The Madness of Mickey Hamilton

Years ago, Mickey Hamilton's wife died and his young daughter was left brain-damaged after a series of blunders at the local hospital. The girl is now in the care of nuns at a convent, and Hamilton, an ex-soldier, has decided the doctors responsible are going to pay. He starts shooting them, inside the hospital itself, one by one. It is revenge, cold and patient, and the victims never see it coming.

The Professionals pick up the trail the plodding way: hospital records married up with army files until they know exactly who they are looking for. The stakes climb when they realise the next target is an international medical conference at Wembley, which puts a deadline on the whole hunt. The man they are chasing is not a random gunman; he is a grieving father with a list, and that makes him harder to stop.

Ian McDiarmid plays Hamilton, and he is the reason to watch. This was before his turn as the Emperor in Star Wars, but the same unsettling stillness is already there, the same quiet certainty. The episode lets him be genuinely frightening and genuinely wronged at the same time, which is a harder balance than it looks.

Brian Clemens and Christopher Wicking wrote it, William Brayne directed. Marjorie Yates is Kay Costa, Barry Stanton is Frank, Shaun Curry is Sgt. Bellager, Clifton Jones is St. Jacques, David Henry is Capt. Tepper and David Calder is Insp. Shannon.

The revenge plot is simple, but the questions underneath it are not. Hamilton's rage comes from a real failing, a hospital that hurt the people he loved and never answered for it. The show does not let him off, and it makes sure we see where his pain began. A strong, grim hour, and one of the better guest star showcases of the season.