Rock and Roll Roulette

The Kane brothers expect the music business to be rough. But they do not expect it to be this rough. A record label plays dirty to get back one of its artists from the Paradise Club, and the club's people find themselves in the middle of industry corruption with the lights on.

The episode works the metaphor hard: a world of contracts and handshakes where the worst crime is losing the talent. Everyone involved has a price, and the label knows the going rate. The label's tactics are the kind that look legal until they are not, and the episode has a good time showing the paperwork side of intimidation. The business end of the industry circles the club in the shape of Jake Skinner, Chas Meyer and Ronnie Hackett, played by Bruce Dickinson, Mark Lewis and Michael Feast.

There is a decent case that this is the most Soho episode of the lot, all charm and menace in equal measure. It is a caper about contracts, which is a more vicious genre than the show usually visits. The artists are the collateral, and nobody in the suits cares which artist. It is also a change of scenery for the series, offices and recording studios instead of pubs and lock-ups, and the change does it good.

The casting list raises an eyebrow: Bruce Dickinson, better known for singing in Iron Maiden, shows up as Jake Skinner, and he is perfectly fine in it.

Russell Murray and Murray Smith wrote it, Renny Rye directed. Don Henderson, Leslie Grantham, Barbara Wilshere, Peter Gowen, Leon Herbert, Kevin Short, Jack Galloway, Bruce Dickinson, Mark Lewis and Michael Feast make up the cast.

Rock and Roll Roulette ends on the right note: the artist gets clear of the mess, and the label is left to wonder what hit it. Money stays the most dangerous thing in the room. The roulette of the title is the artist's career, spun and left to land wherever the label wants.