Jackpot

Jackpot is the one where everything works, and that's the problem. The Flying Squad swoops on a robbery, nabs the gang, recovers nearly all the cash, and then somebody counts the bags and finds one short. Thirty-five thousand pounds has vanished between the scene and the station. The arrest is clean. The paperwork is another matter, and suddenly the squad that made the collar is the one answering questions.

Nobody is talking. The villains have their story and the squad have their records, but somewhere in the middle thirty-five thousand pounds has simply stopped existing. Regan's answer is to slow right down. No swoops this week. He goes back to knocking on doors and following the money the long way round, and the episode gets quiet pleasure out of watching a man who hates waiting do exactly that. Every informant goes quiet and every lead doubles back on itself, until the case settles into the sort of grind the squad usually avoids.

Troy Kennedy Martin and Ian Kennedy Martin wrote it, Tom Clegg directed. John Thaw and Dennis Waterman are Regan and Carter, with Garfield Morgan's Haskins and Morris Perry's Maynon hovering overhead. The Biggleswades, Harry and Irene, come to life through Ed Devereaux and Carolyn Jones, William Morgan Sheppard is Detective Chief Inspector Morrison, and John Flanagan's DS Matt Mathews and Bernard Gallagher's desk sergeant Stan keep the station end busy. Richard Davies pops up as a doctor.

There's something honest about an episode whose villain is a missing bag. The tension lives in the trust, and watching a squad that runs on results have to account for every penny makes for a nicely uncomfortable hour. Regan keeps his temper, and you can practically see the effort. But it's also a reminder that policing is mostly bookkeeping with the occasional car chase, and this week the bookkeeping wins.