7cb1d79195 CI5, the British squad formed by George Cowley to combat 'anarchy, acts of terror, crimes against the public', has developed into an international force with operatives hired from around the world by the 1990s. With connections to the FBI, CIA and other law-enforcement agencies, CI5 operates outside borders with a group of specialists under a similar brief. This Nineties update of a Seventies show is very enjoyable, although not as good as the original.The new cast take a few episodes to fit into their characters and Edward Woodward,excellent as he is, never matches the inventiveness of Gordon Jackson's Cowley.The first few episodes are very similar to the old series but the new crew develop a different and original style as the series progresses.Later episodes are more in the James Bond mould but boast impressive action sequences and an excellent score by Hywel Maggs and Chris Winter.As with the old series no one watches the Professionals for the writing but the spectacular action and the enjoyable interplay between the characters. CI5: The New Professionals was a series which most fans waited for since the original's demise in the early 1980s.<br/><br/>While audiences have become more sophisticated in the last 18 years, the new series takes a backward step, with writing and scoring that are childish at best. The show's creator, Brian Clemens, fails to take into account numerous developments in the original, and the new 37 and 45, Curtis and Keel, lack the initiative of their predecessors. To the seasoned Professionals fan the pair appear stupid in Clemens's scripts. The only able agent, Backus, is forever stuck at headquarters (much like Ruth being Cowley's chauffeur). The performances are also weak: at times Edward Woodward, as Malone, is dictating, and not acting, his lines: this is his worst performance since that crimes documentary he did a few years back. Curtis and Keel are simply too soft-looking; remember that Bodie and Doyle were hard men who had seen plenty of action as a mercenary and a top police officer.<br/><br/>Of the first three Clemens stories, the plots are tolerable, but their execution is marred. (I have yet to see one not scripted by Clemens, so I hope they get better.) The new electronic score fails to build any of the tension of Laurie Johnson's original (which was edited to fit the scene, and not composed for each episode). Even the titles look silly (the same size of type used for both name and role or position).<br/><br/>For a series that was promised to be as streetwise and gritty as the 1970s originals, it fails miserably and is on the verge of a parody. Fans will be disappointed.
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