 'victim', none of whom serve much of a useful purpose, other than to introduce us to the super-gun.
Cowley (in passing, to the dripping 'victim'): Seems to have been raining.
Heh. The Cow has a sense of humour after all.

Roll credits. And already this episode is hitting all the right notes. Fantastic.

Cowley, Bodie and Doyle continue to wander through this isolated 'training' spot of theirs, past more soldierly types busily engaged in random fisticuffs, which they ignore completely. It is amusing.

They all continue to extol the virtues of the super-gun, and wax lyrical about how lethal it is. Clearly a Clue that this gun is going to play a major role in the episode.
Cowley: You like it?
Doyle: Like?
Bodie: It's lethal.
Cowley: Guns are.

A Random Female is standing around doing nothing in a quieter area of the training site, being monitored from above by Ruth Pettifer. They pass her without acknowledgement or comment, except for Doyle, who pauses and exchanges a long look with her before continuing in the wake of the other two.

Up in the room occupied by Ruth, Bodie peers out of the window for another look.
Bodie: Nice.
Doyle: Right. Not your type at all.
Cowley: If you've quiet finished.
Bodie: Just a healthy interest, sir.
Doyle: Natural obsession, that's all.

Doyle tries to ask about the Random Female, guessing that she's having her first interview, but Cowley is not biting. And why on earth would a venue like this be picked for an interview of any kind? Training, now – I can see the value of the venue for training. But not for interviewing potential squad members who look like prim little secretaries.

Cowley: As of now, you're both suspended from other duties. Take this gun and test it. I want to know every advantage and every weakness. I want to know exactly how useful it could be to us, and exactly how dangerous it could be if used against us.
Doyle: That I wouldn't fancy.
Cowley: In that case you'll look after it, won't you Doyle.

Ah. Foreshadowing.

Cowley: Guard it, Doyle. Guard it with your life. In the wrong hands that gun could create an instant disaster area anywhere.
Doyle: Thank you, sir.
Cowley leaves the office, and Bodie promptly starts to tease his disconcerted partner.
Bodie (taking the gun from him): Guard it, Doyle. Guard it with your life. In the wrong hands this could create an instant disaster area.
He promptly aims out of the window at Cowley, who is now talking to Random Female, having got back downstairs remarkably quickly for a man with a gammy leg.

The door opens. Both lads whirl around with wonderful reflexes, Bodie automatically aiming the rifle. The laser sight comes to rest over Ruth's breasts. She rolls her eyes in exasperation.
Ruth: Hadn't you boys better go and do whatever it is you're supposed to be doing?
Gotta love Ruth.

The Lads head for their car. And, just so you know, I suspect I will be quoting a lot of dialogue in this episode, because it is all fabulous. The Lad's interactions with each other, and everyone else, are marvellous. They really are settled into their roles now.

Bodie: Oh dear, I thought you'd got rid of that geriatric.
Doyle: Are you talking about my car?
Bodie: Yeah, well, I think that's what it is, yeah.

Ah. The short-lived Jag E-type. At least, that's what Dave's site says it is. Me, I'm no car expert.

Doyle: That's a classic, that is.
Bodie: I know. Classics are old.
Doyle: Well, you'd better get in the back then, hadn't you.
Bodie: Why do I want to get in the back for?
Doyle: Look after the gun. And leave room for Miss Mason in the front.

Ah. Random Female has a name. Miss Mason. And we have evidence that Doyle knows her.

Bodie: How d'you know she wants to get in?
Doyle: Cowley's car. My car. No car for Miss Mason.

So how did she get there? How did Ruth get there? (Well, with Cowley, presumably.) And what about all those soldierly types? Are they camping out there, or something?

Doyle: Ergo.
Bodie: Ergo what?
Doyle: The train service around here is 'orrible.

Cowley finishes with Miss Mason, bids her farewell, and then instructs Ruth to organise a full screening for her. Miss Mason heads out – straight to where Doyle and Bodie are waiting? Are she and Doyle psychic, or do they both just like to presume? Doyle promptly jumps out of the car to give her a hand down and hold the door open for her. Bodie's face is a picture, rolling his eyes resignedly.

Doyle: That's Bodie. We're giving him a lift.
Bodie: Oh, only if you're going my way.

Doyle (to Miss Mason): Tea?
Bodie: Fine by me. (to Miss Mason) How 'bout you?

Off they go, and another posh car promptly screeches out of its parking spot to follow.

Bodie: Have you two met before, by any chance, or am I being obvious?

