“You’re good, both of you, the best – but I’ve got the drop on you, psychologically. Ask yourself a question – who trained you, taught you?”
The one where…
An old friend of Cowley’s, his first pick when forming CI5, and Bodie and Doyle’s trainer, turns out to be corrupt, and the boys have to track him down before he can flee the country.
With the first series of The Professionals having been a storming success for ITV, obviously they were keen to have more. Surprisingly, though, many of the behind the scenes staff – and one conspicuous onscreen one – were not so keen, so it was all change for this second “series” (well, production block).
Out went series creator and showrunner Brian Clemens, otherwise occupied with abortive attempts to reboot The New Avengers, to be replaced by Raymond Menmuir. Also out was previous script editor Dennis Spooner, who’d contributed one of the more entertaining series 1 scripts, Stake Out, to be replaced by Gerry O’Hara.
Also wanting to leave, but contractually unable to, was Martin Shaw, who had foolishly signed a four year contract presumably expecting the show to be cancelled after one. This not having happened, he’d become very uncomfortable with being associated with a show that he had little respect for, and being a pinup for teenagers, and spared no time in letting his displeasure be very publicly known with a series of scathing interviews in the press. He continued to do a perfectly good job onscreen as Doyle, but his public dislike of the show he’d unwillingly become associated with would continue for decades afterward.
And ITV themselves had demands of Mk1 Productions, the company behind the show. It was all very well that it had been a massive success, they said, but they wanted a more urban show (hoping to repeat the success of the London-set The Sweeney), not more stories taking place in the leafy Home Counties. They wanted more action, with fewer contemplative, character building scenes (much to Martin Shaw’s displeasure). But they also, paradoxically, wanted less violence – the show had come under the prudish eagle eye of Mary Whitehouse’s National Viewers and Listeners Association, with questions asked about its onscreen nastiness in Parliament.
Rogue is the first product of this new regime, though it’s notable, that, as a Dennis Spooner script, it had presumably been commissioned under the old one. There’s little of Spooner’s trademark humour and character depth in this one, and if I had to guess, I would think it had been heavily rewritten to match the new demands of the show.
It’s still a sound Professionals story, though the revelation of veteran CI5 agent Barry Martin’s treachery comes surprisingly early in the ep. You might have expected him to gradually come under suspicion over the course of the plot, with it climaxing in a confrontation when his betrayal was confirmed. Instead, having murdered two vital informants on the order of a well-paying crime lord, he’s rumbled by Cowley just about halfway through the ep.
This leaves the second half of the ep for, basically, an extended chase, as Bodie and Doyle try to track him down; which I would guess to be an attempt to up the action stakes as demanded. So, we get car chases, running and shooting, and even, in the final confrontation, what appears to be director Ray Austin’s tribute to Sergio Leone gunfights, as the camera cuts closer and closer on the faces of Martin and Bodie.
All of which is fine, but it has to be said, it does seem a lot simpler than (some of) the stories in the first season, which often dealt with weighty, complex real world topics (not always entirely successfully). The character of the treacherous Barry Martin, and his longstanding relationship with Cowley, is dramatically interesting, and would probably have been given more examination the previous year. Here, we do get one excellent two-handed scene of the characters confronting each other, but it’s swiftly on to the chase.
Which, to be fair, is closer to what most of us remember The Professionals as being – a straightforward thriller series with lots of action and little real depth. There’s an underutilised theme of Bodie and Doyle being incapable of capturing or killing a man who trained them that they previously admired, but it’s not gone into much. And the minor characters, like Martin’s gullible stooge Geronimo, aren’t given as much attention as they would have been the previous series.
All of which is, basically, fine – the show was evolving, and it’s still great fun as an undemanding thriller.
How dodgy is Cowley this week?
Not at all – has this aspect of Cowley been one of the changes for the new season? But in fact, there is some discussion about the fact that Cowley likes to break the rules – “but not the good ones” – which begs the question of how suitable he is to judge which rules aren’t “good”.
There’ve been other changes to his character though. His love for “pure malt Scotch” is still present and correct, as seen in the new comedy-style epilogue, where we see that it’s still Glenfiddich he favours. He’s lost his office, though – in fact the whole of CI5 HQ has been canned for the scenes set there slowing down the action. That means, sadly, no more Betty, which is a shame as she often seemed to be the most competent detective on the staff.
