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TV · 1977

The Professionals

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The lives of Bodie and Doyle, top agents for Britain's CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their controller, George Cowley. The mandate of CI5 was to fight terrorism and similar high-profile crimes. Cowley, a hard ex-MI5 operative, hand-picked each of his men. Bodie is a cynical ex-SAS paratrooper and mercenary whose nature ran to controlled violence, while his partner, Doyle, comes to CI5 from the regular police force, and is more of an open minded liberal. Their relationship is often contentious, but they are the top men in their field, and the ones to whom Cowley always assigned to the toughest cases.

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Cast & crew

Episodes

5 seasons · 57 episodes
Series 113 ep. · 1977–1978
  1. Episode 1: Private Madness, Public Danger

    Dec 30, 1977

    Charles Nesbitt, an expert on chemical weapons, threatens to contaminate the water sources of London with a lethal hallucogenic drug and in order to back up his claims, plans several small 'demonstrations' in warning to the local authorities - including CI5.

  2. Episode 2: The Female Factor

    Jan 6, 1978

    An Iron Curtain agent is using a young girl to extort secrets from, and ultimately destroy the career of, a future British Prime Minister, unaware that the girl is the long-lost daughter of a well-known local prostitute.

  3. Episode 3: Old Dog With New Tricks

    Jan 13, 1978

    A gangster called Turkel devises a plot to free his brother from jail by taking hostage an important figure in authority. He is unaware, however, that the 'important figure' he has taken in is actually Cowley masquerading as the Home Secretary, with Bodie as his bodyguard and Doyle ready to pull the trigger on Turkel's brother.

  4. Episode 4: Killer With a Long Arm

    Jan 20, 1978

    CI5 become aware that an assassination plot on a group of visiting Greek Royals is being planned using a rifle that has a range of over two miles. But they must find out who is the gunman and what is his target - before it is too late.

  5. Episode 5: Heroes

    Jan 27, 1978

    When a newspaper takes it upon themselves to irresponsibly publish a list of the names of witnesses to an assassination, it is left to CI5 to not only protect these people, but at the same time apprehend the killers before they strike again.

  6. Episode 6: Where the Jungle Ends

    Feb 3, 1978

    A group of former comrades from Bodie's mercenary days reappear in England and in order to impress a top London gangster, carry out a violent raid on a local bank. It's left to CI5 to catch and stop the ringleader Krivas and his gang, reuniting Bodie with some of his old adversaries in the process.

  7. Episode 7: Close Quarters

    Feb 10, 1978

    On leave from CI5 with a hand injury, Bodie takes a day trip with his girlfriend and finds himself face-to-face with the leader of a terrorist group. He captures him but then the rest of the gang arrive and trap Bodie and his girlfriend in a nearby vicarage, leaving him unable to alert his colleagues back at CI5 HQ. With barely any clues as to his whereabouts, Doyle and Cowley go on a chase through the countryside to try and locate Bodie.

  8. Episode 8: Everest Was Also Conquered

    Feb 17, 1978

    A dying man's confession triggers the re-opening of a twenty-year-old case of police corruption, an investigation in which the main prosecution witness was murdered by the police officers who were supposedly trying to protect her. Somebody then decides to silence these officers, and sets about doing so.

  9. Episode 9: When the Heat Cools Off

    Feb 24, 1978

    The daughter of a man inprisoned by Doyle six years ago when he was a Docklands policeman turns up, claiming to have new evidence which will exonerate her father. Doyle reluctantly agrees to reopen the case, but will his budding relationship with the girl cloud his judgement, and make even himself doubt whether he jailed the right man?

  10. Episode 10: Stake Out

    Mar 3, 1978

    A CI5 agent is murdered, leading to the discovery of a man who is dying as a result of plutonium poisoning. This links CI5 to a further plot involving the imminent explosion of an A-bomb at the same bowling alley. It's left to Bodie and Doyle to try and de-activate the fuse before it takes them and the whole of London with it.

