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"The Professionals" (1977)

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15 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Anarchy, acts of terror, crimes against the public - yes, it's Martin Shaw's haircut!, 15 November 2000
Author: Dave Matthews (matthews@carnfort.u-net.com) from Lancashire, England

On the surface the success of The Professionals is something of an enigma. Two characters with embarrassing haircuts, dreadful dress-sense, little respect for birds... err, women, in a show almost universally panned by the critics...

Yet the Professionals not only succeeded in its day but continues to do so in repeat runs almost 25 years on.

Bodie and Doyle's characteristics arguably had near-plagiaristic similarities to that of Starsky & Hutch. The action and (more particularly) violence depicted was essentially a continuation of the "rules" laid down by The Sweeney. Yet The Professionals still carved out a niche for itself. What sets it apart from the other shows is the firework chemistry between the two leads (as much down to the good fortune of casting Shaw and Collins together - two completely different actors) and the jibing, black humour they share and harangue each other with.

Gordon Jackson's searing performance as Cowley, meanwhile, proved to be a formidable boss for the two reprobates.

The humour also extended to the situations and the show was not afraid to make fun of itself occasionally.

In the early years the exciting, varied plots were a bonus, too (Contrary to other remarks, they were often quite complex). Action-wise, Collins and Shaw gamely tackled much of their own stuntwork.

Although characterisation was never the primary objective of the show, the characters were given a reasonable opportunity to add facets to their personae. Doyle, in particular, emerged as a surprisingly rounded, unpredictable and constantly surprising character - due mainly to Shaw's splendid acting skills.

Unlike other British action shows, the Professionals gained an immense female following - indeed its fandom is probably split 50:50 between the sexes.

In the meantime London Weekend Television exported the show massively to eager overseas broadcasters (and continues to do so to this day).

However the programme was not without faults. By the fourth season (1980) the writing team were struggling to find new ideas and the boys of CI5 often found themselves lumbered with jobs that more traditional law forces would normally take on.

By 1981 the show was clearly running out of steam and with Shaw and Collins keen to move on to other things, LWT decided to call it a day after a grand total of 57 episodes.

Today it's easy to say the whole reason it's such a success again is because of its refreshingly un-PC image. Yet there is more to it than that and, indeed, what were seen as the strengths of the show in 1977 are being appreciated by new audiences the world over.

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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
A cut above the rest, 22 December 2003
Author: David from Kingswood, Australia

I was only born a year after this series started production, so I only know it by re-runs, thanks largely to my mother who loves the series.

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.

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
No Amateurs, 21 August 2002
Author: Buck Aroo

All I can add to what has been said before is, what an excellent series this was. It had to be London Weekend Television's most expensive production at the time, and you could see that every penny appeared on screen. There were shoot-outs, explosions, and fist-fights galore every friday night at 9pm, when the episodes were originally shown during the late '70s and early '80s. The sexist banter between the heroes Bodie and Doyle is typical of the period, but stills remains funny to watch. One episode called 'Klansman', about a British right wing group to which Bodie becomes sympathetic, has to this day never been screened in the U.K. for fear of inflaming racial tensions, which were at their height during the Professionals' five year run. It has however, been transmitted in other parts of Europe.

Due to the media, and the then Tory government's paranoia about 'Video Nasties' and TV violence, a sixth series was never made with the original actors. Unfortunately though, it's creator Brian Clemens, decided to update and resurrect the series about four years ago. It sank without trace.

My fave episode has to be 'Hunter Hunted', in which the heros have to recover a stolen prototype rifle, which has a laser aiming system. This series was truly revolutionary!!!

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
''Cover me!!'', 16 December 2003

Author: Baz Taylor (villeneuveg_27@yahoo.co.uk) from Derby, England

I wasn't even born when this show was first shown on British TV in the late 70's. It was created by Brian Clemens, was a follow-up to a cop show called The Sweeney and starred Gordon Jackson as George Cowley, Lewis Collins as Bodie and Martin Shaw (who hated the show and his character) as Ray Doyle, working for a spy agency called CI5.

Violent, sexist and very politically incorrect, The Professionals was just good fun and it knew how daft it was. Basically an episode would go like this: Bad guy of episode shows up, usually foreign and he was a hitman, terrorist, spy or something like that. He would commit a crime and then the main titles which still impress would come on backed by the great theme tune. Bodie and Doyle would be given the case by Cowley, and then there would be 45 minutes of fights and car chases (in their Ford Capris) which ended with the bad guy dying in an explosion.

