Citizen Smith

- Season 4

(1980)

A year has passed. Wolfie, Ken, Tucker and Speed are in prison following the theft of the tank but are encouraged to try for parole by show business agent Benny Saltzberg who, once they are on the outside, markets Wolfie as the Singing Revolutionary and gets him a screen test. Unfortunately Wolfie's ego contributes to his downfall as he delivers crass press and television interviews, plugging his autobiography ( "A cross between Das Kapital and Murder on the Nile") and denying his relationship with Jane Fonda and soon all his new found wealth and fame have evaporated.

Wolfie and Ken return to Tooting, where they persuade Dad to give them their old room back and where they reconcile Tucker with his wife. Wolfie is horrified to discover that Harry Fenning has gone - murdered, according to the gossip, and that the pub has been taken over by another businessman of questionable morals - Ronnie Sykes, who may well have killed Harry and incurs Wolfie's displeasure even further by refusing to let him have a bar tab.

Wolfie plans to sabotage a South African rugby tour match but after he fails to crash the tour bus resorts to kidnapping dogs belonging to Ronnie Lynch, who is hosting the tourists - though all this achieves is his getting knocked out by the rock bearing the ransom note. The dogs return home thanks to Ken but when he hears that the match is to be stopped for another reason Wolfie's victory dance proves to be rather premature.

Wolfie is called up for jury service and finds that the prisoner on trial is Ronnie Lynch, who has been accused of bribing a policeman. Ronnie explains to Wolfie that the officer has a personal grudge against him and that he is innocent - leaning on Wolfie to convince the other jurors to return a Not Guilty verdict. Wolfie knows what he must do.

Late at night Speed comes to the house - he is on the run from the law, along with sinister, gun-toting heavy Mactaggart. Whilst Mactaggart holds Mum and Dad hostage Wolfie and his gang must dig up the loot he has hidden in Tooting Bec park though thanks to Dad and an electrical accident Mactaggart gets caught and the boys return with the money. However Wolfie and Ken have differing ideas as to how to spend it.

When Speed is accused of a jewel robbery he convinces Wolfie that this time he is actually innocent and they engage a private eye to help - Dick Diamond, though he is actually Brian Tofkin with a Bogart fixation. Wolfie believes that Mr Rossman, the jeweller, framed Speed and stole the diamonds himself for an insurance fraud and, since Diamond is fairly useless, the case is solved thanks to Mr Rossman's dog whom he has left with Mum to look after for him.

Wolfie learns that a motorway is to be built through his beloved Tooting and, since Dad's factory is involved, he and his group, all masked, break in to steal the blue-print and leak it to the press. However Wolfie encounters Ronnie and his crooks, also masked, who have broken in to steal the safe and accidentally sets off the alarm, causing all parties to run. The motorway plan is defeated - to Ronnie's annoyance since his firm had a vested interest in it - and to make matters worse Ronnie catches Wolfie in a compromising position with his seductive younger wife ...

Christmas is coming and when Shirley rings Dad to wish him the season's greetings Wolfie realizes that he misses her and organizes a pub raffle with a fake Van Gogh as the prize to finance a trip to Italy to see her. After Ken has had an encounter with a bathing beauty in Nice and they are mistaken for drug smugglers by the Italian police the pair arrive in Rimini - to find that Shirley is now engaged to a very wealthy local. Wolfie takes a suitable revenge.