THE PROFESSIONALS

The Professionals is a small British department tasked with fighting well-trained criminal and terrorist gangs.

Officially designated Criminal Intelligence 5 (or CI5), the former head of MI5, George Cowley, was asked to head this organization. Seeing that the bureaucracy and territorialism that plagued the existing law enforcement agencies, he advocated a smallish group made of people who could operate anywhere without challenge. Knowing that to be successful, it would often have to act more "strenuously" against the opposition, it was agreed that this group would remain as secret as possible.

While the use of the word "criminal" in the title of the department would correctly indicate that law-breakers, organized or otherwise, was the chief target of the group, it was decided from the inception that the line between those who broke the law for personal gain and those who did it for other reasons was often too fine to discern and many times "normal" crime was used to bankroll other illegal actions. For this reason, the types of opponents faced would range widely and often step into areas where Special Branch or MI-5 might operate.

In addition to the forty-odd people that made up the intelligence collection and analysis portion of the bureau, Cowley had a handful of highly trained and deadly operatives to be the strike force needed when action was indicated. His two best operatives, working as a pair that did not always see eye to eye, were Ray Doyle and William Bodie.

Cowley was an old veteran of the Cold War as well as police work. He had spent nearly four decades fighting terrorists, assassins, militarist groups, hate gangs, and the like. He was a bristly as he was steely and those that stood in his way when he had a mission learned it was not a wise maneuver.

Doyle had been a detective constable in the harsh streets of the rougher parts of London. Often working undercover, he knew what it was like to be totally on his own and sometimes working with a partner was a strain for him. He was used to doing things his way, alone, and didn't like being told how to do something.

Bodie was a decorated, highly experienced member of the British SAS and believed in discipline in all parts of his life - strict adherence to order and procedure had kept him alive for numerous campaigns and while he was able to work on his own if needed, he preferred regimen and being part of a team.

I had just been stationed in Scotland in 1978 when I discovered this action-packed series. Already being a huge fan of spy and action adventures, as well as a die-hard Gordon Jackson fan, I was hooked immediately and stayed with the group for as long as I lived there, sadly missing the final season when I returned to the states.

Like any other red-blooded male of the time, I had been a huge follower of Brian Clemens' previous spy series, The Avengers and even enjoyed, though not as much, the second series (The New Avengers) [Who could not love Joanna Lumley as the delectable and kick-butt Purdey?]. While I did not know the pedigree of this new crime/spy series, I knew instantly that I liked it. To me it was a Starsky & Hutch take on spies and terrorists, just without the comic relief of 'Huggy Bear'.

The books that came out during the run of the series were interesting takes on novelizations. The highly skilled and experience writer, Kenneth Bulmer, started the written works by taking four episodes from the show and melding them into one complete novel. He added small touches here and there but could not change the characters nor add much to the mythos but he nevertheless did a good job.

This melding of episodes continued for many more books though the number of episodes tossed in grew less.