Hehe. Turns out Doyle and Miss Mason – Kathie – knew each other a few years ago at the Yard.
Bodie: Why d'you want a transfer then?
Doyle: To be near me!
Kathie (laughing): Hardly. I thought it might be a good way to work off my paranoia.
Bodie (fluttering his eyelashes): Oh yes. What's that?
Doyle: An expensive way of hating somebody.
Bodie: I know a few cheap ways. We got a problem?

Just like that, they switch from easy-going joking around to still easy-going alertness. Doyle has spotted the Porsche following, and the chase is on.
The Lads continue to banter even while checking the other car out.
Bodie (re the rifle): Shall we give him a quick blast?
Doyle: Yeah, slice him in two. That'd give him a surprise.
LOL

Some nifty driving follows. Doyle has great fun. And off goes the Porsche, no longer playing.
Bodie: Yay! I always wanted to be a racing driver.
Doyle: Shame to spoil his fun.
Kathie: Are you two always like this.
Doyle (grinning): Yeah.
Bodie (prim): Certainly not! We sometimes imagine people are following us, don't we.

They settle on Doyle's place for tea. Bodie ruffles Doyle's hair in playful amusement. It is so, so much fun, this scene. So, so much fun. Hence the overlong description of it. <G>

They reach Doyle's flat. Hey, I've been there! Only, not inside, obviously. I've hung around the outside and been ridiculously excited about it, though.

They are photographed taking the gun out of the car and going in, still laughing and joking.

It seems Doyle is doing all the testing of the gun. Bodie has to just stand there and watch. But we later see him in similar overalls to Doyle's, so maybe he did have a go, but off-screen.
Why do they have to wear blue overalls to test the gun?
Then the two of them return to Doyle's flat, which we see a lot of in this episode. Doyle looks fantastic with his overalls half stripped off, dangling down like that, all skinny and lithe…
Bodie just helps himself to a drink. It is funny. They both check that the gun is securely locked away.

Bodie: I could do with a shower.
Doyle: Try walking downwind.
Heh.

Again, this is a really nice scene. Everything about it just feels so natural and relaxed, from the conversation, to the tiny details like Bodie making himself completely at home in Doyle's flat.

Bodie leaves, and the Porsche watches him go.

Then comes the only part of this episode I really can't stand – the girl singing in the pub. Bodie and Doyle are out on a double date, Doyle with Kathie and Bodie with the actress who went on to play Yvette in 'Allo 'Allo, Vicki Michelle. If I went to a pub offering this raucous kind of live entertainment, I'd walk back out again, but maybe that is just me. Doyle and Kathie seem to enjoy it, even singing along. Except for Bodie's date, that is, who is managing to fall asleep in spite of the racket. So much for Bodie's famous charm, hehe. Bodie is not enjoying his evening, and heads for the bar, leaving Doyle and Kathie to talk.
Doyle: Cowley doesn't like his people getting too involved.
Kathie: We never were.
Doyle: We could have been.
Kathie: I was otherwise engaged.
Doyle: And now?
Kathie: Unexpectedly available, for weddings and bar mitzvahs.

At the bar, Bodie manages to chat up the appallingly dressed singer, while Doyle tries to persuade Kathie to have a fling in the few days they have left before she joins the squad, assuming she gets through the interview process, and they make a move.
Doyle (re Bodie's date): I think she wants to go home to bed.
Bodie: I should be so lucky.
Doyle (to the singer, re Bodie's date): Listen. That's his sister back there. Don't let him tell you otherwise.
Bodie: Friend.

Haha. This is how they should always be, snarking away at each other like this. It is fantastic to watch.

Doyle looks fantastic, in the flimsy white shirt with black jacket and trousers. Fantastic. He waxes nostalgic about the old days, when this was his patch. Kathie promptly reveals how much she knows about him – it is her who mentions his old DS, Maurice Richards, and that he now keeps a pub nearby. Another Clue, for those looking out for such things, although she claims her knowledge is purely research along the lines of wanting to join CI5. I wouldn't have thought wanting to join CI5 would involve researching the background of everyone already on it and everyone they ever knew, but Doyle is not currently thinking with his brain and so lets it pass. The Porsche follows them again, but this time they don't notice.

They go to Maurice Richards' pub, where he greets Doyle as an old friend, and remembers Kathie when Doyle reminds him. They stay till closing, and Maurice notices the Porsche following them away. Back to Kathie's apartment, which is very posh. Rich boyfriend, she tells him. He still doesn't twig that anything could be amiss, and she leads him in.

