The Professionals

[daveydave7]

Ancient and on all the time but still bloody good in parts, one of the few things I aim to watch now some of the driving scenes are fantastically well shot

[AmiableChimp]

Got the box set from Santa a couple of years ago.

Keep an eye out for famous faces making bit part appearances all over the place.

[vixen1700]

Yeah, like Trigger from Only Fools & Horses as a hitman.

[FourWheelDrift]

daveydave7 said:

some of the driving scenes are fantastically well shot

One thing I always notice is Collins and Shaw doing all their own driving (jumps if any excepted) they are skidding, handbrake turn, wheel spinning off on public roads with little space around in most cases. Impressive really and I bet they had lots of fun at the the sdame time.

There's a few on here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5MrqEJdeNg

Another bit of impressive anti-H&S I remember is Denis Waterman climbing up a drainpipe to an upstairs window in the Sweeney. Health and Safety, CGI or stuntmen would be involved today.

[onyx39]

spent a lot time watching this when I was off work last month, really enjoyed it.
Sky are (or were) also showing the New Proffesionals with Edward Woodward playing the Cowley role.
Awful does not begin to descibe it.

[Nedzilla]

I loved it as a kid and have been watching them again recently.Its strange how certain things from certain episodes trigger memories and your right about the famous/familiar faces popping up now and again.
I just couldn't take trigger seriously as an international hitman though,seem to remember DCI Burnside from the Bill made an appearance recently too!

Good stuff

[Captain Ahab]

Yep, get the boxset , daytime tv version has been overly edited and does get a bit confusing in some episodes

[Truckosaurus]

The other 'enjoyable' part of The Professionals re-runs is whenever they go to a pub and a round of drinks comes to a quid. (Also they drink exotic things suck as "a bottle of lager").

I agree that CI:5 - The New Professionals is utterly charmless and dreadful. Although there is one episode based around smuggling using a GT racing team as cover, lots of footage at Brands Hatch.

[Morningside]

vixen1700 said:

Yeah, like Trigger from Only Fools & Horses as a hitman.

That one was a classic.

Couple of mistakes. Bloke falling from a window changed in body mass as they changed to the stunt man and another I spotted is when one car fell over the cliff you could very clearly see stuffed dummies in the front seats.

Everything blew up. Cars and planes. With the planes it was either behind a hill or shed.

But it was a great series and I enjoyed them hugely.

Also looking back it was great to spot all the cars of the late 70s and early 80s and I suspect I could name 99% of them.

I am now catching up on all The Sweeney being shown.

Great, great telly with no stty camera angles, no sodding music over the dialogue and what I call real outside scenes (camera plonked in the street) compared to the sterile ones they have now. I suppose its because everyone now has to sign a form to say they wish to appear?

And the best bit. No bloody computers being used all the time as a story shortcut.

Edited by Morningside on Wednesday 7th November 14:52

[Pixelpeep]

onyx39 said:

spent a lot time watching this when I was off work last month, really enjoyed it.
Sky are (or were) also showing the New Proffesionals with Edward Woodward playing the Cowley role.
Awful does not begin to descibe it.

yes.. on a par with the new knight rider run...

cringe and ruin in one

[daveydave7]

Thanks for the replies lads I expected to get slaughtered for liking it
Trigger as a hit man that would be the joey ramone lookalike episode lol
DI Burnside actor was in 2 episodes
Some of the best driving is in the one where Bodies GF is injured in a reataurant bombing and one towards the end of the series where there is a mortar attack on a limo.
I have the box set burned to hard drive and know that there are severe edits but even so much as its edited etc it still makes an enjoyable hour or so of Telly
I think the NEW CI5 thing (not so new as over 10 years old now) is on on one of the CBS channels on satellite ??

[smartphone hater]

vixen1700 said:

Yeah, like Trigger from Only Fools & Horses as a hitman.

Ramos.

[Halb]

I have a 3.0 silver Capri Ghia, love it.

[daveydave7]

Halb said:

I have a 3.0 silver Capri Ghia, love it.

But can you get 3 armed guys out the back in record time like Bodie managed in that last series episode

[Halb]

Couldn't even get a skinny blonde in there, it's small!

[Adrian W]

ITV4 professionals, Sweeney, minder and lots of car racing, what more could you want

[FourWheelDrift]

smartphone hater said:

vixen1700 said:

Yeah, like Trigger from Only Fools & Horses as a hitman.

Ramos.

Dubbed as well, I'd give lots of money (at least £10) to hear his original voiced version.

[FourWheelDrift]

Ps. Just have to add Diana Weston who appeared in both The Professionals (Ruth, Cowley's right hand lady) and The Sweeney (twice, as a WPC and as an air hostess in the Sweeney 2 film).

Oh and a young Pamela Stephenson, 3 times cast as a different "Attractive Blonde"

[iva cosworth]

I watched it when it was on the first time around.

I owned a white with BVR RS2000 in the mid 80s too.

[speedtwelve]

Saw it all the first time round as well, back in the 70s/80s. Have all 4 series on DVD and spent a few months watching every episode with the O/H recently. Brought back loads of memories; bowling alley nuclear bomb, sniper foxholed on the roof, Bodie's house phone with 'more plastic in it than it had this morning', bloke with wingmirrors & rigged with nerve gas standing in a park near Battersea, Pamela Stephenson with a grenade shoved between her puppies, Bodie & Doyle generally pissed-up all the time, both driving head-on in Capri 3.0S & RS2000 and braking to a halt 6 inches apart, the excellent episode where both have to do a close-protection job knowing the target will definitely be hit: magnum pistols, 'dum-dums', and wondering if either will survive.

Might watch all of them again soon.