Unlawful Arrest

Unlawful Arrest gives Hartley's officers a shift like no other: a hymn-singing religious fanatic on one side of the street and a sleepless lay preacher on the other. Between them, the pair could empty a church or fill a cell, and the officers are not sure which is likelier. The title promises procedural trouble, and the episode delivers it, but the strangest thing in the hour is the quiet one: Inspector Kate Longton and Detective Chief Inspector Mark Perrin sit down for a proper heart-to-heart.

Mona Hammond's Iris Daniel and Bert Parnaby's Harry Chapman supply the spiritual commotion, with David Daker's Colin Bright and June Ellis's Mrs. Tomkins adding to the crowd. The fanatic's hymns ring out at the worst moments, and the preacher's sleeplessness has given him a very particular view of the town. The two men between them turn a routine day into a test of everyone's patience, including the audience's. Longton's usual team works around them: Sergeant Joseph Beck, Sergeant George Parrish, PC Brian Kelleher and PC Danny Sparks.

Ewart Alexander wrote it, Andrew Morgan directed. Anna Carteret is Kate Longton, with David Ellison as Beck, Noel Collins as Parrish, C.J. Allen as Kelleher, Mark Botham as Sparks and Edward Peel as Perrin. Mona Hammond plays Iris Daniel, Bert Parnaby is Harry Chapman, David Daker is Colin Bright and June Ellis is Mrs. Tomkins.

The episode balances its eccentricities well, letting the fanatic be funny without making him harmless. But the Longton-Perrin scene is the one that sticks: two professionals, one conversation, and the sense that even inspectors need somebody to talk to. The arrest of the title, when it comes, sits in a grey area the show is happy to leave grey. It is the sort of episode that confirms the series' real subject: the people the job throws at you. A human hour hiding inside a strange one.