Sir_Oblong_Fitzoblong

A string of dismal cliches of gangsters, drugs, and an unconvincingly cerebral detective listening to an aria from The Messiah combined with a paper thin plot and some depressingly am dram standard violence make this a grim waste of 50 minutes.

It would all have been bad enough on Jersey but setting it all in London removes the whole point of the series and the character of Bergerac.

The appeal of this series when it is being its best is its location and the regular supporting characters that give the stories something unique and raise it above the humdrum. All those features are absent in this episode and there is virtually no plot to help in supplanting them.

I have just re-watched all 92 episodes (not having seen them since I watched the original broadcast in the 70s) and greatly enjoyed them.

The drama centres on a family-run road haulage firm whose ownership becomes complicated after the death of its founder with business, family, and other personal issues becoming intertwined.

All the acting is of high quality and the balance of personal vs business story strands is largely OK although in series 3 and 4 things get a bit bogged down in one particular marriage and the balance suffers somewhat.

One major quality that distinguishes it from modern drama touching on similar topics is that the financial and business content is written realistically and from an informed perspective. Today's TV (and radio) is written by children who know damn all about business and trot out rubbish plucked out of thin air with no basis in reality.

Series 1-6 are truly excellent. In series 7 things do start to get a bit tired. The characters are still compelling but the plot ideas are becoming thin and it is a blessing that it was stopped before it became a disappointing soapy shell of itself.

All in all after episode 92 one is left with entirely happy memories of an excellent drama.

I watched this series when first broadcast in 1972 and remember enjoying it at the time so was delighted to see these three episodes again recently.

I only recalled the odd snippet from some episodes but the dramatic Episode 1, the Exorcism, made a vivid impression on me then and was just as dramatic this time.

I enjoyed Episode 2, featuring Peter Barkworth as a pilot, more than some others seem to have done. It doesn't have the drama of Ep 1 but does leave one pondering afterwards.

Episode 3 I found the weakest but still enjoyed the 1970s production values with real actors (all three have stalwarts of 1970s and 80s TV) and the feel of seeing a good play rather than a poor film that I get from most modern drama.