Next morning, a very chirpy Doyle heads back to the car, dressed in yesterday's very nice outfit again, looking all mussed and unshaven. It looks good on him. As he gets into his car, a telltale red dot appears on the side of it: it seems he is going to experience the laser-sighted rifle in enemy hands after all. It doesn't fire, however, instead sighting up at the apartment where Kathie is watching him leave.

Doyle drives off, and we won't discuss the continuity problems with his clothes. He almost instantly realises there is something seriously wrong with his lovely classic car – both steering and brakes are defunct. He struggles with it, going faster and faster, before eventually crashing into a wall. He sits, dazed, for a moment, before recollecting his sense, leaping out of the car, and making a run for it. The car explodes, the blast taking him clean off his feet. Excellent stunt work.

Ach, the poor car.

Bodie: Can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?
Doyle is all indignation.
Doyle: Somebody just tried to kill me.
Bodie: Oh?
Doyle: Yeah.
Bodie: I thought they hated the car.
Doyle: Who?
Bodie: Well don't you know?
Doyle: How should I know?
Bodie: Tut tut. You've got that many enemies, have you?
Doyle (interrupting): I mean, if we were on a case –
Bodie: Which we're not.
Doyle: Then why?
Bodie: Jealous lover?
Doyle: Oh no, no, no. Married birds, not my scene.
Bodie: I see. How'd you get on last night?
Doyle says nothing and gets into Bodie's car.
Bodie: Well don't ask me, will you, eh. (he bends to look into the car at Doyle) How I got on last night.
Doyle (getting back out of the car): How did you get on last night?
Bodie: Don't ask.

Heh.
I really love the whole of this scene. It is perfect. Doyle is all prickly and defensive, while Bodie, on the surface at least, is calm and relaxed, almost playful, but underneath that is straight into 'sort this out' mode, questioning and trying to find Clues to what is going on.

They arrive back at Doyle's place. Bodie is straight into playful-protector mode, making a game out of taking precautions, but taking them nonetheless, despite Doyle's groaning at all the fuss. It is fun.

Inside, all playfulness is instantly gone. Because so is the rifle.
Bodie: You're in trouble, mate. Big trouble.

Cowley rants and raves, and is generally furious. Doyle, now changed into more casual but still great looking clothes, is still prickly and defensive, taking the rant but standing up for himself, while Bodie is at his back, quietly supportive. Got to love the partnership in this ep.
Cowley: I want that gun back; I don't care what you have to do to get it. And if you could avoid getting yourselves killed I'd be grateful.
Doyle: So would we.
Cowley: Replacements can be very expensive.

Forensics Guy: Keep out of my light and don't breathe on a thing.
Heh.
The funny little forensics guy gives them the rundown on what he's learned from Doyle's car. It was sabotaged in numerous ways, but not designed to kill, not really. It is curious.
Forensics Guy: I'm just a scientist. I leave ideas to geniuses like you two.
Doyle: Thanks.
Lovely, snappy dialogue throughout this eppy. It is great.

The other forensics guy checking out Doyle's place is no help, either.
Forensics Guy#2: If you'd lifted it yourself there'd have been more.
What? Suggesting that Doyle would be a less than professional burglar?
Doyle is getting angry and frustrated, while Bodie is quietly concerned and supportive. He promptly helps himself to Doyle's kitchen again, making coffee, which preparation Doyle has to then contribute to, getting things out for him.

They then cogitate aloud, brainstorming about who could possibly have known the gun was there, and who might have wanted it.
Bodie is first to suggest Kathie as a suspect, as one of the few who knew the gun was there. Doyle, however, dismisses her at once. Perfect example of the different way that they think.
I love how they instantly dismiss most of the possible groups who could want the gun, then say that 'anybody'd pay big money for a gun like that'. Anybody except gangs, terrorists, and all the other criminal groups they've just dismissed as not needing anything so flashy. But Bodie realises that tracking sellers could be the best way to find it, abandons the half made coffee and takes off, a bewildered Doyle in his wake.

The next scene is another absolute gem, as indeed are most in this episode. A meeting with one of Bodie's old contacts, Marty Martel, aboard a ferry. Because, where else? Marty is great, his interactions with both Lads so funny.
Bodie: I like your new offices.
Marty: Oh well, you know me, Bodie. Always feel restricted in four walls. Walls have ears.
Doyle: And they'd need to be big ears.

As they chat, we get a quick glimpse of the rifle being aimed at the ferry from great distance, just to let us know that Doyle is still being stalked.

