9 posts tagged “the professionals”

Anyone remember this 1996 series? Bodyguards only lasted seven episodes, but I thought it was brilliant. Christopher Young did a great job directing the pilot, and Louise Lombard gave a fantastic performance as Liz Shaw, shaking off her Mouse of Eliott image. The scripts and direction were far superior to the later CI5: the New Professionals, which was meant to be a follow-up to the much-loved ’70s show The Professionals. Bodyguards had more of a Professionals flavour than its sequel, especially with the gruff boss, Cmdr McIntyre, wonderfully played by John Shrapnel, having shades of Gordon Jackson’s George Cowley. Sean Pertwee deserves a mention, too, as a new officer partnered with Shaw.

Robin blogged about the 40th anniversary of the Fiat 128 recently, and it reminded me that there is another 40th birthday this year: the Ford Capri, the car you’ve always promised yourself.
   However, he is better read than me and I do not think I could find any words of wisdom praising the Ford Capri from L. J. K. Setright—since really, the Capri handled like a pig, was impractical and was really the success of the Blue Oval’s marketing department.
   Nevertheless, it won plenty of fans, especially in the UK, thanks to the popularity of the TV show The Professionals. Two million were sold in total.
   On Autocade, I have only managed to get in info about the Capri II, the hatchback follow-up to the original, which was promoted originally with this film, starring none other than Martin Shaw, long before he was cast as Doyle in The Professionals.

The memory plays tricks. I remembered Dempsey and Makepeace’s pilot being a brilliant actioner and when it arrived on DVD last year, I was shocked to see how crap it was. In fact, I was surprised a series was even commissioned, let alone three. But by the second season, the show had improved greatly.
   Watch the first series of The Professionals, and there is bad dubbing and some cheap shows, including one where the location filming was done mostly at a bowling alley. Pamela Stephenson shows up twice in that first year as a guest star, in different roles, the producers hoping we would be focusing on her brassière in the earlier episode and not her face.
   So I watched Minder—which Channel Five in the UK was adamant in its being a sequel, not a remake—after having become curious with the British media’s reviews.
   Judgement: if I really think about it, some of those early original episodes were not that great.
   The media did feel that the original pairing of George Cole and Dennis Waterman was superior to Shane Richie and Lex Shrapnel, and on that they are right. Cole and Waterman felt at ease with their characters, and they were initially cast as equals. (Only after a while did Minder venture into self-parody and Waterman became more a supporting act, which led to him quitting the show, and replaced by the first of Cole’s on-screen nephews.) Here, it seems that it is Richie’s show, with Shrapnel the second banana—and I think it’s this imbalance that irks me.
   But people remember Minder as being a show about Arthur Daley’s exploits, so the new première sees his nephew Archie (Richie) in another spot of bother and needing newly released ex-con-turned-cabbie Jamie Cartwright (Shrapnel) to help as his heavy.
   It wasn’t terrible, mind, and as an item of television escapism, the new Minder stands up fine. I like the reworked theme, but I did not like how many scenes had music. That seems to plague a lot of modern TV shows and it doesn’t work for dramatic reasons. Purists might argue that it’s not really Minder, certainly without the grittiness of Euston Films products of the time (to quote Alas Smith & Jones: ‘From the makers of Minder and The Sweeney: Eusless Films presents Widows—exactly the same, but with women in it’), and maybe they are right. It’s still reasonably good telly.

What fictional character do you relate to most and why?

Let’s see: what Chinese fictional character had to operate in the west, deal to the establishment, drive a rare two-door car, impersonate others, and have his adventures chronicled?
   Simon Templar.
   Pity he was always played by Caucasians on the screen, but I always thought he was Chinese, since his creator was. A new pilot is being made now, which, inter alia, Sir Roger Moore and his son Geoffrey are producing.

   TV trivia buffs might notice John Steed’s Rover SD1 from The New Avengers in the last car chase, reused here. It was also George Cowley’s Rover SD1 in the first season of The Professionals. Stingey British Leyland!

