They Managed Without Superintendent Barlow

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32232, 26 February 1970, Page 3

They Managed Without Superintendent Barlow

From the moment the rather haunting theme tune of “Softly Softly” heralded the beginning of the first episode of another of television’s most popular series, Pandora waited eagerly for the appearance of the star, first of “Z Cars” and now of “Softly Softly.” But the episode was conspicuous for the absence of Chief Detective Superintendent Charles Barlow. Incidentally, none among Pandora’s friends in the highly erudite world of musical detection has ever been sure about naming the “Softly Softly” theme. Pandora likes best the theory that it is an off-key rendering of the hymn tune “Lead Us, Heavenly Father Lead Us.” At least, this theory has the merit that the words fit. But on Tuesday evening the

» tune did not lead us to B Barlow. Nevertheless, the boys did well without him. Inspector John Watt’s control J of the case must have cotnf mended itself to the , hierarchy and will surely lead 5 to the promotion that, it is > whispered on the grapevine, 7 is coming to him. f It was not by any means an ' easy case. One after another, released convicts were meet- * ing with inexplicable ac- - cidents, soon after coming r from prison. Watt’s intuif tive reflexes sprang into L action when a burglar whom * he knew climbed like a cat apparently slipped and did himself grave injury when ? mounting a simple fence. Ex--0 Sergeant Blackie spotted a f link between this accident r and others. But interviewing e the victims and their i. dependants did little good, V except perhaps to trail a ? small red herring that might i, lead the viewer to the theory that for some fantastic reason e the wife and daughter of one of the injured men might be : the mysterious woman and fair-haired girl in the back- * ground of the case. And the :code of the underworld held: , no-one would help the police I However, Watt deduced that the origin of the troubles was in an event in a certain prison. His inquiries revealed that a fourth man involved in the , incident was to be released, j and Watt was hot on the trail. He did not find this man before he, too, was J grievously injured. But he 1 then quickly found the cui- " prits, two who were grimly [ pursuing an eye-for-an-eye " vendetta. ' This was a most worthy ’ first episode of a series £ CHTV3 viewers are happy to B have return to their screens. Still, satisfactory as were the < story, the acting, the detecITV3

tion, Pandora, a little ungratefully perhaps, hankered for BarIow.—PANDORA