  11. Episode 11: Long Shot

    Mar 10, 1978

    CI5 are assigned to protect a visiting American Ambassador from a renowned hitman called Ramos, who is hot on his trail. But after only one apparent assasination attempt at his life, Ramos appears to give up - only for him to turn up again at CI5 HQ itself.

  12. Episode 12: Look After Annie

    Mar 17, 1978

    Annie Irving, an extreme left-wing preacher - and former flame of Cowley's - becomes the target of a hitman when one of her meetings comes to London. Cowley assigns Bodie and Doyle to protect her, unaware that the would-be hitman is right under his nose.

  13. Episode 13: Klansmen

    Mar 24, 1978

    Members of a 'Keep Britain White' group go on the rampage in London, attacking the local black residents in an attempt at forcing them to leave the area...but two of the group members have an ulterior motive. Bodie is left seriously injured whilst Doyle joins the group undercover.

Season 210 ep. · 1978
  1. Episode 1: Hunter/Hunted

    Oct 7, 1978

    Cowley assigns Doyle to test a brand new high-tech laser beam rifle. But the rifle is stolen from his flat and the thief decides to 'test' it on Doyle, sending him on a cat-and-mouse chase around London.

  2. Episode 2: The Rack

    Oct 14, 1978

    A suspect being held under CI5's supervision is found dead in his cell - apparently after a fatal blow administered by Doyle. A public inquiry ensues and an influential lawyer calls for CI5 to be shut down. It's left to Cowley in fighting to save the organisation he founded.

  3. Episode 3: First Night

    Oct 21, 1978

    CI5 are left to dig deep when an Israeli Minister is kidnapped, and the only clues to his whereabouts are a shadowy photograph and a coded tape message.

  4. Episode 4: Man Without a Past

    Oct 28, 1978

    Bodie is out at a restaurant with his girlfriend when a bomb goes off at their table, leaving her critically injured and several other diners dead. It's left to Bodie to find out who targeted him and why - until he realises he wasn't the target after all.

  5. Episode 5: In the Public Interest

    Nov 4, 1978

    A virtual police state has been imposed by a local Chief Constable, resulting in a supposedly almost crime-free city. But that is because all the crime is taking place behind the scenes by the police officers themselves - who will think of nothing of imposing on suspects' rights in their pursuit of 'zero tolerance'. Bodie and Doyle become hunted men when they visit the city and begin to question the rather unorthodox methods of action taken by the local constabulary.

  6. Episode 6: Rogue

    Nov 11, 1978

    A trial witness is murdered by a member of CI5, who then goes on and attempts to kill Cowley - his own boss. Bodie and Doyle find themselves battling against a man who is as well-trained as they are.

  7. Episode 7: Not a Very Civil Civil Servant

    Nov 18, 1978

    CI5 manage to undercover a series of financial blunders between a group of builders and council officials after a site of newly-built houses on a council estate are found to be crumbling.

  8. Episode 8: A Stirring of Dust

    Nov 25, 1978

    A British traitor returns to his homeland and must be found before his former colleagues, seeking vengeance for his past betrayals, go in search of his whereabouts.

  9. Episode 9: Blind Run

    Dec 2, 1978

    Bodie and Doyle are assigned to protect a foreign official who is on a secret visit to Britain. But already possible enemy assassins appear to know his - and CI5's - every next move.

  10. Episode 10: Fall Girl

    Dec 9, 1978

    Bodie is re-acquainted with a former girlfriend when she shows up in London, and during a secret meeting with her finds himself framed for an assassination and then ultimately on the run from his own colleagues at CI5.

Season 38 ep. · 1979
  1. Episode 1: The Purging of CI5

    Oct 27, 1979

    CI5 and their agents find themselves under attack from a vendetta of bombings and assassination attempts. Bodie and Doyle are on a chase to find out who the perpetrators are before they end up as the next victims.

