Story
Action
Pace
Humour
Violence

A cliched plot, but highly watchable (especially Jacqueline Reddin! <G>) and some great dialogue moments.

The cutting dialogue is superb throughout for all the main characters, with the tension of the situation never letting up until the end – the villains even start squabbling amongst themselves.

Despite being bashed about a bit, Bodie has the best time with his jibing at the villains, making fun of their ignorance, while Diligent Doctor Doyle stays calm and quiet, though villain Albie suspects he "might be the dangerous one!"

The villain Georgie appears to be saddled with a familiar-looking Awful Tan Leather Jacket - no wonder he's psychotic!

The episode finished a little too quickly for my liking - the lads suddenly burst into action when it isn't really safe to do so. Still, one of the better fourth season eps, IMHO.

This episode is dear to me because it was the first I ever saw. The tape was in dreadful condition and I could barely make out faces. I have better copies now.

While the story moves slowly and fairly predictably, it is a reasonable plot. Not great, but reasonable. The outdoor setting is quite nice.

Two wonders at the outset: Doyle on horseback. Sweet-tempered Bodie, cheery and fishing. Doyle on horseback. Watch the scene with the fish – is Lewis messing around there or what! Doyle on horseback.

I love their clothes. Visions in Weekend Gear.

There are numerous "looks" exchanged between the two of them all through this show. Non-verbal, partner communication. Worried about the "civilians" more than they are concerned about their macho images or nabbing the villains. This threw me at first but it reflects the philosophy of CI5 perfectly.

More wonders: Doyle in a blood-spattered tee shirt, doing living-room surgery. Bodie, slightly battered, with his sleeves rolled up and his hands dirty. Bodie's private grin when the bad guy questions him about his job. Doyle as the "dangerous one". Bodie, playing chess with the boy.

A fun moment comes when Cowley chews out the local coppers. I like Sally – wish we'd seen more of her. Cowley's role throughout is good – another case of television fiction moving close to real life. Save for the coincidences, this event could have actually happened. Fairly nice work.

Numerous gorgeous close-ups. This isn't the best of Pros, but it's a decent episode.

In the scene where the villains are about to escape in the Land Rover, Bodie's sleeves are rolled up as he enters the house but are not so when the camera angle changes. (Thanks to Stephen Brungar)

When Judy is attempting to hitch-hike, all close-up shots of her show a bright blue, sunny sky. But all other shots from the same scene reveal a dull, overcast day.

Despite the low number of locations required for this episode, it soon got severely behind schedule. The early scenes of Albie holding the party at gunpoint as they trudged through the woods proved to be difficult to film due to the ground being rainsoaked, which led to actor Bryan Pringle constantly falling over, much to the amusement of his co-stars! Their friendly chat with rabbit-shooter Ben wasn't filmed at all at this point. To compound matters, later viewing of the "rushes" of the opening scenes by the river revealed poor lighting conditions, thus many of them would need to be re-shot...

By the time the standard two-week allocation was over, none of the rework or missing scenes had been started, nor those set in the cellar. Director Bill Brayne took over from James Allen and, with the next episode already in production, the cast and crew were brought in over a weekend to complete the outstanding material and re-shoots. (Thanks to Gareth Bevan and Bob Rocca.)

Bryan Pringle (Albie Case) more usually appeared in comedies such as Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Rosie. Perhaps best remembered as the long-suffering barman in the second season of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, though had myriad other guest roles to his credit. Died in May 2002.

Brian Croucher (Georgie) is best known for playing psychopathic Federation commander Travis in the cult seventies sci-fi Blakes' 7, though he actually replaced the original actor in the role, Stephen Greif (later to appear in the Professionals episode, 'Lawson's Last Stand'). More recently seen as a regular in the BBC's soap EastEnders.

Louisa Rix (barely recognisable here with dark hair as Judy) starred alongside comedian Mel Smith in the amusing sitcom Colin's Sandwich and Gareth Hunt in the lame Side by Side. Better known, however, for playing the long-suffering mother of one of comic Harry Enfield's characters, Kevin the Teenager, in his sketch shows.

Ray Burdis (Vince) starred in both the TV and film adaptations of the controversial young offenders drama Scum. Went on to the lame sitcom Three Up, Two Down but subsequently moved behind the cameras to write and/or produce on films such as The Krays, the oddball police comedy Operation Good Guys and, more recently, comedy drama Manchild.

Sarah Lawson's (Mrs Shaw) most prolific role was as one of the governesses in the classic 70s prison drama Within These Walls. Retired in the early 1990s.