The Professionals

The Professionals (1977)

35 mistakes in season 1 - chronological order

(2 votes)

Private Madness, Public Danger - S1-E1

Plot hole: When Bodie and Doyle arrive at World Chemical Products, they meet some of the senior staff in Mr Harvey's office. Revealing that chief chemical analyst Mr Cummings would be able to test the vending machines for the ADX Poison, Harvey appears to pick up the telephone to talk to Cummings, despite the fact he is stood in the very same office.

Killer With a Long Arm - S1-E4

Factual error: The assassination attempt takes place on Wimbledon Finals Day, yet there seem to be other matches going on at the same time, which doesn't happen when the final's occurring.

Heroes - S1-E5

Plot hole: The scene of old Mr May coming under fire and that of the CI5 back-up squad were filmed outside different houses (although in the same street).

Heroes - S1-E5

Continuity mistake: When Tommy questions the loading-bay worker, we see him close the black Capri's door. When he returns to the car a second later, the door is open again.

Heroes - S1-E5

Continuity mistake: Various scenes in Cowley's office throw up numerable continuity problems such as lighting levels, the buttons on Bodie's shirt and Bodie briefly undergoes a change of hairstyle. All this seems to underline the suspicion that the episode underwent a lot of re-shooting several weeks or months after the original filming, and that the finished scene was "cobbled together" from various shots filmed weeks or months apart.

Heroes - S1-E5

Continuity mistake: There is something very strange about the filming of this episode. Scenes such as that of the newly-weds in the hotel grounds were shot during summer, while others such as the truck driver being gunned down involve bare trees and actors' breath visible, so obviously filmed many weeks later. Also, the drive-by shooting at Mr May's (the old chap with the dog) and subsequent arrival of a CI5 squad car arriving are two scenes that were filmed months apart: in the latter the trees look noticeably barer than when the villains' car roared past.

Where the Jungle Ends - S1-E6

Plot hole: When Krivas threatens to shoot Benny, the pistol's slide is locked in the open position, which indicates that the pistol is either out of cartridges, or a cartridge (or cartridge case) has jammed within the pistol and so cannot be fired. This makes any threats to shoot a bluff.

Where the Jungle Ends - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: In the opening scene at the airport, a wall calendar reveals it is 27th July (which could have been the real date on which it was shot - 27th July 1977), yet after the bank robbery, the newspaper headline claims that the date is 23rd November.

Where the Jungle Ends - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: When the RAF planes are scrambled to intercept Krivas' plane, they keep swapping between Harriers and Jaguars. Also, the landscape keeps switching between lowlands and mountainous regions. (This is probably due to the show's producers using 'stock footage' taken from RAF Training films, supplied to them by the UK Ministry of Defence).

Close Quarters - S1-E7

Continuity mistake: During the car chase scene, the red Audi very briefly becomes left-hand drive. Obviously the film got accidentally reversed for that shot, and no-one noticed the error.

When the Heat Cools Off - S1-E9

Plot hole: One glaringly obvious script blunder is that the murder of Fitch and Parker is supposed to have taken place "six years previously" (in the summer of 1971, the date established the pre-title sequence) yet Haydon has been in prison for "seven years and five months" according to his daughter. This makes no sense, unless the viewer is to assume that the "present day" sections of the story take place in early 1979. (The episode was first broadcast in February 1978).

Private Madness, Public Danger - S1-E1

Trivia: This, the first ever episode of the series, was first broadcast on ITV on December 30th 1977. It was repeated on ITV in 1979. Some time after this, a cut was made, which has endured on all subsequent UK TV transmissions: Just prior to the title sequence, we see Nesbitt hand Susan some drugs. In the original broadcast we then see Susan tightening her belt around her arm. Using Nesbitt's cigarette lighter to sterilise a needle, she then "shoots up" (injects the drugs in her arm). The excision may have come about because of a tightening up of censorship rules by the Independent Broadcasting Authority about the explicit use of illegal drugs on TV. However, the missing segment has been restored for the 2002 DVD release.

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Answer: It's similar, but not the same, particularly the neck and sleeves are quite different.

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