Opening Titles
The opening credits for the first series (1978), starts with a Rolls-Royce speeding onto and through an industrial estate before skidding to a stop. As the Rolls Royce enters and goes through the industrial estate, the title "The Professionals" appears on screen. Cowley, Bodie and Doyle get out of the vehicle and Bodie and Doyle then go through an assault course whilst being timed on a stopwatch by Cowley. It ends with them going though set windows and a close up of the stopwatch being stopped and Cowley standing by the car motioning them to get in. Just as the theme tune ends they get in the car and it drives off. The first two broadcast episodes of the series - Private Madness, Public Danger and The Female Factor - feature a voice over by Cowley over the top of the title sequence but this was removed from the third episode - Old Dog With New Tricks onwards. When the first series has been repeated all bar one episode, When The Heat Cools Off, and the usually unscreened Klansman are shown using the more familiar title sequence employed for the second series onwards. This means that the Cowley voice over is never married to the correct visuals on the repeat broadcasts of the episodes featuring it.
For the remaining series the opening titles started with a car driving through a tinted window before cutting to various shots of the main characters running and Cowley getting into a car before putting down a car phone in the back seat. We then see the infamous green title card with CI5 written in big, black, stencil-style letters, "The Professionals" written in white over it and three yellow squares on the right hand side, each containing a silhouette of one of the three principal actors. It then zooms in on the top square and we see various shots of Gordon Jackson followed by a pan to a close-up shot of a typewriter and various shots of Martin Shaw running through an oil refinery and wielding a kendo stick. Then it cuts to shots of Lewis Collins walking down a high street, weightlifting, and using a punching bag before cutting to a car driving through a dimly lit tunnel, George Cowley/Gordon Jackson walking out of a government building and the three of them walking down the street away from the building and towards the camera.
The whole sequence is fast-paced, hinting of the action to come within the programme itself.
Read more about this topic: The Professionals (TV Series)
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