The Old School Tie

Two old friends of Terry's come back into his life at once, and neither visit is good news. George Palmer has walked out of prison early and wants his conviction overturned. The other is Rose Mellors, once Terry's flame and now married to a local gangster. Terry is chauffeuring her about when the car gets nicked, and in the back there happens to be a bag of diamonds she was minding for a dealer called Mr Tajvir. Tajvir takes the obvious view: Arthur and Terry helped themselves. For once, Arthur's protestations of innocence are the truth. None of it is Arthur's fault, which is exactly why nobody believes a word of it. It is one of those days where the phrase "old friend" does a lot of work.

Clearing their name means unpicking a deception, and the trail leads somewhere uncomfortable. Rose is not quite the old friend she appears to be. The deception, when it surfaces, involves Rose rather more than she let on. The robbery that put George away also needs its real culprits found before anyone believes him, and a newspaper reporter helps Terry work both puzzles. George gets his compensation and his pardon. The two investigations run in parallel, which is generous for an episode this busy. The police, needless to say, are not inclined to help anyone answering to Daley or McCann.

Jeremy Burnham and Leon Griffiths wrote it, James Gatward directed. Dennis Waterman and George Cole are joined by Diana Malin as Debbie, Paul Copley as Palmer, Sherrie Hewson as Olive, Peter Childs as Rycott, Derek Thompson as Harry, Paul Moriarty as Wells, Glynn Edwards as Dave and Nick Stringer as Tommy. That's a good supporting turnout, and the episode knows how to use it.

But the best joke is Arthur being suspected of a robbery he had no hand in. In this show, that's the strongest alibi anyone could want.