The Professionals (1977-81)

If it had been 70s-set, guess Butler would have to be Doyle ... a bubble perm on the Stath would be tricky, to say the least.

Well, I'm hoping it's neither of them. Butler advertising l'Oreal fer gawd's sake. You can't take any bloke seriously as an action hero when you know he uses some rollerball thing for the bags under his eyes, and uses 'balm' instead of 'aftershave'.

Ravenstone wrote:

Well, I'm hoping it's neither of them. Butler advertising l'Oreal fer gawd's sake. You can't take any bloke seriously as an action hero when you know he uses some rollerball thing for the bags under his eyes, and uses 'balm' instead of 'aftershave'.

Of course, I'm afraid that would rule out 95% of all male actors under 40.

Slap me bitch up...

Salomé wrote:

Of course, I'm afraid that would rule out 95% of all male actors under 40.

What they do in the privacy of their own bathroom is their own affair, but I don't want to see them advertising it. It would be like Penelope Cruz advertising Bic razors for women.

That slap is cut on ITV4.

Speaking of manly men - and this might be a very inappropriate question considering his recent death - but am I crazy thinking that Tim Hetherington was a particuraly attractive specimen of masculine attractiveness?



A bloody waste, and not just for his talent as a photographer/director.

Wet gusset, Oppers?

Salomé wrote:

but am I crazy thinking that Tim Hetherington was a particuraly attractive specimen of masculine attractiveness?

Not crazy. Misguided, perhaps ;) But each to their own.

Agreed about such a waste though.

Ravenstone wrote:

Salomé wrote:

Of course, I'm afraid that would rule out 95% of all male actors under 40.

What they do in the privacy of their own bathroom is their own affair, but I don't want to see them advertising it. It would be like Penelope Cruz advertising Bic razors for women.

That slap is cut on ITV4.

Or J-Lo advertising that Venus one.

Oh, hang on ...

Quote :

From what I gather, Lewis Collins was a joy to work with on The Professionals. He had a nice rapport with Martin Shaw

Martin Shaw's got to be one of the most boring actors alive, along with Trevor Eve. Both have nothing to talk about, except their work, and themselves. It comes off a great deal on screen. My dad, and countless other actors who've worked with them will tell you the same.

Lewis Collins, Martin Shaw, Trevor Eve. All pricks.

I don't find Lewis Collins boring at all. His main problem was that he became typecast as the all-action hard man after The Professionals ended. He has always been a very interesting person off-screen as he has an interest in guns (he was a shooting champion at his school), he has taken part in stunt driving and done parachuting and he was also a musician. A pity he didn't make it big and it was a stroke of luck that he got the part of George Godley in Jack The Ripper opposite Sir Michael Caine. That was originally reserved for Brian Capron.

As for the new Pros movie, maybe Michael Fassbender (Doyle) and Rupert Penry Jones or Jeremy Renner (Bodie) would be suitable choices for the leads with Bill Paterson (Sea Of Souls) as Cowley. I think that would be closer to Brian Clemens' original vision as he wanted Doyle to be a fair haired, blue eyed young man and Bodie to be a suave lothario always dressed in smart suits who was never easily ruffled after a fistfight. Anthony Andrews had actually been cast initially as Bodie but was fired after filming a few scenes for the first ever episode in June 1977.

Quote :

He has always been a very interesting person off-screen as he has an interest in guns (he was a shooting champion at his school), he has taken part in stunt driving and done parachuting and he was also a musician.

Still sounds like an insecure bloke with an inferiority complex. Herbert Von Karajan was the same.

Does Collins write his own music? Probably not. Like my guitarist uncle, it's all technical craft but no with no imagination.

Yeah, he did write his own music back in the day I think. He had a hit single in 1982 called Take It Out On Time which he composed himself and apparently, he and Martin Shaw exchanged song ideas in 1980 while taking a break from filming The Pros.

Remember The New Professionals? Lewis was approached to star in that as the new CI5 head, but he declined. I think it was due to family commitments as back then, he'd started living in America.

Some interview somewhere, Martin Shaw says something about how he thought he could play guitar until he heard Lewis Collins play, and then he realised the difference between talented amateur and real musician. Well, words to that effect. Basically, Collins plays meaner guitar than Shaw.

And Lewis Collins was in a musical, although best draw a veil over that one. Although Shaw did play Elvis.

And got rave reviews too for his portrayal of The King, amongst many other roles.

That's really nice about Lewis' skills as a guitarist. After all, he did play bass with '60s pop group The Mojos and was also a drummer. :D

As I said before, it would be intriguing if the new Pros movie had Bodie & Doyle exactly as they were envisaged by Brian Clemens when he conceived the show in '77. I'll see if I can post up the original character synopses from my book about The Pros by Bob Rocca.

Here are the 007 gun barrel sequences but with the Professionals in them instead of Bond himself.







My mate did this. It's a collection of all the kills Bodie & Doyle made in the series.