I love how when Bodie introduces Doyle and Marty, Marty half offers a hand to shake, but Doyle barely even notices and makes no such gesture himself.
Marty: Amazing to think the Vikings used to sail up here a few hundred years ago. Raid our cities…
Doyle: Rob all the women, rape all the men.
Marty: If you like that sort of thing.
Snicker.

Bodie explains that Marty is one of the world's leading experts on guns. Marty is very hazy about the reasons behind this, and the kind of work he actually does. Because: dodgy. As are so many of Bodie's old contacts. He is an arms dealer.
Bodie: I want your help, Marty.
Marty: For free, of course.
Bodie: Think of it as good will.
Marty: Oh, I will, I will.
Then they admit that they've lost the rifle. It is hilarious. All three of them can barely keep from laughing over their lines. So, so funny. Shame we never see Marty again.

Off the ferry again, they head back to the car. As they reach it, we see that telltale red dot appear on Doyle's back…a shot is fired! And the car mirror in front of Doyle smashes. Both lads instantly leap into Danger Mode, diving for cover and peering all around to see where that danger is coming from. Of course, they can't see anything, because this is such a very long distance rifle, as previously established.
Bodie: Backfire?
Doyle: Not on your life.
Bodie: Your life or mine?
Doyle (looking at the broken mirror): Mine, I think.
Bodie: He's playing with us. Cat and mouse. Stringing us along. He knows all the moves.
Doyle: Well, most of them, anyway. Let's get out of here. I feel a little bit exposed.

Next up, we see Maurice Richards, beavering away in his pub getting ready to open, but simultaneously on the phone – multi-tasking ahoy! He has phoned CI5 with a message for Doyle, and is trying to get them to put him through.

Doyle and Bodie, meanwhile, are now checking another contact, Brownie, who lives on a riverboat – one of Doyle's old contacts, this time. It is another fantastic exchange from beginning to end.
Doyle (already on the boat): Permission to come aboard.
Brownie: Why not. I thought you'd packed it all in.
Doyle: Not quite.
Brownie: But you're not one of the good guys any more – or are you?
Doyle: Not quite.
Brownie: What about Happy Joe there – I suppose he's 'not quite', either.
Doyle: That's right.
Brownie: And I suppose it's not quite a social call.
Doyle: That's right.
Brownie: Well, it its business, I can afford to give you a drink.
Heh.
Then Bodie quizzes him on his boat and business, which Brownie answers cagily.
Brownie (to Doyle): Nosy little mouse, your friend, isn't he?
Doyle: Yeah.

Oh, I love that description of Bodie! Wonderful.

Brownie: Well, give over with the love, Joe. What you after?

Brownie guesses very quickly what the problem is, based on what little Doyle tells him. He hasn't heard anything, but like Marty agrees to put feelers out and let them know if he hears anything.
Brownie: A bit of 'in good standing' always helps.

Doyle: Oh, and while you're at it. Somebody tried to blow me up – put a couple of pound of jelly under my wheels.
Brownie: Now that's not nice.
Understatement, there.
Watch Doyle vault over the rail back onto the jetty. Very nice. Admire his sunnies, too. And watch Bodie finish his beer on his way off the boat, and hand the empty to Brownie.
I like Brownie. He is fun. Not as much fun as Marty, but the rapport with Doyle is very believable. And he called Bodie a 'nosy little mouse', which is marvellous.

They head back to the car, across a wide, open riverbank.
Bodie: I always knew it, you know.
Doyle: What?
Bodie: You're as mad as he is.
Doyle: Who?
Bodie: The nutter. Could be anywhere, couldn't he. Thousand yards. What's that – a hit. Easy. Couldn't miss.
He mimes shooting into Doyle's neck. Doyle remains unperturbed.
Doyle: That's right, but he won't, will he?
Bodie: Why not?
Doyle: Not yet, anyway. He's teasing me. He's not just a nutter, he's a sadistic nutter. He's setting me up.
Bodie: Yeah, and you're just going to sit here and take it like a traditional nanny goat.
Doyle: Till he comes out to get me.
Bodie: And then what?
Doyle: You'll save me.

They arrive back at the car to find the radio bleeping. No hand helds yet, then. I'm not going to comment on the shiny new call signs. Maurice Richards has left a message for Doyle to contact him, so Doyle heads off to find a payphone.
Bodie: Watch your back.
Doyle: You watch it.

I love Maurice's phone number. 7732. Nice and short, and sweet. Just think how much lengthier phone numbers are today. No wonder Doyle has no trouble remembering it – but then, he is good at remembering numbers, isn't he. Maurice tells Doyle about the Porsche that followed him the previous night, and starts to tell him something else, only to be cut short by that telltale red dot, followed swiftly by a bullet. And that's the end of Maurice.

