Story
Action
Pace
Humour
Violence

The fifth season kicks off with a cracker - it needed to!

Brian C proves he can still come up with the goods. This episode is probably unique in that not even Cowley can see a way round the situation - every time he thinks he can catch Roddy, the old lag has another surprise for him. ("He's got us by the short and curlies!" Cowley says - compare this with his remark in the pilot ep, 'Old Dog with New Tricks': "Kick them in the goolies first! Do unto others now what they are only just thinking about!") Although Cowley remains firmly in charge throughout, it's clear even he is beginning to "wobble" - especially with the pressure from the hospital doctor. All these elements keep the episode tense, interesting and watchable.

The police inspector makes a comment that we haven't heard since the early stories: "You boys are always quoting the small-print in your authority: 'Leave it to CI5' - so I did, I am.... and in this case I'm glad to!"

Roddy and Jack (the two ex-cons) discussing the scheme at the start of the episode is well-scripted: "I did twenty years [inside jail] and I'm not gonna do another week. As a matter of fact I couldn't do another hour - it would kill me." / "But, Jack, this one is certain." / "Oh yeah - so was the train!". And Jack later listening to the radio reports adds a further little dimension.

The plot works fairly well - except right at the end, which I'll come back to.

Some great photography with the hospital ward being blasted - the exploding blood bottles and shattering glass are shown in slow-motion - very effective. However I think this aspect of the story is the only thing that lets it down: there's no way Roddy could achieve that sort of accuracy (without hitting the patients) with a machine-gun.

Murphy (Steve Alder) gets his "big break" here - shame they didn't make better use of him in other stories (by the time of the 1981-filmed stories, he had been dropped altogether.)

And whatever happened to Kim Goody? (Stacey's girlfriend)

Although Bodie and Doyle don't have much witty banter to impart in this one (and, indeed, they end up working separately in the second half), Roddy and Paul Stacey do have their humorous moments - when Stacey dresses up as the female hostage his words to Roddy are "Give us a kiss!".

The conclusion doesn't quite make sense, though: Bodie, not realising that Stacey is a fake, still shoots him! Actually this was a problem with the way the scene was shot: the original script (and Ken Blake's subsequent novelisation of the story) made it clear that as Bodie lines up Roddy in his sights, he notices the "girl's" hairy forearms as "she" reaches up to the ropeladder. So now we know!

Must just mention Doyle's bomber jacket - I WANT ONE! Not sure why he's got a dead grey seal attached to the collar, though.

Right at the start of the ep, when Jack refuses to take part in the scheme, Roddy says to him "You just watch the headlines, Jack – you're gonna see me walk away with a cool million - and you're gonna say to yourself 'That could have been me'." Without giving the plot away, Jack says exactly that right at the end - but not in the manner that Roddy was hoping for!

Not one of my favs. This is mostly fast-forward material once you've viewed it for the first time. The story isn't bad but there are many plot flaws. Dave has covered those. I'll concentrate on the important stuff.

Both men look terrific even though they aren't together for much of the story. When they are, it's quite nice. Bodie's a bit on the chubby side, but since I like him that way, it works for me. Doyle's hair is nearly perfect and Bodie's is nicely long and wavy. The staircase scene is great, over far too soon, although someone should have kept Lew from wearing The Awful Gray Jacket under the flak vest.

Murphy and Bodie have NO chemistry at all. Bodie gives it a try with the pout after the "I can't do it alone" line, but it's just not there. Nice close-ups, however. Watch Bodie's face during the pre-climbing set-ups. Is he a happy lad or what! He also looks quite fit during the climbing sequence.

I will refrain from commenting on the symbolism of the tower. Or on the silliness of taking such a risk without sanction. Or Bodie shooting "the girl".

The scene with Doyle and the girl is an excellent "rough cop" one. Played well by both actors - good dialogue and action, excellent direction and camera work there.

Doyle is simply gorgeous. Could those new jeans be any tighter?

The very last scene - watch how Doyle moves close to Bodie as the camera moves away. Think anyone was seriously considering substituting Murph for Doyle?

Nah.

When Doyle is talking to Cowley on the RT about Dunston, he's driving on a road alongside fields. When the shot goes back to Doyle mid-sentence and about a second later he's driving down an urban residential street. (Thanks to Nik Hodges).

This is a debateable one: in Roddy's final scene towards the end of the episode, we see the helicopter swing back towards the warehouse and fly above some parked cars. There is a police car along with what appears to be Cowley's black Granada and Doyle's Capri - yet the latter is supposed to be parked up at Dunstan's country house in Surrey, some forty miles away! (Thanks to Jesper Antvorskov)

I was quite amazed to see RAF Pirbright - 'cos when I lived there it was an ARMY base (and it still is)!!

This was the most expensive episode shot for the entire series. The script had originally been written in 1979 and intended to be filmed and screened as part of the third season. However despite the low number of locations used, the chimney set-piece and extensive use of helicopters couldn't be budgeted for at the time. The revival of the story the following year was borne of the expectation that the series being saved from cancellation was just a temporary reprieve. With the 1980 episodes apparently being the final ones, it was felt important to have at least one "iconic", big-budget episode before bowing out.

Stanley Meadows (Roddy) usually played villains in series such as Special Branch and The Sweeney. Also starred in Lynda La Plante's crime mini-series Widows and its sequel.

Ron Pember (Jack) is a well-known face from 1970s, usually playing in villainous types in classic series such as Department S, UFO, Callan, Secret Army, Sweeney, Target and Minder.

Karl Howman (Stacey) usually played Jack-the-Lad types in shows such as Sweeney and Minder and went on to play the leads in the dire sitcoms Brush Strokes, Mulberry and Babes in the Wood. Currently to be seen advertising cleaning agents.

Robert Putt (Inspector Newton) is sometimes credited as Roger Putt for some reason. Starred in the enjoyable Brian Conley sitcom Time After Time.

C J Allen (Sergeant Wood) starred as another copper in the long-running police drama Juliet Bravo.

Kim Goody (Tessa, Stacey's girlfriend) seemed to be one of those actresses, like Suzanne Danielle, who was well-known without ever doing much. I seem to remember she presented a couple of ITV children's programmes throughout the late 70s and early 80s and popped up in TV ads for products such as ice-cream. In recent years has turned her talents to music production for television themes and advertising jingles.