The BEST episodes of The Professionals

Every episode of The Professionals ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Professionals!

The Professionals (1977 - 1983) - "Anarchy, acts of terror, crimes against the public. To combat it I've got special men - experts from the Army, the Police - from every service. These are The Professionals." - George Cowley. The Professionals was one of British television's most popular and successful action series of the 1970s and 80s. At their peak in 1980 The Pros were earning as many as 17.6 million viewers. The Professionals began life in early 1977, provisionally titled The A-Squad, in an idea conceived by Brian Clemens, the then head of the independent TV company Avengers Mark I Productions. His aim was to create a rival for Thames television's hugely successful long-running police series The Sweeney. Bodie, Doyle and Cowley could have looked very different to how we remember them as. A number of very different actors were considered for the three central roles, with neither of the final chosen team being the original choices. The final three were more or less drafted in when the first choice stars either declined or were axed. Gordon Jackson (formerly the distinctly unmenacing Butler Hudson in Upstairs Downstairs) and Martin Shaw (whose first TV appearance was as a hippie in 1960s Coronation Street) were first to be cast. During the filming of the first episode, Old Dog with New Tricks Bodie was in fact played by Anthony Andrews. Unfortunately, old mates Shaw and Andrews spent much of the time cracking up with laughter - hardly a recipe for ensuring the renowned edgy banter between the two leads. Lewis Collins (best known by this time as Gavin Rumsey in comedy series The Cuckoo Waltz) was brought in to play Bodie, with Andrews being given the heave-ho. Collins and Shaw had previously worked together just months earlier in an episode of The New Avengers, and were cast alongside each other again thanks to the 'sparky, abrasive' on-screen partnership that they generated. In other words, they didn't particularly like each other! But with the central cast c

Last Updated: 2/14/2024Network: ITV1Status: Ended
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Private Madness, Public Danger
star
7.27
143 votes

#1 - Private Madness, Public Danger

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 12/30/1977

Charles Nesbitt, an expert on chemical weapons, threatens to contaminate the water sources of London with a lethal hallucogenic drug and in order to back up his claims, plans several small 'demonstrations' in warning to the local authorities - including CI5.

Directors: Douglas Camfield
Writer: Anthony Read
Watch Now:Amazon
The Female Factor
star
7.17
121 votes

#2 - The Female Factor

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/6/1978

An Iron Curtain agent is using a young girl to extort secrets from, and ultimately destroy the career of, a future British Prime Minister, unaware that the girl is the long-lost daughter of a well-known local prostitute.

Directors: David Wickes
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Man Called Quinn
star
7.17
41 votes

#3 - A Man Called Quinn

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/30/1983

A former colleague of Cowley's who is now a patient in a mental hospital reappears in London, going on the run when he believes that the KGB have drugged him.

Directors: Horace Ové
Writer: Tony Barwick
Watch Now:Amazon
The Untouchables
star
7.15
39 votes

#4 - The Untouchables

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/16/1983

Bodie is offered the opportunity to clear up all his gambling debts by a foreign diplomat - who in exchange wants to have some vital secrets from CI5.

Directors: William Brayne
Watch Now:Amazon
Black Out
star
7.15
39 votes

#5 - Black Out

Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/19/1980

CI5 discover that a possible terrorist attack is being planned, and the only clue they have in solving it is a German girl who is found collapsed in a church and suffering from amnesia.

Directors: William Brayne
Watch Now:Amazon
Mixed Doubles
star
7.15
39 votes

#6 - Mixed Doubles

Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/7/1980

Bodie and Doyle are undergoing intense training in preparation for an assignment where they are protecting a foreign official...at the same time, two potential killers are receiving similiar training to prepare them for the assassination of the same official.

Directors: Roger Tucker
Watch Now:Amazon
Kickback
star
7.13
38 votes

#7 - Kickback

Season 4 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/20/1980

Bodie and Keller, an old acquaintance from his days in the SAS, go undercover in order to trap a would-be assassin by posing as hitmen offering to do the job themselves - in order to fake the killing. But Keller turns out to have an ulterior motive.

Directors: Ian Sharp
Watch Now:Amazon
Hunter/Hunted
star
7.10
49 votes

#8 - Hunter/Hunted

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/7/1978

Cowley assigns Doyle to test a brand new high-tech laser beam rifle. But the rifle is stolen from his flat and the thief decides to 'test' it on Doyle, sending him on a cat-and-mouse chase around London.

Directors: Anthony Simmons
Writer: Anthony Read
Lawson's Last Stand
star
7.08
40 votes

#9 - Lawson's Last Stand

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/28/1982

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lawson has gone missing without trace...and is armed with vital military secrets from NATO. Can CI5 seek him out before he tells all?