The next scene is also great. Doyle sits on a bar stool in Maurice's pub, with Bodie and Cowley circling him, questioning him, trying to get him to think of any possible enemy who could be doing this. No longer simply an agent, he is part of the case, a witness to be interrogated. He can't fathom how anyone would know Maurice had anything to tell him. Cowley suspects it is more than that – something from Doyle's past, hence targeting Richards as well. I like how he refers to Doyle as Richards' ex-bully boy. Bet Doyle loves that.
Cowley: We'll just have to jog your memory.
Bodie: While you've still got one left to jog.

Next, Doyle is up to his eyeballs in old case files. Kathie is helping him, curiously enough. He asks her out for supper.
Kathie: That was last night. Don't want to make a habit of it, do we.
Floozy.
Doyle then apologises for getting her involved, and for possibly blowing her chances of joining CI5. She appears to have no regrets, and flirts, mildly.

Bodie is meeting Marty again. He's put feelers out, and has a possible nibble.
Marty: We're obliged to help each other these days, aren't we, Bodie.
Hmm. Very interesting – that and Marty's earlier comments about their past encounters. We never get a huge amount of background on either Lad, but scenes like this help to colour in a lot of detail on Bodie's murky past.

And now it is getting late. Cowley is still working. Ruth brings him a coffee spiked with brandy to keep him going. She looks like she is wearing a dressing gown, but on closer examination it appears to be merely a matching blouse and skirt, not what you'd call flattering.
Ruth: Will Doyle be all right?
Cowley: He'd better be. He's had fair warning.

Doyle is also still working hard, ploughing through old records.
Later still, Bodie keeps a weary vigil in his car outside Doyle's flat. Ah, the lonely stakeout routine. The telltale red dot appears on his face, but no bullet follows. He is not part of this vendetta, although the gunman is not above playing with his new toy.

Morning comes. Doyle is up and about, and Bodie arrives for breakfast following his stakeout.
Doyle: Couldn't you find anywhere better to sleep?
Bodie: Who's been sleeping? Anyway, I've crashed out in worse places.
Doyle: I'll bet you have.
Bodie: Africa.
Doyle: Where's that?
They continue to bicker mildly about the lack of edible food in Doyle's fridge. What does he live off, then?
Kathie arrives, with a breakfast basket, and post half-inched from the postman on her way in. Included in the post is a parcel in a plain brown wrapper. Both Lads are instantly on high alert, suspecting the worst. Kathie is all innocence, which since she is a Sergeant in C11 is suspicious in itself.
The parcel is wired. Doyle tries to open it safely. Love how he gestures to Bodie to provide him with a penknife for the procedure, clearly not having one of his own. The delicate operation is then disturbed by that telltale red dot again. The shot rips the parcel open, and…nothing.
Kathie: Your friend has a sense of humour.
Doyle: Yeah, we nearly died laughing.

Inside the parcel, which was wired wrongly and never intended to go off, is a copy of Moriarty's Police Law. Cowley has cracked the case, though. Prisoners released in the last six months include two bent cops – Preston and Montgomery. Bent cops that Doyle and Richards helped put away. But which one?

Clearly the grudge against Doyle is bigger than that against Richards, who was the senior officer, since Richards was just assassinated while Doyle is being stalked and tormented.

Preston is all sullen resentment when they pay him a visit, claiming to have been with his probation officer at the time of Richards' murder. He also claims that his wife has left him.
Montgomery is not there – away, according to a wonderful passer by, who can't, however, tell them where.
Woman: I don't know, man, what you think I am, a nosy parker or something? I mind my own damn business, you mind yours.
Great stuff.

Back home, Doyle gets a phone call from Brownie asking to meet. He agrees easily enough, even agrees to come alone, to a remote location. The mad fool. And then we see that Brownie has got Preston holding the rifle over him. But of course.

Doyle radios in to say he's going to meet a contact, and then switches to radio silence, as previously instructed by Cowley. Because that is sensible in this situation, clearly. Then Bodie arrives at his flat, gets worried when Doyle doesn't answer the bell, and vaults over the wall to have a look. Because both Lads have to demonstrate their athleticism in this episode. This is a slo-mo moment for Bodie fans. Of course, Doyle isn't there, so he radios in to ask where he is. Of course, Doyle didn't tell them where he was going.

Bodie goes to Brownie's boat to look, but finds it deserted. He does, however, find a bullet, left on the table as a calling card.

