Review of Professionals, The: Vol. 3 (Remastered)

Introduction

This is the penultimate series for the boys of CI5.

A Hiding To Nothing - A dummy run of a visit by a controversial Arab leader is filmed by a woman who is killed whilst attempting to shoot the pursuing policeman. There is clearly a leak and only a few people knew about the visit and practice. Cowley spots a potential leak in a spinster secretary who Bodie discovers has an unknown boyfriend 20 years her junior. Meanwhile Doyle does a bit of investigating of his own when he gets friendly with the air hostess flat mate of the dead woman.

Dead Reckoning - Bodie leads a prisoner exchange with the Bulgarians for a top double agent. CI5 are in charge of the debriefing whilst also trying to keep his presence in the West a secret, something not helped by a public attempt on his life. Meanwhile the defector`s piano-playing daughter is brought into the mix, but what exactly is her role?

Mixed Doubles - Cowley thinks the boys are getting a bit soft so he arranges for a well `ard bloke with dodgy comb-over to beat them up for a bit. It`s all for a purpose though; Bodie and Doyle are needed to be in peak physical condition for the next assignment. They are needed to protect President Prasalli, who is visiting Britain in order to sign a peace treaty. Meanwhile, not too far away, another double act are in training to kill Prasalli.

Need To Know - Cowley is arrested by the Bisto Twins after a man called Drake is arrested on suspicion of being a double agent. Cowley put Drake in place and so is immediately under suspicion of being a traitor too. The arrest of Drake was public so Drake can`t be `de-briefed` properly, so Cowley comes up with a plan to spring Drake, blame the Chinese and get him away so he can be interrogated. The Russians too have an interest, and look like having access to Cowley`s plans…

The Purging Of CI5 - In a plot that would later be used in the Lethal Weapon series, someone is trying to kill off CI5 Cowley has a lucky escape after a bomb is wired to his phone; other agents are not so lucky. Bodie and Doyle screech across London in an attempt to find the bomber before more are killed.

Fugitive - A CIA man takes a flyer out of a hotel window and the trail leads to a German terrorist group. CI5 trace a sleeper agent to the local library and send in Bodie and Doyle with some overdue books to return to the beautiful but mysterious Kristina Herzog.

The Acorn Syndrome - a vital mission to secure a new desk for Cowley is interrupted by two blokes trying to use a public phone. The ensuing chase leads to a shattered desk and a hostage situation, which in turn leads to a top secret weapons establishment and a kidnap plot to extract plans for secret weaponry.

Slush Fund - the precursor to the Eurofighter is in trouble. Although crashing 59 times and killing a large number of pilots doesn`t seem to bother the manufacturers, the thought of the FonFighter being exposed in a book by a bearded journalist with elbow patches on his jacket drives powerful businessman across Europe into action. Intercepting the South African hitman hired for the job at the airport, Doyle dons his best Afrikaans accent and takes his place, whilst Bodie has a close encounter with future Bisto mum Lynda Bellingham.

Weekend In The Country - what should be a relaxing weekend of fishing, horse riding and picnicking turns into something quite different when well `ard villain Albie turns up with two cronies after a supermarket robbery turns sour. Meanwhile Cowley is wandering round looking like Jon from Garfield in his best Golfing casualwear and leaning on Duty Officer Sally, played by some distant relative of mine (maybe).

Takeaway - Bodie and Doyle look to solve a bit of a Chinese puzzle in an episode that doesn`t really make sense…

Involvement - Bodie and Doyle chase a suspect into a block of flats before Bodie is forced to kill him to save Doyle and an innocent girl emerging from one of the flats. Doyle falls for Anne, for that is her name, big style; but is all as it seems?

The Gun - Bodie`s latest squeeze is a teacher and she calls him in when approached for help by an ex-pupil hooked on heroin. The pupil ends up killed by another ex-pupil who then throws the gun over a wall instead of getting rid of it properly in the first place. Then some over-acting kids find it and everything goes downhill from hereonin…

Wild Justice - Bodie`s reactions are suffering and leadng to a loss of effectiveness. A pre-lizard Sarah Douglas runs some computer testing on him that leads her to think that he is not only losing his effectiveness but also hints that he may have a death wish. Bodie, meanwhile, ignores it all and looks to pick on the local Hells Angels…

Black Out - A young girl bursts into a church in just bra and knickers, then collapses. This is enough to have Bodie racing to the scene, but it turns out that the girl has lost her memory and the only thing she remembers is linked to a top secret meeting. The Bisto Twins have to babysit her on a tour of Kent to work out who she is and what has happened.

Video

As previously, the picture has been cleared up but there are still problems. Depending on the episode, this is discernible print damage and some of the shots are either quite grainy or appear slightly out of focus.

Audio

The soundtrack is Mono, as is the first DVD set, split across both channels. The sound seems to have been boosted a bit though as Laurie Johnson`s memorable theme tune with the legendary brass riffs, hi-hats and stuttering guitar blasts out of the speakers. His incidental music isn`t bad either, although it is virtually the same across all three series so far.

No subtitles.

Features

Nothing, again.

Conclusion

I`ve been a fan of The Professionals since it first aired, never deviating in my belief that it was the best thing on TV at the time. Watching Series 3 for review at this point in time though sees me of a slightly more critical mind than previously. Series 1 & 2 are still as good as you`re going to get, but it is now clearer to me than ever before that Series 3 is a bit of a disappointment.

There are a number of reasons for this, not least because when you watch the Series within a matter of weeks rather than years, it becomes obvious that storylines are being repeated. Not exactly, but characters, situations or plotlines are clearly being reused, just mixed up a little so as to make them seem fresh. Cowley being placed under arrest, the beautiful German girl who gets shot in the back (dastardly swines) or assassination attempts from the top of high buildings. It`s all here, again.

There`s also a feeling that everyone knew that this was possibly the last hurrah. The rapport between the two young leads has become much more acerbic and towards the back end of the Series the two aren`t even working together much. Murphy is re-introduced in the final episode working with Bodie, and he would appear on a more regular basis during Series 4, quite possibly because Clemens realised he may have to find a new partner for Martin Shaw if Shaw got his wish and was released. To be quite honest, they should just have cut their losses, because Shaw is not very good for the final third of the series and drags the others down with him. Lewis Collins is clearly simmering, and needed someone to bounce off rather than just trade insults with. Quite possibly Clemens thought he could persuade Shaw to stay if he ensured that Doyle got off with every woman he met, but it just seems forced and completely unrealistic.

Maybe Clemens also realised that the game was up too as the last five episodes here are well below par and that`s being polite. The Chinese-flavoured Takeaway episode (haha, not) just doesn`t make any sense at all. I was a little tired when I watched it but I ended up completely confused at what had happened. The less said about the rest the better, and that`s a shame because prior to that it was still very good (even if showing signs of being a little stale). The only positive points I can raise for these episodes is that Clemens inserts a couple of lines into the script acknowledging the reputation for fast, dangerous driving that his series was evoking critically.

It`s still a very good TV series, but it could have been so much better. As with all the re-releases, look for this only if you don`t have it already.