Cover Story

"Cover Story" gives Regan a romance, which is always worth watching, because Thaw could make a trip to the launderette look interesting. The woman in question is Sandy Williams, a crime journalist played by Prunella Gee. The two of them hit it off, and then she gets tangled up in a major crime, and the episode settles into its real question, whether she was part of it or just a catspaw.

But the show is clever about never answering that cleanly. Sandy is given enough ambiguity to make you doubt her, and the script, by Ranald Graham with Ian Kennedy Martin, lets the doubt sit there. Regan has to ask himself whether his judgement is being clouded by the company he keeps, and the script is smart enough to let him wonder. It is a nice change of pace. Usually the Sweeney gives you a villain you can spot from the opening titles. Here the suspect is someone Regan is falling for, and the investigation keeps rubbing up against the personal.

Douglas Camfield directs, and the episode has the slightly glossy, nightclub-and-dinner-jacket feel that the series reached for now and again. The supporting cast does its usual reliable work: Bernadette Milnes as Maureen Whittle, Michael McStay's Eric the nightclub manager, Timothy Carlton's Justin, with Mike Savage and James Marcus filling out the edges. Carter and Haskins are on hand, of course, doing the legwork while Regan is otherwise engaged, and their sidelong looks at the boss's love life are worth the price of admission.

The result is a decent early look at how the show handled its women, which was often better than its reputation suggests. Sandy is a proper character with a job and loyalties of her own, not just a wobbling witness. Whether she deserves the trust Regan puts in her is left for you to decide, and that is the point of the whole thing.