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Dick Turpin (Richard O'Sullivan) and his sidekick Swiftnick (Michael Deeks) rob the Duke of Hertford (Bernard Archard), and their booty being ... some bank I.O.U.s, and to cash them Dick has to leave for London, figuring the area could do a few weeks without their local highwayman. Thing is, the Duke of Hertford doesn't like to be robbed, and since the local gouvernor Sir John (Christopher Benjamin) and his right hand man Captain Spiker (David Daker) aren't very good at keeping the area safe, he has called in Tobias Moat (John Hallam), a particularly ruthless army commander, to clean the surroundings of all crriminal elements - and Moat does so, hanging highwaymen and people he suspects to be highwaymen left and right without anything even resembling a trial. Now Sir John has ordered Spiker to assist him, and Spiker, who has served under Moat in Gibraltar and has often been at the wrong end of his rage, is shocked by Moat's methods. And he suspects Moat of trying to usurp Sir John's place - but when he's about to find proof, Moat turns the tables on him, causing his dishonorary dismissal. And from here on, Spiker, a man without friends, tries everything in his power to exonerate himself and to unmask Moat for the brutal fraud he is - and eventually manages to intercept communications between Moat and the Duke of Hertford that proves just that. In the meantime, Moat has captured Swiftnick and wants to torture him to find out Dick's whereabouts by whipping them out of him, when Spiker shows up with the letter that proves Moat's dirty dealings. But ultimately, it's of course Dick Turpin, who incidently also served under Moat in Gibraltar, who saves the day by defeating Moat in a fight.

As much as I like Richard O'Sullivan as Dick Turpin, this episode could have actually done with less Dick and a longer running time, as the intrigue spun here is really interesting, and seeing David Daker's Spiker outside his usual comfort zone works rather well - but the whole thing seems rushed and over before it has really come to full bloom, and unfortunately Spiker is robbed his opportunity to save the day for the sole reason that that's Dick's job in his series. Still, this is a good episode, even if it doesn't wholly live up to its promise.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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