Assault (25 Apr. 1973)

Director:

Douglas Camfield

Writers:

Roy Bottomley, Tom Brennand

Stars:

Roger Avon, Rod Beacham, Richard Butler

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Roger Avon	...	Receptionist
Rod Beacham
Richard Butler	...	Cmdr. Nicholls
Robert Keegan	...	Mr. Haggerty
Angus MacKay
George Moon
Patrick Mower	...	Det. Chief Insp. Tom Haggerty
Maria O'Brien	...	Shopkeepers Daughter
John Owens
Ron Pember
John Plume
Roger Rowland	...	Det. Sgt. Bill North
Sheila Scott-Wilkenson	...	Pam Sloane
George Sewell	...	Det. Chief Insp. Alan Craven
Richard Vernon	...	Townsend

Storyline

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Genres:

Action | Crime

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Details

Release Date:

25 April 1973 (UK)

Company Credits

User Reviews

Violent and nasty UK Police drama

Special Branch – ASSAULT -1973 Detective Inspector Patrick Mower is at the rail station to pick up his father, Robert Keegan. The two plan to take in a football match and a few drinks.

Keegan fails to show and Mower is of course worried. Keegan is soon found bloodied and beaten in a rail station hall. The unconscious Keegan is rushed to the hospital.

Fellow Special Branch Detectives, George Sewell and Roger Rowland have a look into the mugging. They discover that there has been a string of violent robberies around or in the rail station. All the victims were older or handicapped men.

When Keegan wakes from the beating he gives the Detectives a description of his attacker.

Sewell, Rowland and Mower spend several days staking out the station. Sewell wanders around pretending to be a blind man to try and draw the villain out. After two days with no luck, Mower stumbles onto a mugging in progress. He gives chase but the man, Rod Beacham, escapes.

The team is forced to return to their other cases. That quickly changes when another mugging happens. This time it is a senior civil servant. The man, Richard Vernon, had some secret documents in his briefcase. The thief had taken Vernon's wallet and the briefcase.

Sewell and Mower track down and raid Beacham's rooms. No joy there as Beacham has hit the road. Following some further leads they track down Beacham at his new hideout.

Beacham is hiding in the attic of a pawnshop, owned by Angus MacKay. Beacham knew MacKay from selling him stolen goods. Beacham had threatened to harm MacKay's daughter, Maria O'Brien, if MacKay did not play along.

Sewell and Mower burst in on Beacham and put the boots to him. A rather mangled Beacham is hauled off to the clink. The briefcase is also found in the room with Beacham.

Beacham admits to all the robberies except the one with the briefcase. Sewell wonders why and goes digging into Vernon's background.

Sewell uncovers that Vernon had been cruising a park looking for a gay hook-up. A couple of thugs, who preyed on gays, had been the ones who mugged him. They had taken the briefcase and sold it to MacKay.

MacKay had realized what the documents were, and planned on a spot of future blackmail. The briefcase just happened to be stored in the same room that Beacham was hiding in.

Sewell has a quiet talk with Vernon and 'suggests' that he resign his post. He has become a security risk.

The more of this series i see, the more I like it. Pretty violent for 1973. (color)