Although the plot premise (the boys have to protect a controversial political figure) had been done and redone so many times in the series, we do get some great action and humour here. The camerawork and direction are also splendid.

Clarke Peters, playing Ojuka, excels here – and seems to enjoy the whole experience!

When Doyle saves Bodie by shooting the attacker, a grateful Bodie says "Reckon I owe you". Doyle's enigmatic reply is "One down, eight to go!" – does that mean D has saved B on eight previous occasions? Or is it just a reference to a cat having nine lives?

Doyle also has some terse, sarcastic words for Cowley here: "Oh, I see – we're going to be the elastoplast, are we?" is one example. And Cowley rebukes him for it every time, though can't beat him for wit.

Great acidic dialogue between Cowley and Avery (Geoffrey Palmer) when they first meet: "The notion of calling in CI5 for a school visit seemed akin to asking the SAS to rescue a cat out of a tree." / "An error of judgement on your part, then?" / "It's easy to be wise after the event, Cowley.... I won't be held responsible..." / "Oh, yes, I can see that!"

Murphy makes a return – but, as usual, it's barely worth his time and effort!

The "Mr Guppy" scene (the lads masquerade as Tropical Fish salesmen!) is a brief but hilarious moment! As a follow-up:

Doyle: "We had a tankful of them when I was a kid. Guppies, angel-fish... until the cat got up one morning and went fishing!"
Bodie: "You should have got a couple of pirhanas to look after them."
Doyle: "What, you mean like us?"
Bodie: "Yeah! Tell you what, though: Ojuka's no angel-fish - we've got a fully-grown barracuda in there, mate!"

A pre-fame appearance and excellent, gritty (if slightly tongue-in-cheek) performance by Charles Dance (as hitman Parker). And his South African accent seems very good. His arrival soon results in some very violent action. I'm surprised the killing of the hotel receptionist wasn't axed by a certain broadcaster! <G>. Great scene where Doyle gets his revenge on him - "Now how do you feel, BUDDY!!?"

Bodie quotes some poetry! Well he is an intellectual! (See 'A Hiding to Nothing'! Actually this isn't out-of-character - he does this in a few of the earlier episodes.

Ojuka's son attends Harrow Public School. (Thanks to Bob Rocca)

The hotel at which the lads pose as Tropical Fish Salesman (as you do!) is the Burnham Beeches Hotel, just west of Maidenhead (thanks to Gill Roche)

Clarke Peters is actually a dancer by profession. He later starred alongside Martin Shaw in the downright weird Facelift. Now starring in an American cop series called The Wire (I don't think we've seen that here in the UK).

Charles Dance was a complete unknown at the time this episode was made. However with the delayed transmission of the fifth season in the UK, James Bond fans would have already spied him in For Your Eyes Only. In 1984 he was cast in the acclaimed mini-series The Jewel in the Crown. A whole gamut of TV movies followed in the late 1980s and he even played Bond creator Ian Fleming in a biopic of the author. First Born (1989) was a chilling mini-series concerning experiments with genetic engineering. Dance's leading character creates a human/gorilla hybrid. In the 1990s he starred in movies such as Alien 3, Last Action Hero and Michael Collins. In the otherwise awful revival of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) he outshone all the rest of the cast put together. Recently recognised for his work on This is Your Life.

A very young Paul Medford played Ojuka's son Felix in the opening scenes. EastEnders fans may remember him from the early years of that show. Recently starred in the BBC's reasonable sci-fi mini-series Invasion: Earth.