Cowley then informs Bodie that Montgomery has been accounted for, which leaves Preston as their only suspect.

Doyle has a new car now, not as flashy as the Jag. He goes to his meeting with Brownie, a sitting duck.

Bodie, meanwhile, goes to Preston's house and goes to break in…only for Cowley to open the door for him from the inside.
Cowley: At last, Bodie. I thought we said hurry.
Bodie (breathless): I'm sorry, sir. I had a bit further to come.
Inside the house is the last piece in the jigsaw puzzle. Kathie. Preston's wife – she married him before he went into prison, apparently – that was the other thing that Richards was going to tell Doyle before he was killed. Why did he know that, but not Doyle? And – Preston wanted revenge so much that he was willing to see his wife flirting and sleeping with the man he was seeking revenge on, just to set it up?
Bodie (furious): You bitch. You set Ray up.

Bodie intimidates her to find out where they are.
Bodie: You'd better tell me, my lovely, because if anything happens to Ray, I'm going to find your sadistic boyfriend…
Kathie: Husband.
Bodie: Husband. And kill him. Very slowly. And then to save you the pleasure of spending the rest of your miserable life in jail, I'll do the same thing for you. With great joy.
Ooh. Psychotic!Bodie. It is all good.
Kathie: Did you hear that, Mr Cowley?
Cowley: I never heard a word, Miss Mason. Not a single word.
Bodie: His eyesight's not that good, either.

At some godforsaken spot along the river, Doyle is still trying to find Brownie. Preston takes a few pot-shots at him, just for fun, so he spends some time rolling around trying to find cover. I love how he bangs his shoulder while diving for cover, and they kept it in. And then he sees Brownie, tied to a big box on a crane, terrified. Preston shoots at Brownie's feet to force Doyle's hand, so of course he has to leave his cover and go to try and free him. Preston promptly sets the crane in motion, and they start to rise. Doyle manages to swing it around, to present less of a target. Then they start to swing back…

And then comes Cowley's voice, through a loudspeaker. Another laser light is targeting Preston. That was remarkably quick work.
Preston is forced to surrender. Doyle and Brownie are saved.
Brownie: Well, your fellas cut it a bit fine.
Doyle: Send us a memo. In triplicate.

And all is well that ends well, except for Maurice Richards of course. The virtues of the rifle are extolled once again. Cowley still wants his written report, and has lots of questions about Marty and how he got hold of the second rifle. Bodie promptly blusters that it is a fake, a dummy, to demonstrate the sight. He goes to demonstrate this…and fires a real shot. Heh.

Um. Well, the plot doesn't completely make sense. But it is such a fantastic episode that it can be forgiven for that. The banter and playful interactions are perfect, the Lads at their best, Cowley delightfully irascible, it's got excellent minor characters like Marty and Brownie, and of course, Ruth is in it. Even Kathie had some decent banter with the Lads at times. All in all, a perfect evening's entertainment. If only they were all like this.


Carol said:

Suffice it to say that we are well on course for my estimated completion date of 2010. How exciting.

LOL!

I love the banter in this episode. Jo's review is as usual brilliant and leaves me just a few odd comments to add:

Gotta love Ruth.

Oh yes <G> She's very inspirational.

Bodie: How d'you know she wants to get in?
Doyle: Cowley's car. My car. No car for Miss Mason.
So how did she get there? How did Ruth get there?

Yes, that's always puzzled me a little. But I have Doyle to look at, it doesn't really need to make sense...

They reach Doyle's flat. Hey, I've been there! Only, not inside, obviously. I've hung around the outside and been ridiculously excited about it, though.

ROFL! So have I - and also been ridiculously excited as well. 'On this place, just twenty-something years ago...'

Then comes the only part of this episode I really can't stand

arrrghh! FF, quickly...

Doyle is not currently thinking with his brain

LOL!

I love Maurice's phone number. 7732. Nice and short, and sweet.

hmm. That couldn't possibly be the whole number, even then London numbers
were 7 digits long - but I suppose it's easier than using a whole number
which might mean some poor innocent person receiving a lot of nutters
phoning it... <G>

And now it is getting late. Cowley is still working. Ruth brings him a coffee spiked with brandy to keep him going. She looks like she is wearing a dressing gown, but on closer examination it appears to be merely a matching blouse and skirt, not what you'd call flattering.

Unfortunately, they were the height of fashion then. Either plain like Ruth's or matching checks, normally a range of orangy browns. Yes, I did have some like it...

