Diversion

The team is halfway through a series of minor break-ins when the priorities change. An armed hold-up at a timber warehouse demands immediate attention, and the question of the hour is a practical one: can Thamesford CID catch the robbers and still find time for the burglars who started all this? The burglaries are small beer, the kind of case that fills notebooks; the warehouse job is the one that fills cells.

It falls to Det. Insp. Harry Hawkins and his officers to prove the answer to their superiors. Two live investigations and one set of hands, with no room for either to slip. The episode earns its title honestly: the burglaries are a diversion, and the real work is in holding the line on both fronts at once. Hawkins carries the burden, but the script is careful to show that he cannot do it alone; every collar depends on someone else doing their job.

Robert Barr and Elwyn Jones wrote it, Vere Lorrimer directed. Stratford Johns is Barlow, Frank Windsor's Watt keeps the pressure on, and Norman Bowler's Hawkins does the legwork. David Allister plays Sgt. Richard Jackson, David Lloyd Meredith Sgt. Bob Evans, and Susan Tebbs is Betty Donald. Phillip Ross plays Inspector Reid, Ric Felgate Sergeant Gill, Robert Grange Det. Con. Clifford and Michael Gaunt Det. Con. Timms. The guest cast is small, but each man earns his place in the frame.

It is a working episode in the best sense, a test of the machine rather than a star turn for anyone. But the real pleasure is in watching the team keep its composure while two cases fight for attention. Nothing flashy, just competent men staying calm under duress. That is its own kind of drama, and for a show about police work it is the right kind.