Unfortunately Lloyd-Pack's geeky hairstyle does not make him a terribly convincing hitman! Robert Gillespie and (more surprisingly) Peter Cellier get small roles.

Plenty of action and even some humour with the matching tracksuits but also many holes and convenient plot devices. Ramos is able to get into the grounds far too easily and the old cliche of his telescopic sight glinting in the sunlight had been done to death (pardon the pun) even by 1977!

Also, why on earth is it down to Bodie and Doyle to save the girl? See Sharon's notes below.

Not that the show was into gratuitous violence or anything (<VBG>) but Ramos suddenly decides to assassinate his own accomplice for no adequately explored reason! Did I miss something there?

Fave scenes include the opening with the lads tackling the female op (surprise, surprise!) and where they race to save Cowley and catch Ramos in the office.

Cowley turning tables on Ramos at the end is also a great way to finish the episode off!

In all there are some great scenes in this ep and it's very entertaining. But the plot itself doesn't quite hang together.

And some of the plot points are really dumb - why they didn't call in the girl's location and have the demolition stopped instead of racing the wrecking ball and dodging around falling parts of the building is beyond my limited understanding. The dubbing sucks as well.

That said, it's a pretty fair episode. Both Lads look good - Doyle's hair is growing out, a decided improvement. The "camera" is beginning to figure out how to deal with Martin. Bodie dresses exceptionally well in the soon-to-be-standard polo shirt and leather jacket. Not sure about the red-orange track suits, but, hey, the fit is good where it matters.

The sequence with the cat burglar is fun. Good comedy-within-suspense there. Nice shot of Bodie from, uh, behind as he's going over the wall. Gotta love those moleskins!

Doyle-as-a-bully plays well in this one. He steamrolls over the poor burglar, tells the beseiged millionaire father that "We need information and we're not fussy how we get it" and clearly enjoys throwing his weight around over the phone with upper level cops. Bodie broods and menaces, but Doyle crackles with aggression. Bodie enjoys Doyle's enjoyment.

We get some nice hints about both men's backgrounds. Watch Bodie as he clowns around on the tower, slips into serious talk of field-of-fire, clowns some more and then becomes deadly serious when he spots the shine on Ramos' binoculars. (stupid, stupid Ramos!) The teamwork and rapport between the two agents is silk-smooth.

That doesn't prevent Bodie from playing a rather nasty joke on his partner in regards to the new female CI5 agent. The Lads in Friendly Competition for women is an established theme by now - females are less important for who they are than for what they represent as tokens in the one-upsmanship game.

Cowley has some excellent scenes in this one. GJ watchers enjoy! Interesting quote from Doyle: "What did Father say?" They are in many ways, Cowley's sons & heirs. One take on the last segment wherein Cowley uses them to lull Ramos into thinking he's unprotected and alone is that George is teaching them as he works. He certainly hints at this process later in 'Need To Know'. Also note that while Bodie agrees with Cowley, Ray is busily questioning everything!

Not a great ep, but it does have its moments.

The amusing gym fight was filmed in the squash courts at Harefield Grove studios.

The derelict building was in Watford but clearly there's not much point trying to find it now!

Ramos uses a bolt-action rifle in the tower. Such a weapon cannot deliver three shots in such rapid succession as the bolt has to be manually pulled between each one. (Thanks to Peter Bahniuk.)

When the lads race back upstairs once they realise Ramos is in the building, Cowley's office seems to have magically moved as they go to a different door!

Also, when the lads escort Harbinger to the airport, they use the brown Rover P6. On returning, they are in the white Dolomite.

Martin Benson's (Ramos' sidekick, Villa) biggest claim to fame was that of playing the hideous Captain Vogon Jeltz in the 1981 television adaptation of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Robert Gillespie (Sammy) guested in various sitcoms throughout the 70s and 80s, while playing the lead in the rather dull Keep it in the Family (though Stacy Dorning and Sabina Franklyn were always worth watching!). Also cameod in the second season story 'Rogue'

Nadim Sawalha (Sheikh Achmeia) popped up all over the place in the 70s and 80s in series such as The Sweeney, Shelley, Minder and Tales of the Unexpected. Bond fans may remember his short role in The Spy Who Loved Me at the hands, sorry, teeth, of Jaws! He also, of course, appeared in two further Professionals episodes ('First Night' and 'Hiding to Nothing'). Although his career in the last fifteen years hasn't been quite so prolific, he continues to work steadily, most recently as a regular on the medical soap Dangerfield.

John Horsley (Mr Mitchell) is perhaps best known as Doc Morrissey in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

Finally Ed Bishop is, of course, renowned for his searing performance as Commander Ed Straker in Gerry Anderson's UFO and continues to appear in various Rent-a-Yank roles. He also appeared in the second-season episode 'Man Without a Past'.