Stoppo Driver

The regular Sweeney driver, Bill, is off, so Regan and Carter draw the new man, Cooney. He's recently transferred and eager, a little too proud of his driving. In a chase it all goes wrong: a crash kills one of the gang's own men, their getaway driver, and Cooney's flashy cornering is part of how it happened. It's a bad first week for a man who wanted to make an impression. The gang don't mourn the dead man. They're practical, and they need a driver. Cooney owes them one. So they take his wife. Marie, newly married, is snatched to make sure he does what he's told.

It works, in the way these things do. Cooney decides the police can't help fast enough, tells them to stay clear, and signs on as the gang's getaway driver. But Regan and Carter don't buy the sudden change of heart for a minute, and the episode lets the audience watch the gap open up between what Cooney says and what he's doing, while the couple at the centre of it all count the hours. Billy Murray gives Cooney a quiet desperation that sells every decision he makes.

Allan Prior, Ian Kennedy Martin and Peter Brayham wrote it, Terry Green directed. John Thaw and Dennis Waterman are Regan and Carter, with Garfield Morgan's Haskins. Nicola Pagett is Sara Prince, Wolfe Morris and Paul Angelis are Greg and Barney Prince, Aubrey Morris is the Card Player, Paul Henry is Morris Brass, and Carrie Lee Baker is Marie Cooney.

The clever thing is that the case is the least of it. The real story is a man with his wife held hostage being ordered to drive for the men who took her, and the show keeps the focus on him rather than the sirens. There are no good choices on offer, and the episode doesn't pretend otherwise. You end up hoping Cooney finds a way out that doesn't get anyone else killed. The Sweeney could do pure action in its sleep; episodes like this, with a man's life on the line and no easy answer, are the ones that stick.