The plots were interesting and there were a lot of good ideas from the writers. After the show ended there were lots of pretty awful follow-up shows like Dempsey and Makepeace and Bergerac and have mostly been forgotten. Although The Professionals is not often seen on TV nowadays it's a cult classic, and way better than any of the stuff they put on nowadays.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Laddish machismo and dodgy hair-dos, 7 November 1999
Author: Steve Riley from UK & Germany

"The Professionals" has been slated from all sides over the years. It's fallen foul of, among others, the self-appointed moralist zealots of television watchdog groups because of its often hard-hitting violence, and the feminist lobby for its portrayal of most of its female characters as bimbos and ciphers. Even Martin Shaw, one of its three main stars, was so embarrassed by the show that for years his veto prevented it from being repeated in the UK (or perhaps it was simply because he was ashamed of the perm which he sported throughout the show's six-year run and which led to co-star Lewis Collins giving him the nickname "the Bionic Gollywog"). Whatever the reason, "The Professionals" won few critical admirers at the time and now - in the age of political correctness - is perhaps even more widely pooh-poohed. So why did it run for 6 years and become one of British TV's biggest ever, and most popular, exports? And why does it still enjoy cult status? The answer, paradoxically, lies in the reasons why it was so widely reviled in the first place. It's violent, politically incorrect and - to put it kindly - doesn't demand that its audiences have the intellect of rocket scientists to follow its plots. It was escapist entertainment aimed at boys of all ages from 10 to 50. Pictures of Bodie & Doyle adorned the bedroom walls of teenage girls up and down the land as they got in on the act too. And the show practically became an hour-long advertisement for the Ford motor company. In the UK during the late 70s and early 80s, it was positively hazardous to venture forth on a Friday night during a "Professionals" run, for fear of being knocked over and hospitalised by some young Johnny screeching round the corner in his Ford Capri, pretending to be Bodie & Doyle. Sure, "The Professionals" (like most shows of the genre) had its moronic moments, but who can forget classics like the episode in which two anti-social misfits holed up on a high rooftop and started taking pot-shots at a nearby hospital? Or the one with Bodie trapped in a country house, under siege by a bunch of German terrorists and with all contact to the outside world lost? Everything the critics accuse "The Professionals" of may well be true. But who cares? It's still a cult classic. They don't make 'em like that any more.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
The best, 31 March 1999
Author: Jack Yan from Wellington, New Zealand

Arguably one of the best British action series ever made. The Professionals has a gritty, streetwise style, strong plots and scripts and excellent acting. Out of the episodes made between 1977 and 1981, there is hardly a bad one: the quality spoke for itself.

Many episodes see what feels like two hours' worth of storyline packed tightly and competently into the single hour. The editing, photography, direction, stunts and score stand comparison today. The ingredients endeared the series to its many fans, probably attracting viewers from outside its target market. It was an example of how we could have it all - and its longevity was not down to luck alone.

It is even credited for the long production life of the Ford Capri sports car, driven by the two main agents in the series, Bodie (Lewis Collins) and Doyle (Martin Shaw). The rapport between the two actors is superb and at no times are their performances unrealistic.

The series sees a fictional unit, CI5, which is not answerable to any one ministry. Its controller, Maj George Cowley (Gordon Jackson), commands loyalty and respect amongst his men, and would fight to the ends on their behalf. His access to the highest levels within Westminster is without doubt. Bodie, ex-SIS, and Doyle, formerly with the police, are faced with perilous situations against terrorists, spies, and traitors. Thanks to their specialist skills and attitude, they cope well in any situation.

The Professionals is still a demonstration of British television at its best.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
You've got it all wrong!, 26 March 2005
Author: kete from Germany

When 'The Professionals' was aired at first in Germany - I believe it must have been some when in the eighties - I *loved* this show. I had never seen anything that grim and realistic before. What I liked most about it was that the 'good guys' weren't really 'good', they were complex character- and morality- wise and, especially the Bodie character, could as well have played on the other side of the fence. The violence was portrayed rather realistic and unstylised and the characters looked gritty enough to feel real.

