A mixture of pace, action and plot make this a strong episode. The off-beat pre-titles scene - cut completely by Granada Minus - is a tad reminiscent of Tara King Avengers.

The second season introduces the lads' call signs - but listen out for the appalling continuity errors in this episode!

The use of 16mm steadicam technology certainly gives this and all following episodes a more 'natural' feel, as we follow the actors more closely around the sets and hear 'realtime' dialogue. However Martin and Lew themselves now appear to be much more comfortable with each other - a huge advantage, of course!

We also come across our first female CI5 agent, Ruth Pettifer (Diana Weston), though she never really got the chance to get involved in the action.

The scene in which the lads are giving Kathy a lift is hilarious - some terrific, crazy banter there (again, much of this, plus the terrific motorway chase scene was cut by ourfavourite satellite broadcaster) - "Are you two always like this?" / "Certainly not! We sometimes imagine people are following us!". Very much an evolvement of the car scenes from first season stories but this time it goes on for several minutes. As noted elsewhere, one of the series' trademarks.

The East End pub-singer scene is an interesting one (if hardly telegenic!) - much more akin to The Sweeney.

The car-crash scene is splendidly filmed. (And don't worry – they didn't really destroy the Jag E-Type!)

One slight flaw: Preston refuses Doyle entry to his house without a search warrant. Since when did CI5 need one of those?

So, a terrific episode, then - all the more so because it appeals to both male and female fans (if not necessarily for the same reasons! <G>)

Fave line comes from when Bodie first sees Kathie: "Nice!" / "Yeah.... not your type at all!"

The dialogue, particularly when B & D are bantering, is wonderful. MS has Doyle down now: syntax and diction are perfect for the character. Both lads look good and the camera is getting better at focusing on them to advantage. The "cute banter" stuff is getting smooth – this is the first time they do the "over the top of the car" routine, I believe.

Two and possibly three events that we get to share/see thanks to the expense of refilming scenes: (these are open to debate and this is only my take on them)

1. just after Cowley chews Doyle out for losing the gun and starts to drive away, Doyle gives an odd little jump and looks back at Bodie. If you watch LC's face just prior to that, it seems reasonable to say that some funny business was going on. <G>

2. just as the camera cuts in when they walk up the gangplank to Brownie's boat, it looks like someone was "boosting" someone else and nearly got his head handed to him.

3. while B & D are interviewing Marty toward the end of the scene something was happening off camera that both LC and MS found to be funny. Watch their faces.

Once the plot begins to move along the emphasis is put more and more on Bodie as caretaker and protector of Ray. "You'll save me," (Doyle to Bodie) and "without Bodie to take care of me" (Doyle to Kathy). Bodie watches over Doyle all night. And, of course, when Bodie confronts Kathy in Preston's house I have no doubt that had she tried to hold out the information he wanted he would have carried out his promise. Or threat. And finally Bodie uses his insider status with the gun merchant to save Doyle – undoubtedly racking up a huge stack of favors owed in the process!

Minor notes: the pub singing scene is unplayable! Once was quite enough! Ray's "we haven't got much time" ought to have earned him a drink in his lap. It's good to know that Kathy took him home for a sinister reason – had she actually fallen for that lame line... And Bodie's date? Well, onward.

Bodie wears the same stupid shirt with the hearts on it that he sported in 'Stakeout' for much of the story. One theory: Doyle gave it to him as a pressie so he has to wear the bloody thing. OTOH, Doyle is wearing some nice shirts in this: the see-through one is a particular fav, though the unbuttoned to the mid-chest one is fine too. Both men look adorable <G> with unshaven faces. The kitchen scene early in the morning just before Kathy shows with the book-bomb is delightful. It is a foreshadowing of the wonderful save-my-partner scene in 'The Purging of CI5' – camera-work is nearly the same as well. The black lady who strolls past and informs them of the absence of one of the suspects is a great example of "real life" material that makes this show so natural. The 3.6 & 3.7 call-sign mix-ups (presumably mistakes in the script, though why this wasn't spotted by the cast/crew is a mystery! – Dave) are distracting, but only because we know what they should be. Lewis is getting the "Glowering Bodie" down to a fine art. The way he moves and rushes and forgets to close his car door in his haste to find out about Doyle is excellent detail stuff. By the end of this episode Bodie is as real and actual as Doyle is at the beginning. Their bodies have picked up the characters' characteristics and from now on we can accept them as B & D rather than as people playing roles.

