Not a Bad Lad, Dad

Two problems land on Terry this week, and neither one is a simple job. The first is Willie Reynolds, the boxer, who wants a comeback but does not seem willing to put in the work. Barney, the promoter, is so convinced Willie will lose that he has put his money on the other man, which is the kind of vote of no confidence that gets through to a fighter. Terry's answer is to teach Willie something about self-respect, and to hope it takes before the bell.

But the second problem is domestic. An old friend leaves her young son, Peter, in Terry's care while she sorts her life out, and Terry, to his own surprise, takes to the lad at once. The boy's stepfather has other ideas and starts making trouble for the pair of them. So Terry has to fight, in the most literal sense, to keep the boy safe, and the episode earns its gentle title from the kind of father figure Terry turns out to be when nobody is looking. There is more than one way to be a dad, the show suggests, and Terry is working out his version on the job.

Tony Hoare and Leon Griffiths wrote it, Ian Toynton directed. Dennis Waterman heads the cast, with Warren O'Neill as young Peter, Sharon Duce as Beryl, and Dicken Ashworth as Ronnie, the stepfather who brings the trouble. George Cole, Gennie Nevinson, Lesley Clare O'Neill, Martin Bax, Glynn Edwards and Geoffrey Leesley support.

The boxing and the boy make odd bedfellows, but they share a theme: people who need someone to believe in them. Terry believes in Willie when the odds say otherwise, and he believes in Peter when nobody else will. It is the show's warm side showing, and it wears surprisingly well. For a series built on scams, it is never embarrassed about caring.