Directors: Ian Sharp
Watch Now:Amazon
The Rack
star
7.07
46 votes

#10 - The Rack

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/14/1978

A suspect being held under CI5's supervision is found dead in his cell - apparently after a fatal blow administered by Doyle. A public inquiry ensues and an influential lawyer calls for CI5 to be shut down. It's left to Cowley in fighting to save the organisation he founded.

Directors: Peter Medak
Watch Now:Amazon
Blood Sports
star
7.05
38 votes

#11 - Blood Sports

Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/26/1980

CI5 move in to protect the daughter of a South American President after his son - and her brother - is assassinated on the field of a polo match.

Directors: Phil Meheux
Writer: Gerry O'Hara
Watch Now:Amazon
Killer With a Long Arm
star
7.04
113 votes

#12 - Killer With a Long Arm

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/20/1978

CI5 become aware that an assassination plot on a group of visiting Greek Royals is being planned using a rifle that has a range of over two miles. But they must find out who is the gunman and what is his target - before it is too late.

Directors: David Wickes
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Discovered in a Graveyard
star
7.03
37 votes

#13 - Discovered in a Graveyard

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/5/1982

Whilst investigating a bombing plot Doyle is shot and left for dead in his flat, and as the hospital fights to save his life, he seems unable to decide whether he wants to live or die...meanwhile, Bodie goes on a chase to find Doyle's assailant.

Directors: Anthony Simmons
Watch Now:Amazon
Involvement
star
7.03
38 votes

#14 - Involvement

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/28/1980

In the midst of a shoot-out during a drugs smuggling investigation, Doyle meets and falls for Ann Holly, only to discover that CI5 suspect her of being closely linked to the scam herself.

Directors: Chris Burt
Watch Now:Amazon
The Purging of CI5
star
7.02
46 votes

#15 - The Purging of CI5

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/27/1979

CI5 and their agents find themselves under attack from a vendetta of bombings and assassination attempts. Bodie and Doyle are on a chase to find out who the perpetrators are before they end up as the next victims.

Directors: Dennis Abey
Watch Now:Apple TV
Cry Wolf
star
7.00
36 votes

#16 - Cry Wolf

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/9/1983

A young woman contacts the police, saying she is being stalked and is in fear for her life, but they think she is making the whole story up.

Directors: Phil Meheux
Writer: Paul Wheeler
Watch Now:Amazon
Servant of Two Masters
star
6.98
41 votes

#17 - Servant of Two Masters

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/15/1979

Bodie and Doyle are shocked to discover that Cowley appears to be selling nerve gas to a group of East Germans in order to line his own pockets, and are assigned by his rival Plumb to track their boss's every move.

Watch Now:Amazon
Fugitive
star
6.98
40 votes

#18 - Fugitive

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/21/1980

A CIA agent is murdered in London, prompting CI5 into launching a fake arms deal with the terrorists who were responsible for the killing. But the gang uncover the plot in time, taking Bodie hostage and using him as their meal ticket to escape the country.

Directors: Dennis Lewiston
Writer: Gerry O'Hara
Watch Now:Amazon
No Stone
star
6.97
37 votes

#19 - No Stone

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/6/1983

A young woman from a rich and successful family turns terrorist, shunning her wealthy background and the British Justice system which she now views as being corrupt. Important legal establishments located around London are targeted by the terrorist groups, who are planting several bombs at key points around the city.

Directors: Chris Burt
Watch Now:Amazon
Operation Susie
star
6.97
37 votes

#20 - Operation Susie

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/14/1982

A department in a British Government appears to be attempting to kill a bunch of drug-dealing students...but why?

Directors: Ian Sharp
Watch Now:Amazon
First Night
star
6.96
48 votes

#21 - First Night

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/21/1978

CI5 are left to dig deep when an Israeli Minister is kidnapped, and the only clues to his whereabouts are a shadowy photograph and a coded tape message.

Directors: David Wickes
Writer: Gerry O'Hara
Watch Now:Amazon
Runner
star
6.95
42 votes

#22 - Runner

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/8/1979

An attempt to start up a street war is launched by a gangland breakaway opposition group, but their leader appears to have an ulterior motive in his actions.

Directors: Martin Campbell
Watch Now:Amazon
The Ojuka Situation
star
6.95
40 votes

#23 - The Ojuka Situation

Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/23/1983

A sacked former African Head attempts to get reinstated in office using the help of the British Government, but the plan is sidetracked by one particular civil servant who now wants him dead.

Directors: Christopher King
You'll Be All Right
star
6.95
39 votes

#24 - You'll Be All Right

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/21/1982

A leader of a criminal gang offers to surrender himself if in exchange he is guaranteed protection for his family.

Directors: John Crome
Writer: Gerry O'Hara
Watch Now:Amazon
Hijack
star
6.95
38 votes

#25 - Hijack

Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/30/1980

Silver bullion is being shipped into Britain via the Iron Curtain, only for it to be hijacked by one of the group's own officials.

Directors: Martin Campbell
Watch Now:Amazon