Bodie and Doyle, senior agents of the British intelligence service CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their handler George Cowley fight terrorism and similar high-level crimes.Bodie and Doyle, senior agents of the British intelligence service CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their handler George Cowley fight terrorism and similar high-level crimes.Bodie and Doyle, senior agents of the British intelligence service CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their handler George Cowley fight terrorism and similar high-level crimes.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFor many years, Martin Shaw (Doyle) blocked repeat television showings of the series, disowning it almost immediately after it had finished. Although he gave his reason as not being able to negotiate fees for television repeats with program makers London Weekend Television, it was also alleged that he didn't want to be typecast with the "hard man" image the show portrayed him to have. He only eventually relented to repeat showings in the mid 1990s, when it was discreetly pointed out to him that the widow of Gordon Jackson (Cowley) could do with the income generated by repeat fees.
- Quotes
[scene-setting voiceover from Season 1 opening titles]
George Cowley: Anarchy, acts of terror, crimes against the public. To combat it I've got special men - experts from the army, the police, from every service - these are The Professionals.
- Alternate versionsThe Season 1 episodes were originally shown with an opening title sequence which included scenes of Bodie and Doyle on an assault course, intercut with a stopwatch. However for repeats and DVD release, the more familiar Season 2-5 title sequence which started with car crashing through a plate glass window was retro-fitted onto the Season 1 episodes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in It'll Be Alright on the Night 2 (1979)
There are a great many TV series with the premise that you've got good guys running around trying to catch bad guys, and there are guns, cars and explosives thrown in for good measure. Some are good, some are not. The Professionals is a cut above the rest, not because of any trick or gimmick but simply because of superb writing, casting, directing and acting.
Shaw (Doyle), Collins (Bodie) and Jackson (Cowley) excel in their roles and are really the glue of the whole series. The constant jibing between Doyle and Bodie is an absolute delight to watch, as is Bodie's unashamed love for fast-driving and shooting stuff.
The action is very satisfying, with many shoot-outs, explosions and car chases. The plots are actually more varied and sophisticated than most people seem to remember, some of them require a very sharp mind to keep track of the wheeling and dealing. There's espionage, grand-theft, madmen with nerve-gas and more than a few personal vendettas. The characters, too, are deeper than most people seem to remember.
My favourite episodes are: "Discovered in a Graveyard" - Doyle is shot and seriously wounded by an unknown assasin. While Bodie and Cowley hunt down the shooter, we are given an insight into the thoughts going through Doyle's comatose mind.
"Blind Run" - what starts as a simple escort run for Doyle and Bodie turns into an urban war as their charge turns out to be much more significant than they thought. This is one of the most action-packed episodes, featuring multiple shootouts and car-chases.
"Mixed Doubles" - Bodie and Doyle are assigned to organise protection for a very high-level foreign diplomat who is almost certain to be an assasination target. As we see our two heroes making preparations, we also see the two hired assasins making theirs and we get an incredible insight into just how similar the two doubles are, and how sad it is that only one pair of them can survive the day.
- Platymania
- Dec 21, 2003
Details
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
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