Nowhere to Run

A truck carrying what is supposed to be studio equipment is hijacked, and the reveal lands a beat later: the load is automatic guns, meant for a group of Arab terrorists. The cover story makes the moment land harder, a truck full of cameras and lights suddenly turning out to be a truck full of the opposite. That changes the case from a robbery into something with a countdown attached, and Dempsey and Makepeace spend the rest of the hour trying to find out where the truck went and who is holding the hardware. It went out on 15 February 1985, mid-way through the first series.

Dave Humphries wrote it, Gerry Mill directed, and it is a lean, purposeful hour that gets on with it. Humphries would return for Blood Money and Set A Thief in the second series. Michael Melia's Paul Marshall, Gary Shail's Eddie and Nick Stringer's Piglet give the proceedings their rough edges, while Neville Rofalia's Salim Masad, Tony Alleff's Yasir and Michael Halphie's Khalil are presumably the reason the guns are in the country at all. Somewhere in the middle of it a Station Detective, played by Mike Lewin, does his best to stay out of the way. Gary Shail, once a face of the punk film Jubilee, plays Eddie with a nervy energy.

And the name Piglet tells you exactly what sort of company we are in. Tracy Hyde, a long way from Melody, is among the guests, with Trevor Steedman and Bernard Padden completing the roster.

It is a solid, tense hour that understands its own stakes. Guns headed for terrorists are not the kind of cargo that gets forgotten in a warehouse, and the episode never lets you forget it either. The ending leaves you in no doubt that the case is bigger than one hijacked truck, which is exactly how a season in the middle should feel.