History Series / TheProfessionals

* BottomlessMagazines: Averted because those Browning High Powers kept jamming when firing blanks! So you often see the slides on Bodie and Doyle's pistols lock back after they've only fired a few rounds; nowhere near the 13 plus one "up the spout" that a Browning Hi Power has. They changed to pistols that worked more reliably with blanks in later seasons.

* CommLinks: Pye [=PF8=] radios are used by our heroes, plus there was a car radio in each [=CI5=] vehicle and Cowley has his radio-phone.

* NeverHurtAnInnocent: Cowley makes it clear that this is the line that [=CI5=] does not cross.

** In "Blackout", an anti-tank missile launcher is smuggled into a firing position by being carried into a financial office by three men with accountant's briefcases. The weapon shown on screen is a MILAN launcher and tripod, which would never have fitted into three briefcases. The writer was likely thinking of the AT-3 Sagger, which had gained fame in the recent Yom Kipper War and was conveyed in large fibreglass suitcases that also served as a launching platform.

** Cowley shoots a DoubleAgent InTheBack as he's 'trying to escape' (he ''was'' fleeing, but Cowley stopped Bodie and Doyle from chasing after him).

* SlidingScaleOfAntagonistVileness: Pimps, drug dealers, corrupt officials, and {{professional killer}}s are treated with contempt. Terrorists are evil but their idealism is acknowledged as long as it's left wing; white supremacist terror groups are not given the same respect. Communist bloc agents are ruthless but regarded as fellow professionals.

* VigilanteExecution: [=CI5=] arrest a ProfessionalKiller who planted a bomb in Cowley's office, and whom they assume is responsible for the deaths of several other [=CI5=] agents in bombings. The killer brags that he'll never give up the man who hired him. Bodie and Doyle aren't interested however; they just take him to an AbandonedArea and put their guns to the back of his head, whereupon he cracks and gives up the name after realising they're going to kill him on the spot. It's left to the audience to figure out whether they were bluffing or not.

* CommLinks: Those compact Pye [=PF8=] radios, plus there was a car radio in each [=CI5=] vehicle.

* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: From "Old Dog with New Tricks".
-->'''Bodie:''' Permission to be admiringly insolent, sir. You're a brave old bastard.
-->'''Cowley:''' Permission denied. Anyway, it's inaccurate. [[HeroicSelfDeprecation I'm not brave.]]

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: There are female agents in [=CI5=], but we only see them if required for a particular episode.

** In "Wild Justice", a [=CI5=] psychiatrist worries that Bodie has a DeathWish due to recent erratic behaviour. Turns out he's seeking revenge on a biker gang who killed a friend from his Special Forces days. Cowley ends up putting a gun to Bodie's head to stop him committing murder and destroying [=CI5=] in the process.

* AbandonedWarehouse: [=CI5=] used the former Wembley Palace of Engineering for training, and of course scenes take place in the usual {{Abandoned Warehouse}}s, derelict dockyards, and decommissioned [=WW2=] airfields. Parodied in "[[Series/TheComicStripPresents Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown]]" when our heroes find the Docklands are being redeveloped.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: In "Wild Justice", Bodie and Doyle are undergoing a full evaluation--both physical and psychological--to determine their fitness for duty. Their boss Cowley mentions that a CI5 agent costs more time and money to train than an airline pilot; they are regarded as highly-trained specialists who must be at the peak of their condition. A dispute arises with the psychiatrist on the evaluation team who thinks that Bodie is suffering from a death wish. [[spoiler:He's not; he's planning to murder someone to avenge a former colleague.]]

-->'''Doyle:''' This is personal, sir.
-->'''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!
** "If you could [[TryNotToDie avoid getting yourself killed]] I'd be grateful. [[BaitAndSwitchComment Replacements can be very expensive.]]"

** Where to start - the Browning Hi Power for Bodie and Doyle in the early seasons, Smith Wesson model 19 for Bodie, Walther P38 for Doyle. Not to mention both being issued with AR 18's, AR 10's, Uzis, Smith and Wesson Model 29's. Just pure GunPorn.
** There's also the A-180 in ''Hunter/Hunted'', a drum-fed automatic rifle with LaserSight. Supposedly it's an [[http://modernfirearms.net/smg/usa/american-10-e.html American 180 submachine gun]], but that weapon only fires .22 Long Rifle, so has nowhere near the 1000 yard range attributed to it.

* FingerWag: In "Servant with Two Masters", Bodie knocks out a mook and throws him BoundAndGagged into the back of his van. Later Doyle comes along and sees the van [[DontComeAKnockin rocking in a suspicious manner]] as the mook struggles to free himself. Thinking his partner is getting some on-the-job nookie, he waggles his finger through the tinted window saying, "Naughty, naughty!" only to be attacked by two more mooks who've come to rescue their colleague.

* HoneyTrap: In "The Female Factor," a young prostitute is used to seduce a politician so he can be blackmailed into passing secrets to the KGB.

* MakeItLookLikeAStruggle: Doyle enters a BadGuyBar and hauls a customer into the storeroom, but not before he throws the manager a coin and [[CacophonyCoverUp tells him to play something loud on the jukebox.]] Turns out he's an undercover cop and the two of them start knocking things off the shelves to make it sound like Doyle is beating him up. When it's time to leave, Doyle goes to inflict the required facial injury, and the cop tells him not to hit his good side as he's got a date tonight.