His past has been retconned too. Previously, it had been established that he fought in the Spanish Civil War, then World War 2, after which he went to university as mentioned in Look After Annie. It must have been a short spell in civvie street though, as Barry Martin knows him from their years together in Korea – a war which started a mere five years after the end of WW2. This means that his very painful leg wound, stated in the very first ep to have been acquired in Spain, can’t have been all that bad after all; and indeed it’s never mentioned again, though Gordon Jackson still limps occasionally to give some kind of consistency.
New opening titles!
Yes, Rogue sees the debut of the title sequence everyone remembers for this show, losing the frankly weird earlier ones where Cowley crams five men into a Rolls Royce before forcing them to do the most pointless assault course imaginable in an old warehouse.
The new sequence, specially shot rather than the more usual montage of clips from the show, opens with that iconic stunt of a black Ford Consul Granada Mk1 smashing through a plate glass window for no clearly explained reason, and goes on to establish the visual that became emblematic for the show, of the three leads’ silhouetted heads on a green background, the CI5 logo prominent behind the title.
There’s new intro shots for the stars too, with Gordon Jackson taking top billing as Cowley. CI5 HQ may be gone, but he appears to still have some sort of office, with a giant, tape-driven 70s computer behind him. Doyle is shown running and looking moody, while Bodie, of course, is working out at the gym.
Far more dynamic and exciting than the previous titles, these set the tone perfectly for the show’s more action-oriented new style, and would remain unchanged for the rest of the series’ run.
The cars
Ford, still supplying the hero cars for the show, gives everyone an upgrade to newer models this season.
The main CI5 car we see this ep is a white Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000, which is driven by Doyle. The RS (it stood for Rally Sport) 2000 was established as the top spec, sporty Escort in the days of the curvy Mk1, and continued into the squarer Mk2. With uprated brakes and suspension, and the Pinto 2.0 overhead cam engine, the modest little car turned into a real flyer. In Mk2 form, it was easily distinguishable from its humbler siblings with a sloped nose and double headlights. Not the most practical of cars if you need to actually arrest people, as they were all 2 door saloons.
Cowley too has had an upgrade. It’s still a Mk2 Ford Granada, but rather than the lowly, bottom of the range 2.0L he had last season, this is the range-topping 2.8 Ghia, with the big Cologne V6 engine and an auto box. And unlike last season, he’s got a driver, as befits his role as head honcho – Miss Pettifer, who seems to be taking on the role of secretary/advisor from the sadly departed Betty.
Martin’s girlfriend Maggie has a sporty Mercedes SL convertible, in keeping with the luxury lifestyle to which her boyfriend aspires.
Martin himself, perhaps to indicate the low pay he betrays CI5 over, has a basic Mini 1000.
His “spare car” is more luxurious – a Ford Cortina Mk2 1600E, the top of the range model with extra instruments and wood door cappings. It too would have been cheap though, as it’s about 8 years old at this point and clearly past its best.
And the police car which pulls the Cortina over is their favourite motorway pursuit vehicle – the fondly remembered Rover P6 3500. With its big but lightweight V8 engine, it was a fast car guaranteed to put the willies up you if you saw it in your mirror with its blue lights flashing.
1970s clothes
Nothing particularly egregious this week – in fact, unlike most of the first series episodes, Bodie and Doyle keep the same outfits on throughout the ep.
For Doyle, that’s the familiar dark green fleece jacket, with a plain yellow shirt instead of his usual beloved plaid. As an outfit, it doesn’t look too dated – you could easily wear it today.
Bodie is his usual, snappy, tie-wearing self, but pairs the shirt and tie with quite a nice beige, corduroy-lined bomber jacket, which again wouldn’t look too out of place today. Only his magnificently flared trousers date the outfit.
1970s references
Not too many explicit references this time, though it’s interesting to see the location footage of Paddington station as it was in 1978.