Then Bodie arrives at his flat, gets worried when Doyle doesn't answer the bell, and vaults over the wall to have a look. Because both Lads have to demonstrate their athleticism in this episode. This is a slo-mo moment for Bodie fans.

If you have the episode on video (it doesn't work as well on DVD) run the video on slo-mo backwards on Bodie's walk from the car to the wall. There is the most gorgeous little body wiggle that you don't see when the tape is running forwards... <BG>



Brenda said:

Jo...
Suffice it to say that we are well on course for my estimated completion date of 2010. How exciting.

Perhaps we can celebrate 2010 by Jo's last review and the posting of my Pros epic started in 1999 then. Definitely exciting, although I'm perhaps being a bit ambitious re. the epic...

But thanks, Jo - great fun to read as always.

H/H is indeed inspirational, I find. The blue suits, the Very Large Male Phallic Symbol, the lads doing some heavy bonding... lots of goodies. And even yet another female to roll eyes over and despise hugely.

Re: the car bit...and how Ruth and Kathy got there. I'd go for Carol's take on that... WHO CARES (but strangely enough I don't care when there are holes in an ep, but would pounce on them in a story, whether mine or anyone else's). Not sure what that means (apart from me being a boring editor-type person).

The singer... ouch. Very, very ouch. Bodie isn't thinking with *his* brain re. the women either. One who gets plastered and one who looks like a plasterer. One would start to think he's either desperate or lacking in discernment - or both. Mind... Doyle and Kathy isn't exactly a Wise Move either.

And now it is getting late. Cowley is still working. Ruth brings him a coffee spiked with brandy to keep him going. She looks like she is wearing a dressing gown, but on closer examination it appears to be merely a matching blouse and skirt, not what you'd call flattering.

Unfortunately, they were the height of fashion then. Either plain like Ruth's or matching checks, normally a range of orangy browns. Yes, I did have some like it...

Funny you should say that, Carol *whistle*. But it made a change from the ruffles that a few of the other women (girlfriends, not CI5 females) seemed to wear. I am proud to say I never did ruffles.

Carol again...

If you have the episode on video (it doesn't work as well on DVD) run the video on slo-mo backwards on Bodie's walk from the car to the wall. There is the most gorgeous little body wiggle that you don't see when the tape is running forwards... <BG>

I... um... am not commenting on why you should be doing backwards slo-mo of Bodie walking, Carol. But am now highly intrigued so will have to try and see that.

Final thought. I always thought, in that ep, it would have been FAR more fun if it'd been Doyle up there on the platform being shot at (and possibly knocked around a little first). Nice opportunities for Bodie to look horrified, then hugely relieved, and Doyle to suffer a little, etc. etc. Not that this says anything about me and h/c leanings, of course.


Birgit said:

But thanks, Jo - great fun to read as always.

Ditto - one of my favourite eps, too. The printout of your review, by the way, comprises full 11 pages, but I made a heroic effort and managed all of it over lunchtime :)

I am proud to say I never did ruffles.

I remember those brown/orange tartan horrors, e.g. by the only photo taken of our wedding in 1976, with the blushing bride wearing a pair of blue jeans while my marriage witness was wearing... you've guessed it: a boldly chequered wide skirt with matching whatever.

Apart from the effing (as in "ff"-pressing) pub scene, my major gripes with this ep are a) why the bloody hell nobody in CI5 realised Kathie's connection with Preston while vetting her, and b) what the bloody hell she was doing at Preston's house when Cowley stopped by to take a look himself. I mean, if I were to set up a man trap as sophisticated as that, I'd make sure not to get tangled in my own web, wouldn't I? Hm.

My favourite moment in this ep is Doyle taking a healthy swig from the milk bottle during the coffee-making scene. I reluctantly admit that every time I watch that scene, I feel the overwhelming urge to lick that "milk beard" off his upper lip.... <g>

Final thought. I always thought, in that ep, it would have been FAR more fun if it'd been Doyle up there on the platform being shot at ... <snip>

Oh, absolutely! I've always said they really should have let some decent writers draw up those scripts!



Carol said:

Funny you should say that, Carol *whistle*. But it made a change from the ruffles that a few of the other women (girlfriends, not CI5 females) seemed to wear. I am proud to say I never did ruffles.

urk... ruffles.  No, I didn't do them either.  Closest I came were those blouses with delicate embroidery edges to the collar.  I seem to feel they were almost impossible to avoid - one of those fashions which everyone followed...

I... um... am not commenting on why you should be doing backwards slo-mo of Bodie walking, Carol. But am now highly intrigued so will have to try and see that.

