CI5: The New Professionals

Whilst not as good as the old series this is considerably better than anything currently showing on British tv.The scripts vary in quality but when they work they are superb.The new CI5 is far more in the mode of the CIA and the new cast and characters are more plausible and free of the "loose cannon" attitudes that reduced the old series to caricature. The cast work hard to breathe life into their characters and the action sequences are superior to most movies(although they were needlessly cut for UK transmission).

This Nineties update of a Seventies show is very enjoyable, although not as good as the original.The new cast take a few episodes to fit into their characters and Edward Woodward,excellent as he is, never matches the inventiveness of Gordon Jackson's Cowley.The first few episodes are very similar to the old series but the new crew develop a different and original style as the series progresses.Later episodes are more in the James Bond mould but boast impressive action sequences and an excellent score by Hywel Maggs and Chris Winter.As with the old series no one watches the Professionals for the writing but the spectacular action and the enjoyable interplay between the characters.

CI5: The New Professionals was a series which most fans waited for since the original's demise in the early 1980s.

While audiences have become more sophisticated in the last 18 years, the new series takes a backward step, with writing and scoring that are childish at best. The show's creator, Brian Clemens, fails to take into account numerous developments in the original, and the new 37 and 45, Curtis and Keel, lack the initiative of their predecessors. To the seasoned Professionals fan the pair appear stupid in Clemens's scripts. The only able agent, Backus, is forever stuck at headquarters (much like Ruth being Cowley's chauffeur). The performances are also weak: at times Edward Woodward, as Malone, is dictating, and not acting, his lines: this is his worst performance since that crimes documentary he did a few years back. Curtis and Keel are simply too soft-looking; remember that Bodie and Doyle were hard men who had seen plenty of action as a mercenary and a top police officer.

Of the first three Clemens stories, the plots are tolerable, but their execution is marred. (I have yet to see one not scripted by Clemens, so I hope they get better.) The new electronic score fails to build any of the tension of Laurie Johnson's original (which was edited to fit the scene, and not composed for each episode). Even the titles look silly (the same size of type used for both name and role or position).

For a series that was promised to be as streetwise and gritty as the 1970s originals, it fails miserably and is on the verge of a parody. Fans will be disappointed.

I had the misfortune of coming across this one boring evening. The two leading characters are totally characterless, Edward Woodward is not much better, and having a pretty gun toting female cannot save it. Very disappointing. The 'old' Professionals worked well because the two leading characters were interesting, they were likeable, they had some depth, and that's why it worked. This doesn't.

The original late 70s / early 80s "Professionals" was all British, politically incorrect, often mindless and frequently placed more emphasis on gunfights and loud explosions than it did on character development. Yet strangely this was part of its appeal and it was (and still is) hugely popular all over the world. The "New Professionals" tries to be a more international and more politically correct show than its predecessor, and that's its main downfall. Two of the main four characters are Americans - one can only assume that these characters were cast with one eye on the American export market. We also now have the male head of CI5 reporting to a female minister and a young and savvy "anything the boys can do I can do too" female sidekick on hand to get the two main (male) leads out of assorted sticky situations. In short, like so many other modern series, pandering to the politically correct lobby. This wouldn't be so bad if the plots weren't so thin and the dialog so weak and corny. "Who are CI5?" asks an FBI man in the pilot episode. "They're the best", replies his colleague, sounding suitably impressed. And so it goes on. A shame - the idea of continuing the CI5 story was a good one. Shame that the end result was such a let-down.