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Main » 2012 » September » 10 » The Professionals C.I.5
4:36 PM The Professionals C.I.5 |
CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5) is a fictional British law enforcement department, instructed by the home secretary to use any means to deal with crimes of a serious nature that go beyond the capacity of the police, but are not tasks for the security service or military.
The choice of name CI5 is possibly inspired by Criminal Investigation Department and MI5. The premise allowed the programme-makers to involve a wide variety of villains including terrorists, hit-men, racist groups and espionage suspects, with plots sometimes relating to the cold war. Led by the formidable George Cowley (Jackson), CI5 is known for using unconventional and sometimes illegal methods to beat criminals, or as Cowley put it "Fight fire with fire!" The use of a fictitious force in this context was somewhat less controversial than the portrayal of the real flying squad on The Sweeney.
Cowley's two best agents are Ray Doyle (Shaw) and William Bodie (Collins). Doyle is an ex-detective constable who has worked the seedier parts of London, while Bodie is an ex-paratrooper, mercenary and SAS sergeant. Of the two, Doyle is the softer, compassionate and more thoughtful character, while Bodie is ruthless and more willing to take on criminals on their own terms. That said, Doyle is more hotheaded and tended to rush in, while Bodie waits for the shooting to start.
While polar opposites, Bodie and Doyle have a deep and enduring friendship, and are almost inseparable. Although their loyalty to Cowley is beyond question, they have no qualms about disobeying orders if it meant getting the right result, either for the case or themselves.
Initially, Anthony Andrews was contracted to play Bodie, but he and Shaw did not have the chemistry that Clemens was looking for. As Shaw was deemed to have more 'screen presence' Andrews was dropped, and Clemens hired Collins in his place. Shaw and Collins had played villains on an episode of The New Avengers ('Obsession') together, and reportedly had not got on with each other. Ironically, since this was the reason Collins was brought in to the production,[1] he and Shaw became friends off-screen, although they managed to keep up the on screen chemistry and abrasiveness of Bodie and Doyle's relationship.
To begin with, Clemens intended to write two or three establishing episodes and then hand over to other writers, but their scripts were uneven and lacked the energy and pace needed. Clemens re-wrote nearly 10 scripts for the first season episodes and took a direct hands-on approach to the filming. In later seasons, with the format established and the writers and directors familiar with the show, he took a more leisurely approach to the behind the scenes goings-on.
The early years of the show featured varied plots, good scripts and ongoing character development of Bodie and Doyle and to a lesser extent Cowley, but later seasons featured increasingly overused ideas and script devices and both Collins and Shaw stated they felt the show was becoming stale.[1] While episodes were broadcast until 1983, episodes were actually filmed between 1977 and 1981.
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