  2. Episode 2: Backtrack

    Nov 3, 1979

    It's just another routine house break-in for a cat burglar, until he accidentally uncovers a complex drugs smuggling operation. When CI5 step in, they realise it's not just the burglar's life that is now in danger.

  3. Episode 3: Stopover

    Nov 10, 1979

    Cowley is offered the name of a highly-placed double agent from an old colleague - who in return wants to be guaranteed protection with CI5. This leads to the start of a dangerous stand-off between the two, using Bodie and Doyle as the pawns.

  4. Episode 4: Dead Reckoning

    Nov 17, 1979

    A spy is extradited to Britain with an attempt to keep his arrival top-secret. However, the Bulgarians from Batak's homeland who sent him appear to be trying to make his movements as public as possible. When he is eventually murdered, CI5 suspect his music student daughter of poisoning him.

  5. Episode 5: The Madness of Mickey Hamilton

    Nov 24, 1979

    Years after a man's wife died and his child left brain-damaged following a series of blunders at the hospital they were treated at, he returns to finally seek revenge by systematically assassinating each of the same hospital's medical staff one-by-one.

  6. Episode 6: A Hiding to Nothing

    Dec 1, 1979

    A dummy run that has been staged for the visit of a Middle Eastern official is found to have been recorded by a foreign student, subsequently leading CI5 to suspect a security leak.

  7. Episode 7: Runner

    Dec 8, 1979

    An attempt to start up a street war is launched by a gangland breakaway opposition group, but their leader appears to have an ulterior motive in his actions.

  8. Episode 8: Servant of Two Masters

    Dec 15, 1979

    Bodie and Doyle are shocked to discover that Cowley appears to be selling nerve gas to a group of East Germans in order to line his own pockets, and are assigned by his rival Plumb to track their boss's every move.

Season 415 ep. · 1980
  1. Episode 1: The Acorn Syndrome

    Sep 7, 1980

    The daughter of a British Government engineer who is working on a defence protect is kidnapped, and the only way she will be safely returned is if he agrees to betray secrets to enemy agents.

  2. Episode 2: Wild Justice

    Sep 14, 1980

    Bodie's mental state is called ino question when he becomes obsessed with a local Hell's Angel motorcycle gang, gradually sending him further and further behind in training. Is he cracking up?

  3. Episode 3: Fugitive

    Sep 21, 1980

    A CIA agent is murdered in London, prompting CI5 into launching a fake arms deal with the terrorists who were responsible for the killing. But the gang uncover the plot in time, taking Bodie hostage and using him as their meal ticket to escape the country.

  4. Episode 4: Involvement

    Sep 28, 1980

    In the midst of a shoot-out during a drugs smuggling investigation, Doyle meets and falls for Ann Holly, only to discover that CI5 suspect her of being closely linked to the scam herself.

  5. Episode 5: Need To Know

    Oct 5, 1980

    Cowley finds himself under suspicion when a former colleague of his is arrested for being a double agent. So just how deeply involved is the CI5 Chief?

  6. Episode 6: Take Away

    Oct 12, 1980 · 1h

    A team of Hong Kong police join CI5 in London to help crack a local heroin supply and protection racket. It's down to Bodie and Doyle to expose a scheme to smuggle drugs to the US by teams of Triads and European agents.

  7. Episode 7: Black Out

    Oct 19, 1980

    CI5 discover that a possible terrorist attack is being planned, and the only clue they have in solving it is a German girl who is found collapsed in a church and suffering from amnesia.

  8. Episode 8: Blood Sports

    Oct 26, 1980

    CI5 move in to protect the daughter of a South American President after his son - and her brother - is assassinated on the field of a polo match.

  9. Episode 9: Slush Fund

    Nov 2, 1980

    A hitman is employed by a group of East German officials to assassinate a reporter who is planning to publish a report in which their new fighter plane is branded as a potential death-trap.

