The Professionals (TV Series) Stake Out (1978) User Reviews

A Dirty Bomb

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 29 September 2013]

THE PROFESSIONALS – Stake Out – 1978

This is episode ten of the 1977 to 1983, UK, action-crime series, THE PROFESSIONALS. Gordon Jackson is in charge of CI-5, a group of men drawn from the SAS, Police and other law enforcement agencies. Their mandate is to stop acts of terrorism and threats against the UK.

A CI-5 agent, Andy Bradford is working undercover at a bowling alley. He is keeping an eye on a possible drug importation link. What he stumbles on is far more dangerous. A group of white supremacists is annoyed with the current immigration policies of the government. They plan on setting off a couple of massive "dirty" bombs in a section of London.

Fraser calls Jackson to set up a meet but is killed before he can make it. Jackson sends Lewis Collins and Martin Shaw to the same bowling alley for a look see. They play a few games, hit on some women and finally catch a break. They catch several of the nasty types preparing to assemble the last of the bombs.

A rather vigorous round of third degree soon has the location of the one completed bomb. Now it is a race against the clock to disarm the thing. Shaw is needed to help with the bomb disarming bit. The beast has its teeth pulled with seconds to spare and London is saved.

Good episode. (color)

The 'Christmas' episode...

[canndyman · 7/10 · 5 September 2020]

CI5 agent Fraser is in-situ at a London bowling alley, on the trail of a drugs ring. But, while there, he uncovers a much more serious and devastating plot - and pays for it with his life before he has time to alert Cowley.

The 'Cow' then sends Bodie and Doyle in on a covert stake-out of the bowling alley - and soon they find that a South African white supremacist group have plans to cause a major catastrophe in London to further their cause.

This story is quite confined, and mostly filmed indoors (or in the dark). This was due to the filming being completed in the run-up to Christmas - you can spot some festive decorations here and there if you keep an eye out for them!

We also see the return of Pamela Stephenson in a bigger role than she played in 'Old Dogs with New Tricks' - and former 'Porridge' lag Tony Osoba gets a prominent part too as a rather grumpy punter at the bowling alley.

Dennis Spooner's script delivers a tense final third - not unlike one of the nail-biting climaxes to some of his Thunderbirds stories. There's still room for a bit of ad-libbed humour from the boys, although not much in the way of the usual out-and-out action and car chases that were the series' hallmark.

The end credits though are a revelation for the post 'PC' generation - look out for cast members named as: 'attractive blonde', 'fat man', 'peanut eater' and 'handsome negro'. It was 1978 after all... thankfully we're much more enlightened these days!

A lot of fun

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 16 September 2020]

STAKE OUT is another small scale but fun episode of the show centred around a minor conspiracy at a bowling alley of all places. It starts off with a brutal murder and ends with a defusing the bomb suspense scene so it's all pretty exciting and tension-packed. Featured cast members include '50s genre stalwart Ronald Leigh-Hunt, PREY star Barry Stokes, and Pamela Stephenson, who had already guest-starred in a previous episode.

Stake Out

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 7 December 2018]

It is only the first series and the producers were already recycling the guest cast. After appearing as nurse held hostage. Pamela Stephenson returns in this episode as a junkie. You might think she was going out with a member of the production team.

An undercover CI5 agent called Fraser was meant to check out a drugs gang operating from a bowling alley. Fraser instead finds something that is nuclear but neglects to tell Cowley properly about it. Fraser winds up dead.

Bodie and Doyle are sent to the bowling alley to find out what Fraser accidentally stumbled across. What they find is a man poisoned by plutonium and a supremacist group wanting to keep South Africa white and they have something special planned for Black Friday and it is not the Amazon one day sale.

There is a race against time element as Silver, sorry David Collings tries to disarm a dirty bomb. The director pulls out all the stops to make it looks tense. Collings perspires so much I thought he was going to drown in his own sweat.

At least the show places the spotlight on the supporters of the then South African apartheid regime.