Fiddler on the Hoof

A safety deposit bank in The City is robbed, and Arthur panics until he hears that his own box is untouched. But then he decides his money would be safer elsewhere, which is the first mistake. He withdraws the contents and moves them to the lock-up, setting Terry to guard the place. The bank's security, it turns out, was doing its job; the lock-up has a lock and a minder, with very little else to recommend it.

The second mistake happens at the bank door. Arthur is caught on television talking to an old friend, Maltese Tony, and Tony is wanted by a local gang boss. Michael Kitchen plays Tony with the easy charm of a man who has no idea how much trouble he has just brought to Arthur's doorstep. Within an hour Arthur's quiet worry about his savings has turned into a very loud worry about his safety. Nobody notices Arthur on the television except the people who matter, which is how these things always go.

Don Henderson is Billy Lynch, Peter Quince is George Lynch, and Billy Murray is Mick, the men whose business Arthur has stumbled into. The Lynches are not the sort of family that lets a grudge go, and Arthur has just been filmed in friendly conversation with the man they want. Carole Ashby is Imogen, Trevor Thomas is Dez, and Gerald Campion is the Cafe Proprietor, adding texture to the edges.

Dave Humphries and Leon Griffiths wrote it, and Terry Green directed. Dennis Waterman is Terry, George Cole is Arthur, Glynn Edwards is Dave.

The episode runs on a simple idea: Arthur tries to protect his money, and the attempt puts him in more danger than the robbery ever did. It is the sort of logic that only ever works on this show, and it works here beautifully. Terry, guarding a safe full of somebody else's money, gets the worst of both worlds: Arthur's nerves and the lock-up's draft.