Lemon from Clemens
CI5:
The New Professionals Seven, Saturday
9.30pm
THE
name is the same and the opening credits
have a familiar ring to them, but that
is where the similarities end for this
remake of the hit '70s action series The
Professionals. Bodie, Doyle and Cowley
have long since retired and the fictitious
British CI5 intelligence force is now
a global agency staffed by an international
team of agents who look like they have
stepped from the pages of Vogue. Edward
Woodward (The Enforcer) heads up the team
playing Harry Malone, while the main action
focuses on agents Sam Curtis (British
actor Colin Wells), a former member of
the British Secret Service, and Chris
Keel (Canada's Kal Weber), who is a former
US Navy SEAL.
In
these politically correct times, the team
has been expanded to include a female
operative - Tina Backus (another Canadian
in the shapely form of Lexa Doig).
It
is hard to believe Brian Clemens, who
created The Professionals, is responsible
for what is such a poor imitation of his
popular original. The sort of chemistry
that existed between Lewis Collins (Bodie)
and Martin Shaw (Doyle) can not be orchestrated,
and Clemens' attempt to create it with
trite banter only highlights the banal
dialogue and the leads' lack of charisma
and acting ability.
While
no expense has been spared in the production
(some of the 13 episodes were filmed in
the US and Africa) and it looks good,
CI5 is all style and no substance.
It
is light-weight entertainment for a quiet
Saturday evening, but give me Bodie and
Doyle any day.
(C)
1999 Herald and Weekly Times Limited.
SUNDAY HERALD SUN 26/09/1999 P4
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