The last two episodes of Ashes to Ashes have got better—either that or we are getting into the new universe of Alex Drake, where she is neither mad, in a coma nor back in time (at least not exactly). Keeley Hawes’s performance as Drake is getting stronger and as she is the protagonist, the show needs this. The whole annoying smart-arsed posh-tart Bolly Knickers approach has been toned down.
   Being a show that has to be shown in order, this development was probably unavoidable. In the old days, with self-contained episodes without story arcs, a TV series could start off with a stronger episode as the “pilot” and a weaker one later on. The Professionals was a good example: the first filmed was not the first aired.
   It is true that Ashes is no Life on Mars: it’s still not of the same quality, and the scripts are shallower. One blogger wrote that it has turned into yet another period cop show. That is not that unfair: Alex Drake doesn’t hear life support machines from 2008 and with the many scenes that do not involve her, it is clear that she is not in the same predicament as Sam Tyler in Life on Mars. Social issues are not dealt with the same contrast as in the earlier show, because the writers don’t feel the 1980s are as different from our present time as the 1970s.
   The characters, too, are shallower, with the exception of Drake, who is getting additional layers, and to an extent, DS Ray Carling (played by Dean Andrews). Philip Glenister seems more a copper put there to react to Alex’s psychobabble—I think I said Gene Hunt Lite a few weeks ago. There are no more memorable Geneisms, at least not of the level of Life on Mars—are we meant to believe he has mellowed since the passing of Sam Tyler? (I only remember two lines in two weeks: ‘You know, you might talk with a plum in your gob, luv, but I would rather go with one of them than waste my money on some bitter, twisted, messed-up, clenched-arsed, toffee-nosed bitch like you.’ And it’s hardly of the ‘armed bastards’ standard. Slightly better is ‘Who’s your mother? Marianne Faithfull?’ when confronting a drug courier who claims he’s transporting garden gnomes for his mother.) Gene’s whiny after being punched by Alex. Marshall Lancaster’s DC Chris Skelton is now there for comic relief. Both characters are shadows of their former selves.
   The story arc surrounding Alex’s parents works well and I am finally getting excited about the final episode for this year, which probably does finish with a bang (viz. the supposed murder of her parents).
   There are still slip-ups on cars: the fourth episode has a mid-1980s Austin Maestro van. Why do these shows get the wrong year Austins in? And I’m pretty sure the Transit in the third episode is newer than 1981—possibly 1984 or 1985?
   Mid-season episodes not written by their creators can become more formulaic and routine—Life on Mars was affected by this, too, in its first year, covered by the novelty of the re-creation of the 1980s. Ashes to Ashes has done well with a couple of episodes which I think are better than co-creator Ashley Pharoah’s second one.
   So, does anyone have any theories about Alex and where she is? Has she really leapt into someone’s body in 1981, in time for returning to 2008 by the end of the 16th episode and being able to find evidence of Sam Tyler’s 1973–80 past, leaving us on a cliffhanger?

During a visit by then-PM Robert Muldoon at New Zealand House, the following were present, as noted in one of his memoirs:

British prime ministers Callaghan, Wilson, Heath and MacMillan
Governors-General Porritt, Ballantrae, Cobham
The son of former Governor-General Freyberg
Gordon Jackson

   Spot the odd one out. Gordon Jackson, the actor.
   Perhaps he was doing research for his role as the head of CI5 in The Professionals? He always did seem rather chummy with the Home Secretary in the series, and it was mentioned that the PM thought highly of him.

The Murdoch Press—The Times, anyway—is putting forth a contrary viewpoint to all the hype around Ashes to Ashes, by journalist Caitlan Moran.
   And I think she has a point.
   In summary, Moran feels that Ashes to Ashes has reached some level of self-parody. The star is now undeniably Gene Hunt, which, as I put forth in the comments, must be akin to the Fonz getting top billing in Happy Days after Richie left.
   Richie is Sam Tyler in this context.
   Moran, who has seen the première, or pilot, writes:

It’s not Phil Glenister’s fault – he continues to play Hunt with malicious, controlled glee. The problem is with the show itself. It has lost its innocence. It’s gone from being a little bit in love with Hunt – as any rational programme would be – to borderline stalking him. Every Hunt entrance is a “Hero Shot” – slow pans, moody lighting, orchestral upswell. Every scene is waiting for Hunt to enter, or animate, or conclude it. The show will give him anything he wants – machineguns, a speedboat, a ludicrous plot resolution.