  10. Episode 10: The Gun

    Nov 9, 1980

    A drug addict is murdered by a pusher who then hastily discards the gun, only for it to be found by a young boy-who then accidently shoots his friend in the process. The pusher then goes in search of the boy in an attempt to retrieve the gun and at the same time has to try to avoid his own people who are in pursuit of him.

  11. Episode 11: Hijack

    Nov 30, 1980

    Silver bullion is being shipped into Britain via the Iron Curtain, only for it to be hijacked by one of the group's own officials.

  12. Episode 12: Mixed Doubles

    Dec 7, 1980

    Bodie and Doyle are undergoing intense training in preparation for an assignment where they are protecting a foreign official...at the same time, two potential killers are receiving similiar training to prepare them for the assassination of the same official.

  13. Episode 13: Weekend in the Country

    Dec 14, 1980

    Bodie, Doyle and their latest girlfriends are on a quiet weekend in the country when they unwittingly get caught up at a farmhouse siege in which they must try and escape from a group of gun-toting fugitives.

  14. Episode 14: Kickback

    Dec 20, 1980

    Bodie and Keller, an old acquaintance from his days in the SAS, go undercover in order to trap a would-be assassin by posing as hitmen offering to do the job themselves - in order to fake the killing. But Keller turns out to have an ulterior motive.

  15. Episode 15: It's Only a Beautiful Picture...

    Dec 27, 1980

    Various industrial secrets and highly-valuable arts treasures are being stolen and sold on by a gang who are using the blind routine of Customs to their full advantage. CI5 devise a trap to stop the thieves in their tracks.

Season 511 ep. · 1982–1983
  1. Episode 1: Foxhole on the Roof

    Nov 7, 1982

    A post-operative ward in a hospital is held to ransom by a newly-released convict who plans to make a fortune, setting up his own foxhole at the top of a nearby building. CI5 hatch a plot to bring him down before he takes a fatal shot at the hospital.

  2. Episode 2: Operation Susie

    Nov 14, 1982

    A department in a British Government appears to be attempting to kill a bunch of drug-dealing students...but why?

  3. Episode 3: You'll Be All Right

    Nov 21, 1982

    A leader of a criminal gang offers to surrender himself if in exchange he is guaranteed protection for his family.

  4. Episode 4: Lawson's Last Stand

    Nov 28, 1982

    Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lawson has gone missing without trace...and is armed with vital military secrets from NATO. Can CI5 seek him out before he tells all?

  5. Episode 5: Discovered in a Graveyard

    Dec 5, 1982

    Whilst investigating a bombing plot Doyle is shot and left for dead in his flat, and as the hospital fights to save his life, he seems unable to decide whether he wants to live or die...meanwhile, Bodie goes on a chase to find Doyle's assailant.

  6. Episode 6: Spy Probe

    Dec 12, 1982

    An organisation which hires killers to assassinate virtual nobodies on sight is infiltrated by Bodie and Doyle, who must find out who the perpetrators are and why, by going undercover and posing as potential hitmen themselves.

  7. Episode 7: Cry Wolf

    Jan 9, 1983

    A young woman contacts the police, saying she is being stalked and is in fear for her life, but they think she is making the whole story up.

  8. Episode 8: The Untouchables

    Jan 16, 1983

    Bodie is offered the opportunity to clear up all his gambling debts by a foreign diplomat - who in exchange wants to have some vital secrets from CI5.

  9. Episode 9: The Ojuka Situation

    Jan 23, 1983

    A sacked former African Head attempts to get reinstated in office using the help of the British Government, but the plan is sidetracked by one particular civil servant who now wants him dead.

  10. Episode 10: A Man Called Quinn

    Jan 30, 1983

    A former colleague of Cowley's who is now a patient in a mental hospital reappears in London, going on the run when he believes that the KGB have drugged him.

  11. Episode 11: No Stone

    Feb 6, 1983

    A young woman from a rich and successful family turns terrorist, shunning her wealthy background and the British Justice system which she now views as being corrupt. Important legal establishments located around London are targeted by the terrorist groups, who are planting several bombs at key points around the city.