Special Squad

Enjoyable series that never made the prime time in the UK. Anyone viewing it and familiar with The Professionals would soon spot the similarities.

Grizzled older authority figure sending the younger guys out to do the legwork. Another carry-over was the use of Ford vehicles (did the producers have a deal?). Bodie & Doyle had their boy-racer Escorts and Capris. The Special Squad had their Falcons - looking to British eyes like a Granada (though actually a somewhat different vehicle I found out later, superficial similarities only).

It seems to me (thinking back 20 years!) that the credits listed Professionals producers Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell but IMDb.com does not mention this, maybe I'm mistaken.

"Special Squad" was essentially an Australian variation on the classic British action show "The Professionals" (1977-1983). Indeed Raymond Menmuir acted as producer on both series and other similarities included a triumvirate of lead characters, fast-moving plots, car chases, shootouts and other rough stuff. The junior characters even used similar two-digit call-signs.

However "Special Squad" was largely happy to concentrate on straightforward "street level" crime rather than than the nice variety of villainry, espionage and political intrigue of the Brit show. "Squad" also lacked the flair, biting humour and character rapport that had been key to The Professionals' success. Nevertheless it was reasonably entertaining and probably deserved to last longer than its single season.

It attempts to portray the life of Melburnian detectives by presenting some classic actions like chasing and shooting scenes. Some of them are very creative, though. You can't find these scenes in any other action series. The three main characters play very well.