Original Title Sequence
A Rolls-Royce bursts round the corner...
... containing some very dodgy-looking characters...
... especially this one:
Doyle commences his attack on the rope-net....
... but Bodie is already over it.
Next the Lads take on the lethal, foam-filled bag thingies!
Then the death-slide.... Hang on a minute – where did the guy in the red top come from?
.... unfortunately nobody told them about the French windows at the bottom.
No worries, our heroes can handle anything. And even get home in time for tea!|
In all seriousness, I really like this early title sequence. It's fast-paced and action-led all the way. When I saw it for the first time a few years ago I felt I actually preferred it to the more familiar 'car-smash' sequence. However I suspect this was because of novelty-value as much as anything – particularly with Gordon's little "Anarchy, acts of terror" speech. So what became of this "assault-course" sequence? Well it is still present on all of Mark 1's own prints but, sadly, they are in poor shape these days and for that reason LWT's own copies (with the car-smash titles transplanted onto them) are the ones that tend to be used for TV transmission and video issue.... These days most TV and video companies will be supplied with prints that have been transferred to digital D2 tape by the holding company British Independent Television Enterprises (BRITE). Curiously although they used LWT's copies, the original audio track (ie with Cowley's speech and the original theme music) appear on 'Private Madness, Public Danger' and 'Female Factor'. Also 'When the Heat Cools Off' appears with the assault-course but the later audio. Quite why this has happened, I'm afraid I have no definite answer. I can only assume LWT's car-smash copy was unusable for some reason (or had gone missing?), so BRITE had to use Mark 1's instead. |
Second Title Sequence