Save for the pub-singing and the overly-long car rides with only music, this is one of the best episodes and definitely in the top contenders for the best "partner" eps.

The shot of the car motoring through the tunnel is, apparently, Rotherhithe Tunnel.

The computer room was Honeywell's then headquarters in Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex, though the building no longer exists.

Doyle is chasing around Southall Gas Works.

OK, back to the episode itself. Lynn McInroy thinks the delapidated building in the initial scenes is a place called Cadby Hall, on the North side of the Hammersmith Road, just West of Olympia. It used to be the Headquarters of Lyons but was demolished around 1981. On teh other hand Tony Mackay suggests it's actually good old Southall Gasworks. I have to say it doesn't look like Southall to me. Sue Curtis suggests it may have been shot somewhere in Fulham.

The first chase involves the White City flyover (thanks to "Chris"). The night chase was shot in the Rotherhithe tunnel.

Doyle's flat is in Cliff Road, Camden. The pic opposite was taken in 2001 and, as you can see, the place hadn't changed at all! However in early 2002 major renovations were under way which rendered the building looking in a very sorry state. Hopefully it will be restored to all its former glory before too long! CONFIRMED

Doyle and Kathie enjoy an evening at The Gun pub, Cold Harbour on the Isle of Dogs. The pub still stands today but has ercently been restored and refurbished. (Many thanks to Kevin Bricknell for info and pic)

The lads try out the A180 at the Palace of Engineering, Olympic Way, Wembley. However I believe this was demolished many years ago.

Doyle's Jaguar E-type goes out of control in East Heath Road, Hampstead Heath. However the actual crash was shot elsewhere.

The lads meet Martell on the Woolwich Ferry.

Brownie's boat is moored at the East India Docks, Bromley.

The round Bodie finds on Brownie's boat is far too large for the .22-calibre of the A180 itself.

For info on the "laser-lock" rifle, see the Hardware section. Members of the public, not realising that the gun was benig used to film a TV show, contacted the police in fear that a terrorist incident was about to take place!

Doyle's E-type Jaguar apparently belonged to series producer ray Menmuir.

Cheryl Kennedy's (Kathie) acting career was surprisingly low-key and she appears to have quit the business in 1980. She does, however, appear in one of the best and funniest Sweeney episodes, 'Golden Fleece', and had a small role in comedian Dick Emery's 1972 movie, wherein her character receives a tattoo on her... well, modesty prevents me from saying! Interestingly the IMDB lists her as starring in a 1999 episode of The Bill, so she either returned to acting after a twenty year absence (to raise a family?) or it's another actress of the same name.

Bryan Marshall (Preston) has guested in many TV productions over the years, though is perhaps best remembered for his role alongside Bob Hoskins in the brilliant 1980 mob thriller The Long Good Friday. Bond fans will remember him as the captain of the British submarine that gets hijacked in The Spy Who Loved Me. I also seem to recall spotting him in the dreadful Australian soap Neighbours as a toy-boy to one of the elder characters back in the late 1980s. What a shame! He's probably had that credit removed from the IMDB! He's done a fair bit of stuff since then but nothing of particular note, though starred alongside Martin Shaw in the 1982 drippy melodrama East Lynne.

Tony Caunter (Maurice Richards) had previously been seen as another copper in 'Long Shot' and, indeed, has spent most of his career playing members of Her Majesty's constabulary. However, more recently he's been a long-term star of UK doom-and-gloom soap EastEnders.

Diana Weston (Ruth) hasn't gone on to anything notable but did at least play the lead in the sitcom The Upper Hand which was a UK version of the American series She's the Boss.

Vicki Michelle (Jo, who forms the foursome with Bodie, Doyle and Kathie) is best remembered for the wartime sitcom 'Allo 'Allo. She also appears in the fifth-season episode 'The Untouchables'.

The orange caption card right at the end of the episode bears an older version of the LWT logo, replaced in August 1978. It is assumed that the episode was originally tx'd with this and was never "updated".