Arrival

Things are about to change at Thamesford Constabulary. Detective Chief Superintendent Charles Barlow arrives to take over as head of CID, carrying orders that sound simple and prove anything but: whip the place into shape. He does not need long to size up the job. Duties have been neglected, corners quietly cut, and the station has settled into the comfortable drift that a newcomer is expected to break up.

His first evening on duty leaves no time for settling in. A young boy is reported missing, and Barlow is suddenly learning his new patch the hard way, watching which officers work when the pressure is on and which ones fold. There is no guided tour; the job arrives the way it always will, whether he is ready or not. By the time the night is over he has a fair idea of who at Thamesford can be relied upon.

And the night is not quite finished with him. A telephone call rounds it off and drops him straight into his first major investigation as head of CID. Whatever he imagined the role would be, it has begun before he has unpacked.

Elwyn Jones wrote it, Peter Cregeen directed. Stratford Johns carries the weight as Barlow, with Norman Bowler's Det. Insp. Harry Hawkins, Walter Gotell's Chief Constable Arthur Cullen, David Lloyd Meredith as Sgt. Bob Evans, Susan Tebbs as PW Det. Con. Betty Donald and David Allister as Sgt. Richard Jackson. Terence Rigby is PC Henry Snow, Geoffrey Russell PC South, Michael Francis PC Durrant, and Laurence Carter PC Laverick.

It is a modest way to open a series, and all the better for it. The drama here is mostly administrative. There is a new broom and a tired station, and a list of jobs nobody got round to. The missing boy is the alarm clock, and Barlow answers it.