Dempsey & Makepeace

[franklinmarsh]

Some more tosh from the old board to celebrate the fact that ITV3 or 4 are going to be re-screening this 80s landmark - Glynis Barber ahoy!

Dempsey & Codpiece 3 - Lucky Streak. John Raymond (based on the original screenplays by Dave Humphries and Jesse Carr-Martindale) Futura 1985.

Two episodes cobbled into one novel here it would seem. A casino heist story - Dempsey is gambling away his salary when a toff starts effing and blinding at a female croupier and upsetting an Arabian prince. After the hooray henry has been removed, a security guard Dempsey had noticed before totters over - and spills his eight pints (of blood) over the blackjack table.
This is all a cover for a robbery - so it's up to Dempsey and Codders to track down the money - all leading to an exciting chase to Maida Vale tube station.
The second half is darker - one of Codpiece's school friends (daughter of a stern old-fashioned judge) is horribly raped and murdered on a train to Paddington. Her pa goes nuts and decides to bring back hanging for the seedy dropout he thinks is the culprit. It's up to our mismatched cops to track down the real killer and stop the judge becoming a murderer.
Of course there's more to it than that - all packed in to 150 pages of all action ludicrosity. For a piece of fluff this was amazingly good. All manner of foul language and bloodspilling that surely wasn't present on TV circa 1985.
The idea of an aging American 'star' to boost ratings wasn't new (Hammer did this sort of this back in the 1930s) - but his pairing with an upper class English bird who's also a tough copper works!
There's some 1970s hangover (Codders drives a Jag, Dempsey totes a .44 Magnum, a black character calls a white character 'honky') and a few signs of how times have changed.
Dempsey enjoys several English hamburgers and is jeered by Codders for not eating them the English way - he's been provided with a knife and fork. In the same dump Cods orders a lemon tea which bewilders the drone serving them - she gets her tea - with milk.
Someone has £27 on them - in notes, and Britain only has four television channels. (Good thing we've moved on eh Dem?)
Perhaps the most groundbreaking element was - someone actually getting nicked for drink driving! Even in Mike Linaker's Scorpion (1980) a couple could still polish off a bottle of wine between 'em and repair to their separate cars without a care in the world.
You'd almost think the police were getting their act together - so it was nice to see a police mortuary receptionist studying Playboy.


Oh, and checking out Ade's comments about no 2 in the series, Codpiece's ..er...codpiece is revealed to be of the black lace variety. John Raymond's equivalent of Richard Laymon's red shorts? Or is Mr Raymond as big a perve as me?
Let's get the rest of the series and find out if the black lace subtext is consistent!

[Calenture]

franklinmarsh said:

The idea of an aging American 'star' to boost ratings wasn't new (Hammer did this sort of this back in the 1930s)

1930s?

How about Brian Donleavy as Quatermass, in 1957?

U.S. stars always seemed to be turning up in Brit movies in the 60s, I thought. It didn't happen so often the other way around - unless you include Karloff and Cary Grant. But Freda Jackson co-starred with the former in Die, Monster, Die.

I liked this post for all the 'period' detail. But that was a wicked dig at Dem; shame on you.

P.S. I've just noticed that I probably misconstrued exactly what you were saying about American actors, but me making mistakes is nothing new, so I'll leave the post as it is.

[dem bones]

FM, just adding the cover scan to your post. Here's the rest of the comment from Vault Mk. 1

Killercrab

DEMPSEY @ MAKEPEACE 2
Blind Eye
John Raymond 1985


Chief Superintendent Gordon Spikings , of S.I.10 didn't notice the bland faced man following him onto the Victoria Line platform - it was summer and the skirts were short. A few stops later Spikings' briefcase is exchanged as BLIND EYE begins with a bang.

Spikings is hospitalised and a hungover Dempsey awakes to an urgent call from his partner Makepeace , just as he's about to fondle the ample charms of his bed mate Julie.

That untrustworthy bastard Charlie Wilson is after a reduced sentence and was about to squeal to Spikings. Grossly overweight Bones Club owner Victor Tennant isn't amused after the bomb fails to stop the rendevous between Spikings and the untrustworthy bastard...

Much better than I expected - it's racy and tough.

' In his wake followed a girl in her early twenties who was wearing a dress so short she revealed the crutch of her black lace panties every time she breathed in.'

This is Victor's girl - tottering in high heeled glitter boots.

' She has the brain of an oyster but fortunately that's not the part that interests me'.

He gives her a wad of tenners:

'Go and blow that lot'.

I've been continually surprised at the tv tie-ins I've been reading - THE NEW AVENGERS , THE PROFESSIONALS and now DEMPSEY @ MAKEPEACE looks to be a top winner.

KC

Franklin Marsh

Superb Ade - I'll be looking out for these TV gems.

Killercrab

It was a good solid exploitative read FM - certainly worth picking up if you've an interest in 70's crimebusting. The book covers three cases ( tv episodes) - a formula that was applied to The Professionals books ( at least the one I read - DEAD RECKONING). Unlike Cowley's boys adventures - the Makepeace book was seriously amped up in the sex and violence department. I was surprised in fact. Pleasantly I might add. After I finish THE WOLFEN - I'll probably head back to the tv adaption territory that's been taking up much of my reading recently...

ade

demonik

I should be wise to this by now, but between you, you've got me believing that if I find one of these, they'll be as entertaining as your reviews of them.

Anyhow, while we're doing lingerie fetish, were there any TV tie-ins for Glynis previous knicker-flashing masterpiece, Jane? Oh, and who remembers her getting bumped off on location in that curious, Village Of Blood-lite 'eighties slasher film, Terror?