Tug of War

"Tug of War" is the third series' quietest hour, and one of its most affecting — a story with no murder at its centre, just a father, a son and a custody dispute that crosses the law. Jack Broughton has just been released from prison after seven years. He goes to see his ex-wife Pam and her new husband Ken, who refuse to let him see his son Geoff without a court order. Jack goes anyway, finds the boy fishing, and takes him — phoning Pam to say he will not be bringing him back. The pair arrive in Jersey, where Bergerac's alert on Broughton — time served for robbery and GBH — puts the detective on their trail.

Bryan Marshall plays Broughton with a weary, desperate tenderness that keeps the audience uncertain: this is a man who has served his time and wants his son, and the law is on the other side. Paul Wheeler's script, directed by Laurence Moody, is more domestic than criminal for much of its running time, and the tug of war of the title is the pull between the people with claims on the boy — the mother who has control, the father who has served, and a French guest at the boarding house, Marie, whose own son was taken from her by a richer ex-husband, and who watches the father-son pair with a grief the episode does not sentimentalise.

The hour is at its best in the small scenes: Geoff's innocent stories to the taxi driver, the school play Kim is rehearsing in the background, the fishing boat where Jack leaves the boy while he settles his own unfinished business. Bergerac's role is to hold the situation together while the truth about the holiday emerges — and to decide what justice looks like when the law and the heart point different ways.

It is a quiet, understated entry that shows the third series' range within a single year. No yachts, no auctions, no boxing — just a family knot and a detective with patience. A steady, low-key hour that fits the pattern of Bergerac dealing with the messy lives of people rather than the spectacle of a crime, and one of the series' gentlest stories.