Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

ShadeGrenade Alongside 'The Sweeney', 'The Professionals' is probably the best-remembered British action series of the 1970's. It was created by Brian Clemens, and followed hot on the heels of 'The New Avengers'. Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins had appeared together in an episode ( 'Obsession' ).I was not immediately won over by 'The Professionals'. I had the impression that Clemens had taken some left-over 'New Avengers' scripts, scrubbed out the names 'Steed', 'Gambit' and 'Purdey', and substituted 'Bodie', 'Doyle', and 'Cowley'. Certainly the Russian agents in 'The Female Factor' looked and sounded like they had come straight from that show. Even some of Laurie Johnson's incidental music sounded indistinguishable. I was not alone in my cynicism. A letter writer to 'The People' newspaper soon after its debut claimed that 'Gordon Jackson was badly miscast' and that the show was basically 'the poor man's Starsky & Hutch'.The hit U.S. show starring David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser was declining in popularity in the U.K. as 'The Professionals' debuted. I recall my school friends suddenly raving about this new show and going silent on the subject of Huggy Bear's pals.Despite initial misgivings, I stuck with 'The Professionals' and am glad that I did because it improved as it went along. The ratings went up in spite of tough competition from B.B.C.-1's equally violent 'Gangsters'. Later on it would be pitted against the popular private eye drama 'Shoestring'.The premise was this; George Cowley ( Gordon Jackson ) is the head of C15, an organisation set up to combat terrorism. His top agents are Bodie ( Lewis Collins ) and Doyle ( Martin Shaw ). That was really all there was to it.The show boasted lots of exciting action ( violent even by today's standards ), guest-stars such as a pre-'Not The Nine O'Clock News' Pamela Stephenson, one of the best theme tunes ever, a pair of personable leads, and some pretty good scripts. Particularly memorable were 'In The Public Interest' in which C15 investigates an ( unnamed ) city where a zero tolerance policy to crime has unfortunately given rise to massive police corruption; and 'The Rack' where C15's very existence is questioned, and Cowley has to make an impassioned plea to a court to preserve the anonymity of an informer. 'Heroes' had witnesses to a robbery coming under threat from the underworld when a newspaper foolishly printed their names. One episode - 'Klansman' - dealt with racism and was deemed too controversial to broadcast.Shaw and Collins made a good team, and Jackson gave solid support in what was basically a thankless role. The show predictably drew complaints on account of its violence, but fans seemed not to mind. Yes, it took a simplistic approach to serious issues such as terrorism, and there was virtually no character development, but it managed to be good entertainment. It ran for five years in all, totalling 57 episodes.'The Two Ronnies' did a funny parody called 'Tinker, Taylor, Smiley, Doyle' in which Ronnie Corbett's 'Doyle' got a new partner in the shape of Ronnie Barker's mild-mannered 'George Smiley'. And, of course, 'The Comic Strip Presents' gave us 'The Bullshitters'!Though repeats were blocked for many years by Martin Shaw, 'The Professionals' is now to be found on 'I.T.V.-4' ( with heavily edited editions going out in afternoon slots ) and before that, 'Granada Plus'. Despite changing public tastes, its popularity has endured.With the arrival of 'Life On Mars' on B.B.C.-1 in 2006, the genre of hard-bitten '70's crime telly was effectively exhumed. Viewers could once again see men being men, and women either being shot, beaten up or taken to bed. 'The Professionals' though was the real McCoy.

cwplatinum I grew up with this show when I were a lad, and I totally loved it. It's still pretty cool...Anyhoo, the second car I ever bought was a Ford Escort RS2000, and it was because I had seen it in The Professionals! Couldn't afford a Capri RS3100 - pity really.And I just saw the funniest thing! I was watching an old episode of The New Avengers (Steed, Purdy & Gambit for those in the know), which was called 'Obsession' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0659322/). Not the best of the series, but it did star Martin Shaw as the baddie! How cool. Then, all of a sudden, there was Lewis Collins as his trusty sidekick! Even cooler!! But the best of all was, towards the end of the episode, when the baddies have set their dastardly plan in place, Larry Doomer (Shaw) says to Kilner (Collins) "Thanks for all your help, I couldn't have done it without you." To which Kilner replies "We make a good team - maybe we should work together again..." Brilliant!!In case you're wondering why it was so brilliant - Obsession aired on 7 October 1977. Private Madness, Public Danger aired on 30 December, 1977.Gotta love it!

Buck Aroo All I can add to what has been said before is, what an excellent series this was. It had to be London Weekend Television's most expensive production at the time, and you could see that every penny appeared on screen. There were shoot-outs, explosions, and fist-fights galore every friday night at 9pm, when the episodes were originally shown during the late '70s and early '80s. The sexist banter between the heroes Bodie and Doyle is typical of the period, but stills remains funny to watch. One episode called 'Klansman', about a British right wing group to which Bodie becomes sympathetic, has to this day never been screened in the U.K. for fear of inflaming racial tensions, which were at their height during the Professionals' five year run. It has however, been transmitted in other parts of Europe.Due to the media, and the then Tory government's paranoia about 'Video Nasties' and TV violence, a sixth series was never made with the original actors. Unfortunately though, it's creator Brian Clemens, decided to update and resurrect the series about four years ago. It sank without trace.My fave episode has to be 'Hunter Hunted', in which the heros have to recover a stolen prototype rifle, which has a laser aiming system. This series was truly revolutionary!!!

Big Cat 12 I remember watching this British TV show when I was stationed in England in the 70's. I remember it was (in a way) similar to Starsky and Hutch but much more hard core. Two guys ( counter- terrorist agents type) would fight crime. Very fast moving and explosive. (I learned quick that British TV was much more liberal than regular TV shows in the states-I missed it alot).