Feeling somewhat nostalgic (must be my old age) I just bought the complete DVD set and found that I still like it a lot - although I see it differently nowadays. Analysing my feelings for it I found that what I like most about it now is the interaction between the main characters, and on my second watching of the complete series I find myself often ff-ing through the story to the parts with the lads (MS and LC). For me it's all about seeing pretty (but undoubtedly male) men run, jump, fight, shoot, saving each other's lives and - banter with each other. No wonder that it still has a major following among females and inspires reams of fanfiction!

Nearly thirty years since it was first seen on TV and still highly enjoyable despite the outdated fashion, hairstyles, motors and technique (have a look at those computers!) - this is a true classic that has proved its erstwhile critics wrong. An endeavour all participants (including Martin Shaw) can and should be proud of, I think, because it is no small feat to inspire such love and loyalty in their fans.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Why the Professionals is a T.V legend, 9 February 2001
Author: olomax (olomax@another.com) from Watford , Hertfordshire

The Professionals is an extremely high quality cult t.v series that well and truly deserves its tag of "t.v legend".This is due to its excellent writing courtesy of Brian Clemens and co. and the outstanding theme and incidental scores of the incomparable Laurie Johnson.The series itself has a truly filmic quality due to the varied locations used - from beautiful shots of the English countryside with the immortal Ford Capris speeding by to the sweeping panning camera shots of the city of London.Everything about this series is memorable , from the exhilarating opening theme complete with wahwah guitar and "Shaft" style hihats to the abrasive , yet humorous relationship between the two leads.Even though most people seem to remember this series as so-called standard crime/adventure viewing , in reality , it is more than that.Particular episodes , such as "Wild Justice" , is about the character Bodie (Lewis Collins) in particular and asks whether he is able to continue working effectively under the stress placed on him by the demands of a job in an organisation such as Ci5.This sounds a reasonably formal premise for a plot , but on viewing the episode itself we see that unusual elements (such as Bodie going to an oriental martial arts/medical expert for help and advice) have been thoughtfully added by the writer to give an extra edge.To enhance this interesting angle further , the oriental character then proceeds to give Cowley - Bodies boss (Gordon Jackson) a lecture about where the soul might be placed in the body , definetly an unusual and welcome aspect to proceedings and it is precisely these element that make the Professionals linger in the mind long after an episode is over.

Unfortunately , at the time the show was mauled by critics , being cited as "moronic" and overly violent.It is undoubtedly fair to say that the show most certainly was the latter of these two things , being primarily a contemporary crime/drama series.It is also fair to say that whenever there was violence present on the screen it was handled with a certain flair and portrayed realistically.However , the reason the vitriolic attack from the critics didnt sour the publics appetite for the show was this - excellent acting from the trio of Gordon jackson (Cowley) , Lewis Collins (Bodie) and Martin Shaw (Doyle) in the lead roles , first class writing and production , the special atmosphere that permeated every episode , the memorable chemistry between Bodie and Doyle and the music , which spawned a theme which is now a signature within the genre itself and incidental music which managed magnificently to capture many differing moods and emotions , some normally found outside the often narrowly viewed crime/drama division section of television entertainment.The Professionals was and still is different and set new standards in many areas that television today is still catching up to.BUGS , anyone ?

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
'These are The Professionals....', 14 September 2006

Author: james_jeffery from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Ah, The Professionals. Right from the credits, with Laurie Johnson's fabulously funky theme tune together with that montage of Bodie, Doyle and Cowley, you know you've got a special series indeed. So special that, 25 years after the last episode was filmed, it's never been equalled.

There were attempts- most notably Dempsey and Makepeace. That show seemed to be an anthology of Brian Clemens' two best series, The Avengers and The Professionals. Dempsey and Makepeace were an urban Steed and Emma Peel, whilst Spikings was Cowley. Perfect- except it wasn't. Dempsey and Makepeace fails to match Clemens' best shows by some way, but has a certain entertainment value...

The Professionals is of course ripe for parody. The running up flights of stairs touting handguns, car chases and hyper masculine, not a little politically incorrect conversations are all in check. But that makes for great fun, something sorely missing from today's rather soapy action TV shows.

Praise must be given to the three leading actors, Lewis Collins, Martin Shaw and Gordon Jackson. Collins had the rawest deal after appearing in the show. For me personally, he was the most charismatic and the one I'd have tipped for stardom. However, that never came and the plummet into self parody wasn't too far away. He was a popular choice to play James Bond in the 80s, and did a wonderful job of playing the often irresponsible but likable Bodie.

