The Galloping Major

On a visit to Frankie's scrap yard, Lovejoy acquires an ancient iron cannon. The purchase gets him stopped by the police and very nearly destroys a pub's cellar, which is not a bad morning's work for a dealer who set out for a replacement indicator lamp. Only in this show does a simple errand end with a cannon in the back of the truck. Intrigued by the heavy find, he takes it to the Tower of London to find out what it is worth.

While he is away, an ordnance expert going under the name of Major Turpin tries to steal the cannon from under Eric's nose. Eric, to his credit, gives the major trouble. And salvation arrives from an unexpected quarter: the elderly couple who accidentally smashed a light during the earlier chaos turn up at Lovejoy's house to reimburse him, scare off the thief, and present him with something of genuine value. Justice, in this episode, is delivered by pensioners with a guilty conscience.

Ian La Frenais, Jonathan Gash and Terry Hodgkinson wrote it, Baz Taylor directed. Ian McShane is Lovejoy, Phyllis Logan is Lady Jane Felsham, Dudley Sutton is Tinker Dill, and Chris Jury is Eric Catchpole. Leslie Phillips, decades before he voiced the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films, plays Major Eddie Turpin with polished menace. Maria Charles is Alice, Harry Landis is Leo, Valentina Yakunina is Natalie, Tony Haygarth is Arthur, and Steven O'Donnell is Frankie.

The episode went out in February 1993. It is a satisfyingly contained piece of television, blending the usual pleasures of historical mystery with the delightful chaos of an accidental purchase. A cannon from a scrap yard, a dodgy major, and a couple with a light bill to settle: the episode fires on all cylinders, and only one of them is made of iron.