Cowley’s “walk and talk” exposition scene with Special Branch agent Hunter on the platform is an example of new showrunner Ray Menmuir having axed the CI5 office scenes as too slow for an action series. From now on, all exposition would be carried out this way, on location and usually with the actors walking to keep a sense of momentum.
Hey, it’s that guy from that thing!
Principal guest star this week is Welsh actor Glyn Owen as the corrupt Barry Martin. Owen was a familiar face on 70s and 80s TV. Having been a real policeman before he took up acting, he had more than a few law enforcement roles, notably in The Sweeney, but he’s probably best remembered for his long-running role as Jack Rolfe in yacht-making soap opera Howard’s Way.
The Professionals never had a problem with hiring the same actors twice, but that’s Pamela Stephenson making her third appearance in the show here as Martin’s posh “bird” Maggie. Stephenson, soon to find fame as a comedian on Not the Nine O’Clock News, had appeared twice in the previous series – as a non-speaking hostage in Old Dog With New Tricks, and a drug-addicted dental receptionist in Stake Out. This is the first time she plays a character who has an actual name.
Also making a return appearance is mainly comic actor Robert Gillespie as ill-fated informant Ballard. Gillespie had previously played inept burglar Sam in last series’ Long Shot, which was at least a substantial comic relief role – here, he’s offed before the opening credits roll without so much as a single line.
The villainous Culbertson (his actual line of crime isn’t particularly clear, but it involves smuggling, hence the ship) is played by Tony Steedman. Another familiar face on British TV from the likes of the Sweeney and Minder, Steedman’s career took a different turn when he moved to America in the 80s, where he got probably his most internationally famous role – the comedy version of Socrates in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
In a tiny role as Cowley’s hospital doctor, with only two lines and no closeups, is one Athar Malik, soon to change his name to Art Malik and achieve international fame playing Hari Kumar in Granada’s The Jewel in the Crown.
Nice bit of dialogue
With the show’s new emphasis on action over character depth, there’s less memorable dialogue here than we got in the previous series. It’s not completely absent though…
Martin is making his excuses to Cowley, who’s turned up to nick his treacherous old army buddy.
Martin: “Well, maybe I took a leaf out of your book.”
Cowley, outraged: “What does that mean?”
Martin: “Well ok, maybe I’ve broken the rules. But that’s what you’ve been doing, all your life. Sir.”
Cowley, angrily: “I break the bad rules, the stupid rules, but not the good ones.”
The theme is returned to in the ‘humorous’ epilogue, as Bodie and Doyle feign obedience to the NHS rule of not giving the bedbound Cowley strong liquor.
Cowley: “Well, your grapes are very welcome, but it’s my whisky I’ve been waiting for.”
Bodie: “Er, well, yeah, we didn’t bring any.”
Cowley, horrified: “But I asked you! I specifically asked you to bring – “
Doyle: “Doctor’s orders, see.”
Bodie: “Yeah, hospital rules.”
Cowley: “Och, you know my view on that! Some rules are just made to be broken!”
Doyle, smiling: “Just the stupid rules, sir, not the good ones.”
(Cowley throws the bag of grapes at them, shattering the bottle of Glenfiddich that’s actually inside)
Cowley, even more horrified: “Och no!”
Casual Sexism
You might expect this aspect of the show to have been dialled down to please Mary Whitehouse and the NVALA (though they were more concerned with the explicit violence). It’s still there, though, and it’s still Bodie responsible for most of it.
Taking Martin’s girlfriend to the pub for a bit of ‘investigation’, it’s clear even to Doyle that Bodie’s just basically on the pull. And they’re both at it as they pass a glamorous blonde woman on the stairs in Martin’s apartment, Bodie lecherously referring to her eyes as “full of Eastern promise” – a reference to a commercial for the Fry’s Turkish Delight chocolate bar that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, the girl not appearing particularly “Eastern” in any way.
As a season opener, Rogue sets the stall for the show’s new style quite enjoyably, though it has some obvious padding to fill the runtime, like Cowley’s lengthy conversations with his driver. It’s a pretty straightforward thriller, with some (but not much) character depth informing the actions of all involved, though it’s the action that really counts, and that’s done well. And as an obviously rewritten holdover from the old regime, it’s maybe not a perfect representation of the show’s new direction.
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