I discovered it by accident when having a Bodie-moment (slipped off the fence!) and watching the 'leaping over the wall with ease' bit several times...

Not that this says anything about me and h/c leanings, of course.

tee hee, not much <G>



Veronica said:

Great review, Jo. I have always loved this eppy.
And Brenda what a great suggestion about Doyle hanging up on that platform. Good idea for a story (hint hint)



Brenda said :

And Brenda what a great suggestion about Doyle hanging up on that platform. Good idea for a story (hint hint)

Oh, like I need more plot ideas *g*.

*Glances at epic. Shudders. Returns to humungous article to be edited on sustainable *yawn* development, written in pidgin English by mad French professor*

But to be more serious, maybe we should do a 'what SHOULD have happened' challenge?

Thoughts? As in take an ep and tweak it to suit certain... tastes? Anybody interested in that as an idea?



Birgit said:

As in take an ep and tweak it to suit certain... tastes? Anybody interested in that as an idea?

Most definitely! It's a bit like the "missing scene" challenge we did a wee while ago, isn't it? Now that was huge fun.

Er... anyone care to finish these current jobs for me? I would happily take it upon me to do a dozen or so eps...

No? Hmpf. I'm afraid in that case it's back to deepest, darkest Peru for me.

Birgit (trying to dodge poisoned spearheads from ther clients)


Brenda said:

one of those fashions which everyone followed...

Like the tight jeans, which we are not, I presume, complaining about. Much better than ruffles. Or even embroidered bits which were a bug... er... tricky to iron.

Although Doyle in ruffles... *drifts briefly into One of Those Wardrobe Moments*. Ruffled shirt, open to the waist. White. With tight black trousers. Mmmm. *Shakes self*.

slo-mo of Bodie walking,
I discovered it by accident when having a Bodie-moment (slipped off the fence!) and watching the 'leaping over the wall with ease' bit several times...

As one does. If I had five quid for every time I watched the 'Doyle gets a stoppage' bit in Backtrack, for instance... I would be fairly wealthy by now.

Careful of that fence. Mind, I have one of my own for Another Fandom We Won't Mention and it can be quite fun hopping to and fro. Still never managed it with Bodie, but one should never say never, n'est-ce-pas?



Sue T said:

Brilliant review as usual, Jo. I've only just had a chance to rewatch it myself but I made a few notes as I went along.

I thought you had to wait for CI5 for ask for you, that you couldn't just apply. Was it a huge coincidence that Cowley asked for Kathy Mason thus giving Preston the idea of setting Doyle up, or have things changed since When The Heat Cools Off?

I always think Kathy doesn't look that enthusiastic at the thought of spending a night with Doyle. Does she want her bumps felt or what? Still, she is a villain's girl so you can't expect her to have any taste <g> Also, to be fair, what can you do when you are only given lines consisting of 'yes' and 'no'.

In the novelisation Kathy sounds bitter when she admits to Morris Richards that she is still only a sergeant. Did the director think it would give too much away for her to say the line that way in the episode?

I like Marty as well - great character - and that whole scene is just wonderful. I'm not sure I'd really noticed before just how amused the actors were all the way through it. Lewis is clearly having a great time and Martin is struggling not to laugh outright. Sometimes, not having time to reshoot works in our favour.

Jo commented on the thing that always puzzles me when I watch this episode. That Preston hates Doyle so much, he is willing to allow his wife to sleep with him as part of the plan. That she is willing to do it either means she has more taste than I gave her credit for earlier, or that she is so besotted with Preston that she is willing to go along with anything he says and words fail me about that.

I too remember Bodie's famous backward wiggle. It's amazing what you notice when with convivial friends and a good quality video recorder :) I love Bodie's threatening of Kathy and Cowley's going along with it. Is it me, or is Cheryl Kennedy not a very good actress? Her acting seems to mainly consist of big eyed, blank expressions and little smirks with arch comments. Carol and I saw her recently in an episode of The Sweeney and she was much the same.

Have to disagree with those who would have liked to have seen Doyle up on the platform instead of Brownie. It all fits with Preston's plan to eek out the torture of Doyle for as long as possible. Doyle's efforts to keep the platform swinging so as to make it more difficult for Preston to shoot them only served to amuse him as it could hardly have worked for very long. There would have been little point in somehow capturing Doyle and tying him up there. Watching his efforts was more entertaining than shooting a sitting duck.

And of course, how did Doyle know the villain was Preston at that point?

But a wonderful episode nevertheless.

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