Undercover

Undercover is about disguise in two forms, and it plays both for comedy and menace. The first case belongs to Laura and Rocky. Ken's client, Mr Pollock, asks them to tail Victor Howells, a young man just released from prison whom Pollock calls vindictive and disturbed. Pollock expects Howells to attack a client of his who wishes to remain anonymous, and wants round-the-clock watching so he will know if Howells goes anywhere near the district.

Howells spots his shadows at once. With their cover blown, Laura and Rocky try the direct approach and tell him they have no idea why they have been asked to follow him. Howells says he was jailed for stealing watches from a jeweller, Mr Sinton, and claims that Sinton framed him. The three of them agree to flush Sinton out by telling Pollock that Howells has given them the slip, and they discover that Pollock and Sinton are one and the same.

They lure him to a deserted boathouse where Howells confronts him, and Laura and Rocky record his confession.

Ken's case is a theft of a bike. Gabby McKintosh, who owns a motorbike shop, wants him to recover an £8,500 BMW that he sold to a customer who gave a false name and bank details and has stopped paying.

The bike has been seen outside a bikers' cafe, so Ken dresses in leathers and an earring and passes himself off as a Hells Angel. He says he has a stolen bike and needs new papers, and is introduced to Joe, Mo and Lolita, who run a bike business out of railway arches, and then to Steve McLaughlin, who arranges false documents.

By noting the mileage on Joe's bike, Ken traces McLaughlin to a disused army camp. He and Harry break in and find Gabby's bike, along with a forgery operation printing tax discs and registration papers. McLaughlin later buys the bike back, which convinces Ken that something is hidden in its tank.

Returning to the camp, he overhears McLaughlin briefing the bikers on a plan to take stolen bikes out of the country. While McLaughlin is out of the shed, Ken tells them they are being used as couriers for forged currency. They confront McLaughlin, the police arrive, and McLaughlin escapes in his American sports car but is soon recaptured.

Nick Whitby wrote the episode and Graeme Harper directs. Phil Daniels plays Joe, Pete Postlethwaite plays McLaughlin, and the cast includes Buster Bloodvessel as Lolita.

The strength is the pairing. In one plot the supposed victim is the villain, and in the other the supposed criminals are the dupes, and both are resolved by someone revealing to the person being used what he is being used for. IMDb users rate it among the best of the series.

The weakness is the finish of the biker story, a car chase and a recapture that arrive on schedule. But the hour is quick, funny and well cast, and Ken's leathers and earring are a gift to the title.