Shaw has had a lengthy and successful career that lasts to this day, yet The Professionals is often cited to be rather a dubious part of his career, not least by Shaw himself it seems. However, it was really speaking The Professionals that put his name on the map. His portrayal of the more thoughtful, conscience-concerned yet equally tough Doyle is equally worthy of plaudits.

Jackson is sadly no longer with us. He died almost 20 years ago now, but had a lengthy career prior to this, most notably in the long running drama series 'Upstairs Downstairs'. At the time, some found it hard to accept him in the role as the manipulative, draconian but incorruptible Cowley. Looking at it now, it's hard to accept this judgement- Gordon Jackson is irreplaceable here.

The first series premiered in 1977 and looking back now, you can see that the producers or the actors, who take a fair while to 'get' the roles, didn't know what direction to take. Some episodes could easily have fit into later series- the more standardised spy tropes of 'The Female Factor' and 'Long Shot', the 'protect the public' rubric of 'Heroes', 'Klansmen' and 'Private Madness, Public Danger'- but some feel quite different like 'When The Heat Cools Off' and 'Everest Was Also Conquered'. All have a grittiness that would later be lost, but this series does house one of the greatest episodes- 'Close Quarters', the plot of which was hijacked by Lew's own 'Who Dares Wins'.

Still, the first series was big enough to have a second series commissioned. This was perhaps the peak, as many of the best episodes were here and the direction the show would take is very much in place. The boundaries of an action show were clearly pushed- 'The Rack' delves into the dark side of CI5 quite superbly, and works as an allegory to those who criticise the show's violence in the superbly dramatic trial sequences. 'Fall Girl' was an early attempt at looking how the job and personal lives could occasionally conflict, whilst 'In The Public Interest' renounces a far-right alternative to law enforcement organisations (much like in the Clint Eastwood film, 'Magnum Force'). Hitchcock-style episodes like 'Hunter Hunted' and 'Man Without A Past' deserved far more than to be tarnished with the 'dumb cop show' badge.

The third series mostly upholds the standard. Episodes like 'The Purging Of CI5', where the organisation is marked for death, 'Dead Reckoning' and 'Stopover', with their complex defection plots and 'The Madness Of Mickey Hamilton' with delicate treatment of a mentally ill man, were just as good as what went before. Some stories aren't though, and episodes like 'Runner' and 'Servant Of Two Masters' predicted the over-complicated nadir that followed.

The fourth series is a bit muddled. Some episodes are amongst the best- the complex 'Need To Know', the breach of personal lives of 'Involvement' and 'Wild Justice', the clever counterparts of 'Mixed Doubles', and the assassination plots of 'Slush Fund', 'Kickback' and 'Fugitive' are as good as any before. However, others verge from the rehash ('Weekend In The Country') to the over complicated ('Hijack', 'It's Only A Beautiful Picture') to the abysmally under plotted ('The Gun', 'Blood Sports').

There were also other characters drafted in and Bodie and Doyle didn't work together for much of that series. Happily, though rarely cited as such, the last series is mostly a breath of fresh air, with some of the best episodes of the show's history. 'Foxhole On The Roof' predicts 'Die Hard', 'Spy Probe' and 'A Man Called Quinn' again are in spy territory, whilst 'Discovered In A Graveyard' is a shockingly bleak episode, with Doyle in a coma, whilst Bodie and Cowley are forced to pick up the pieces. That said, some of the worst ('You'll Be Alright') and most puerile ('Lawson's Last Stand') episodes were in this series too.

With this in mind, it was best the show ended when it did. Some plots were weak or over-elaborate, and Collins and Shaw were weary of being typecast. However, for a show that produced 56 episodes, the standards are mostly incredibly high. The veneer of political correctness hadn't kicked in when it ended, so there was little dumbing down in the action/dialogue department. In other words, the show went out on a high rather than dying a slow death. It never has, and probably never will, be equalled.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent entertainment, 29 May 1999
Author: charmech from Pasadena, California

This series was the forerunner for the Die Hard/Lethal Weapon series of movies that were so popular in the 1980s. The Professionals defined the genre with its realistic settings and totally unsympathetic villains (terrorists for the most part). The bad guys were so awful, so deranged, so cruel that the audience could forgive the ruthless violence used against them by the Professionals. After seeing The Professionals, James Bond films seemed too glamorous and fanciful.

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