   My remaining concern is whether we are as fond of the 1970s as we are of the 1980s. The cop show—what Americans call police procedurals now, in an effort to differentiate from English English*—probably reached a zenith in the 1970s in the UK, with shows such as The Sweeney (the sort-of inspiration for Life on Mars) and The Professionals (which was designed to compete with The Sweeney). In this context, The Sweeney is the Gospel of Matthew, and the last season of Special Branch with George Sewell was the Book of Malachi.
   But I am not sure if we are as fond of the next decade because we missed these dark, gritty shows. Dempsey and Makepeace and Cat’s Eyes are loved only by fans of the genre. Putting Gene Hunt into this world means the show must centre around him and the evolution of his character in a new decade, full of bright colours and later, pastel shades. Ashes to Ashes cannot be a homage to anything actually from the 1980s even if Moonlighting had been cited in an early press release—to all intents and purposes it can only be a homage to Life on Mars.
   Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the new show, because it presents an opportunity for fans to ask a new set of questions. Or at least I hope we can.
   As Life on Mars neared the end of its run in 2007, there were numerous speculations on what actually happened to Sam Tyler. Some argued that 1973 was Purgatory. Another theory was that Sam Tyler leapt into the body of a 1973 cop called Sam Williams while in a coma. He would wake up, someone else said, and find that Annie Cartwright was actually his nurse and they would fall in love and get married. And a lot more pointed out the Wizard of Oz references. 
   Scriptwriter Matthew Graham put that all to rest when he said, yes, Sam’s in a coma and he killed himself to get to his idea of Heaven, which features Gene Hunt, Ray and Chris, and, most importantly, Annie Cartwright. No other explanation is canon.
   Are we to accept that it’s so elegantly simple?
   Maybe yes, since this is just a TV show, but Graham and co-creator Ashley Pharoah say they want to explore the ‘mythology’ of Gene Hunt.
   The press kits are essentially saying that DI Alex Drake has imagined 1981 and the gang because she read Sam Tyler’s case file and developed an obsession over it.
   It just seems too simple, if it is written as cleverly as the original. I can’t imagine watching Ashes to Ashes and not having the same questions about: what is this time period? Who is Gene Hunt? And I would hope that Graham, Pharoah, Chris Chibnall and whomever else is writing would explore the “why” element of all of this than leave us without pondering what has happened to Alex Drake.
   If this is all—if Hunt is a psychological manifestation of a tumour or the bullet in Alex’s head—then we approach Ashes to Ashes backwards. Last time, seven million of us watched the finalé because we wanted answers. This time we approach the show knowing the answer first. And there goes one major element of why we watched the original.

* The Brits I hung out with for drinkies last night had never heard of the term police procedural.

If you thought The Professionals was the first time Martin Shaw could be seen driving a Ford Capri, think again. This clip—probably from 1974 judging by the registration of the car—sees Mr Shaw as the male model charged with selling the Ford Capri II, a full three years before the cult TV show. This is, perhaps, prescient, considering that the TV series was credited as the number-one reason the Ford Capri stayed in production until 1987.

   Un publicitaire de 1974 pour la Ford Capri II, avec l’acteur britannique Martin Shaw, trois années avant sa série The Professionals.

Some more “easy” questions from my TV Trivia account at Facebook, and the percentage for each choice. Correct answers in bold.
   As mentioned, someone out there is having fun with all my wrong answers about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and EastEnders.

In Life on Mars, which old movie is often referred to through the series’ characters, songs and dialogue?
Casablanca (16.7)
Citizen Kane (50.0)
The Wizard of Oz (0.0)
Gone with the Wind (16.7)
skipped (16.7)

In Mission: Impossible, who never smoked?
Jim Phelps (20.0)
Barney Collier (80.0)
Cinnamon Carter (0.0)
Willy Armitage (0.0)
skipped (0.0)

In Minder, who sang the title song?
Paul McCartney (0.0)
Tony Christie (100.0)
Dennis Waterman (0.0)
Gerard Kenny (0.0)
skipped (0.0)

In The Paradise Club, what was the nationality of Danny’s heavy, Jonjo O’Brady?
Polish (16.7)
Irish (0.0)
Scottish (16.7)
Jamaican (50.0)
skipped (16.7)

In The Professionals, what was the name of the head of the squad?
Morris Cowley (33.3)
George Cowley (0.0)
John Steed (66.7)
Harry Malone (0.0)
skipped (0.0)

In The Saint, what was the licence plate shown on Simon Templar’s Volvo P1800 and 1800S?
NUV 647E (62.5)
71 DXC (25.0)
77 GYL (0.0)
ST 1 (0.0)
skipped (12.5)

   The majority of people, so far, think that John Steed led CI5 in The Professionals. The Paradise Club one gets me—I thought the clue was in the name Jonjo O’Brady, yet no one so far has chosen ‘Irish’ as his nationality. It was meant to be an easy giveaway! And the last one, every time you saw Simon Templar’s car, the registration was quite clear—ST 1—yet this has never been chosen.