Message in a Bottle

Message in a Bottle is the highest-rated episode of the final series, and it begins in a pub tournament. Harry is organising an angling competition to drum up trade for CBS and looking for anglers to take part. During the contest Ken meets a businessman, Malcolm Ashworth, played by Martin Jarvis, who is the sort of man the series calls larger than life, and who, it emerges, has financial troubles of his own. IMDb's summary has Harry and Malcolm drinking together as the fishing goes on.

Then the case arrives by an accident. Ken answers a young child's call for help on the company's radio equipment. He and Rocky decide to look into it, and they find themselves in a suspected kidnapping.

TheTVDB's description is that Ken is investigating a larger-than-life businessman who is accused of kidnapping a young child. That is a different case from the ones he usually gets. The child's call for help has come in through CBS's own equipment, so there is no client; Ken is acting because he heard a child ask for help. Josh Maguire plays Daniel Newsome, and Diana Hardcastle and Gawn Grainger appear as members of his family.

The businessman is the problem. Ken has met Malcolm at a drinking occasion, found him good company, and now has to consider that he may be responsible. The detective who has sided with clients' wives, runaways and widows has to decide whether to believe a man he likes.

The cast is a strong one for the final year. Martin Jarvis plays Malcolm; Geoffrey Hughes plays Tiny Tim, and Tom Watt plays Steve. Barbara Ewing, who appeared in the very first series as Meg Lucie in Grass Widows, is credited as Patty Ashforth in IMDb Pro's listing. Harry Holmes wrote the script, from a story by Matthew Faulk and Mark Skeet, and Nick Hurran directs. Saskia Wickham's Alex, Mark Benton's Charlie and Rocky are in the cast.

IMDb users rate it among the best episodes of the programme, with 33 votes, second only to Topspin. It is also on this site's list of must-see episodes.

The reason the episode is liked is clear from its premise: it takes the programme's normal lightness, a fishing competition and a drink, and attaches it to a case in which a child is at risk, and it lets Ken act on instinct before there is any client to pay him.