History Series / TheProfessionals

''The Professionals'' was a British TV ActionSeries made from 1977 to 1983. The show follows the adventures of [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction Criminal Intelligence 5]] ([=CI5=]) agents William Bodie (Lewis Collins), Ray Doyle (Martin Shaw), and their boss George Cowley (Gordon Jackson). [=CI5=] dealt with serious crime beyond the capacity of the police, and were authorized to use any means (including illegal ones) to do so (as lampshaded by the page quote.) Being a typical show [[TheSeventies of the times]], much of the action centres around girls, guns, car chases, and drinking.

->'''Cowley'''

[[quoteright:333:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_professionals_uk-show_2102.jpg]]

->-- '''Cowley'''

* ElitesAreMoreGlamourous: Zigzagged. Bodie is ex SAS and ex para. Doyle is a regular ex police constable, and Cowley an ex regular officer. TruthInTelevision as Lewis Collins was a Territorial Army Paratrooper and had even passed selection to 21 SAS - the only reason he couldn't serve was because he was too famous to be in a covert special forced unit.

-->'''Cowley''' Nothing is personal, Doyle. When you joined CI5, I made that perfectly clear. The department owns you — I own you! I can sell your body to science if I want — while it's still alive.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: All of the vehicles, weapons and technologies available (and the fashion-''definitely'' the fashions) show that it is all set strictly during TheSeventies, not to mention the many stories that involve TheColdWar (and fighting spies straight from MoscowCentre) and other things like the Congo brush wars.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: All of the vehicles, weapons and technologies available (and the fashion-''definitely'' the fashions) show that it is all set strictly during TheSeventies, not to mention the many stories that involve UsefulNotes/TheColdWar (and fighting spies straight from MoscowCentre) and other things like the Congo brush wars.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: All of the vehicles, weapons and technologies available (and the fashion-''definitely'' the fashions) show that it is all set strictly during TheSeventies, not to mention the many stories that involve the Cold War and other things like the Congo brush wars.

* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: The protagonists regularly had brushes with [[MoscowCentre the KGB]] and other Eastern European intelligence agencies.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: "The Madness of Mickey Hamilton" - a grieving widower blames medical staff for his wife's death and his daughter being permanently crippled (and terminally ill), and goes on a killing spree.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: "The Madness of Mickey Hamilton" - a grieving widower blames medical staff for his wife's death, and goes on a killing spree.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece

There was a {{Revival}} (''[=CI5=]: The New Professionals'' in 1999), which wasn't warmly received, to put it politely. Not even having Creator/EdwardWoodward take over the Cowley role could save the show from being a pale shadow of the original.

It was a major inspiration of the Japanese manga ''{{Appleseed}}'' and its sequels, such as ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell''.

---> ''George Cowley'': Anarchy. Acts of terror. Crimes against the public. To combat it, I have special men. Men from the army, the police, from every service. These are [[TitleDrop The Professionals]].

* ColdWar: The protagonists regularly had brushes with [[MoscowCentre the KGB]] and other Eastern European intelligence agencies.

It's [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1370843/Seventies-crime-series-The-Professionals-007-treatment-big-screen.html rumoured that there's a remake being made]], prompting a collective BigNo from the fandom. The good news is that in 2014 the original series was reissued on DVD and BluRay in a fully restored and remastered version.

There was a {{Revival}} (''[=CI5=]: The New Professionals'' in 1999), which wasn't warmly received, to put it politely. Not even having EdwardWoodward take over the Cowley role could save the show from being a pale shadow of the original.

* ActorSharedBackground: Lewis Collins actually ''qualified'' to join the SAS. He only remained an actor because his career made him too famous for covert operations.

* BannedEpisode: In the episode "Klansmen," Bodie's life is saved by a black doctor despite his [[CompressedVice racist abuse]], while members of white supremacy organisations are portrayed as ignorant thugs being manipulated by right-wing politicians and crooked businessmen for their own ends. The episode is banned in Britain for its violence and [[CompletelyMissingThePoint racist content]].

* MissingEpisode: "Klansmen" has to this day never been shown on British terrestrial television, and only once on cable television in 1997 (in a bizarre aversion of the NoExportForYou trope, it ''has'' been shown in other countries).

* OldShame: Martin Shaw (who played Doyle) blocked re-runs for years, only relenting after the death of Gordon Jackson (Cowley) so his widow could benefit.

* BerserkButton: Do not - repeat do not - attempt to harm Doyle in any way when Bodie is around.

-->'''Crowley''' Nothing is personal, Doyle. When you joined CI5, I made that perfectly clear. The department owns you — I own you! I can sell your body to science if I want — while it's still alive.

''The Professionals'' was a British TV ActionSeries made from 1977 to 1983. The show follows the adventures of [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction Criminal Intelligence 5]] ([=CI5=]) agents William Bodie (LewisCollins), Ray Doyle (MartinShaw), and their boss George Cowley (GordonJackson). [=CI5=] dealt with serious crime beyond the capacity of the police, and were authorized to use any means (including illegal ones) to do so (as lampshaded by the page quote.) Being a typical show [[TheSeventies of the times]], much of the action centres around girls, guns, car chases, and drinking.

* EvilCounterpart: In "Mixed Doubles" Bodie and Doyle undergo special training with a brutal instructor in order to protect a foreign diplomat. At the same time we follow two men undergoing a similar program, who are planning his assasination. The two teams don't share a NotSoDifferent moment (though they do help each other out during a pub brawl) but it's certainly implied.

* ImprobableAge: Bodie seems a bit young to have been in the merchant navy, a mercenary, a paratrooper, an SAS soldier AND been in [=CI5=] for several years. (Doyle's background as a police constable is rather more believable.)
* IronicEcho: Doyle insists on investigating the death of a prostitute he once knew, using CI5's blanket authority to investigate any incident "It's on the small print on your cards". Cowley starts tearing strips off them ("Don't you quote the small print at me. For every sentence of small print you produce, I can produce smaller!") Until he happens to look at the phone number written on a notepad -- [[OhCrap the Prime Minister's private line]]. Suddenly Cowley rounds on the CID detectives and announces that CI5 are taking over the case. "Can't you read the small print on our cards?"