mch2469

Just watched this and I have to disagree with the low scores here...... this is just a bit of fun and for its age it carries it off admirably..... it's a farce and it's enjoyable to watch.... It doesn't pretend to be anything else.... I recommend to anyone just watch it and don't try to compare it with anything else...it's under an hour, and you don't need to overthink this film. Just enjoy it for what it is... a bit of fun!

It was nice to see Michael Medwin acting the goat, and Garry Marsh as the bad guy. I always thought Marsh was underrated as a comedy character actor though he played his fair share of serious roles. I didn't think he got the opportunity to play the comedy enough here which was a shame and I do wonder if he might have been better playing Hugh Latimer's part and He played the other part but that is not to take anything away from either of them here. The whole cast know that they are just playing up on the farce and the whole film works as just that. Great Fun...!

I have just finished watching this first series which is actually a self contained mini series. This story centres around Chief Superintendent Barlow, a character from Z Cars and later Softly Softly. He is a serving member of the British Police Force who is asked to look into corruption and conspiracy in a Welsh town. The town has been redeveloped from its mining roots into a manufacturing centre for technology products. Barlow is tasked to uncover any and all criminal activities being carried out by one of the company directors who is considered the Big Wig of the town. This task was based on information received from a former council employee who was serving time in prison for sexual assault of children. In uncovering the criminal activities Barlow finds murder, police corruption and a counterfeiting ring which ultimately leads him to Cyprus to find the source of the counterfeiting scheme.

Overall I really enjoyed this, in a way the character of Barlow reminds me of William Conrad's character in Cannon, a US TV show around the same time. Both are very straight laced and straight talking and have a set of principles that they will not deviate from regardless of the circumstances or the consequences. This particular series is quite unusual for the time as it looks at the crimes of a peadophile and at one of his victims who seems to have some sort of a bond with his abuser that is a twisted sort of 'love' and loyalty. Of course, Barlow considers this abhorrent and treats the abuser with a justified contempt however he is much more understanding of one of his victims who has this misplaced 'love'.... I don't think I can remember any TV show of the time broaching this subject especially in this way. The story itself moves along at a good pace and is interesting to follow as Barlow unravels the woven intricacies of the conspiracy and the characters involved. This first series of 3 episodes stand alone from the next series which followed a couple of years later in which the episodes are self contained rather than the this first mini series which has one overall storyline. I am not sure if it was always planned for there to be a second series when making this one especially given that a couple of years passed before the second but I think this first one was successful enough to justify making a second series. I really like the Barlow character and his methods, it makes for some great TV and also helps lift certain storylines that might not work with another type of character . Overall a really enjoyable start to a great TV series. Well worth seeking out and watching if you can.

I have managed to watch 22 episodes of this series and I am looking for the few remaining episodes that exist or are said to exist anyway.

Every episode has a different detective and characters along with a different story, they are all interesting and of good consistency in quality of the story. The acting is also very good despite a good few episodes using somewhat unknown actors. The first series is presented by Rupert Davies in his Maigret character which is a nice touch, but every time I watched him I really wanted him to take on the role of the detective in the episode rather than just introducing the episode, I really enjoyed his TV series Maigret and consider it the best of all versions.

I think these episodes still hold up today as good TV and I think worthy of being transmitted on TV again perhaps a TV channel like Talking Pictures might be able to in the future as they do transmit some great old B&W TV series from the U. K. as well as some great films, all of which you would not see anywhere else, unfortunately!

I would recommend anyone here to seek out these episodes as they are worth finding and watching and offer some great stories and acting plus we get to see a different pace of life and attitudes some of which are sorely missed in today's TV offerings.