Softly Softly: Task Force

- Season 1

(1969)

Things are about to change at Thamesford Constabulary when Detective Chief Superintendent Charles Barlow arrives to take over as new head of CID. Barlow's orders are to whip Thamesford Constabulary into shape and to ensure that operations run smoothly. He soon finds that it's going to be a major job to get the constabulary into shape as duties have been neglected. Things are getting tough for everybody that very first night when a young boy is reported missing. Before the night is over, Chief Superintendent Barlow will know who he can rely on at Thamesford ...

Detective Chief Superitendent Barlow is in for a surprise as Chief Constable Cullen has some considerable staff changes in mind for Thamesford CID. Cullen wants to provide Charlie Barlow with the best team to assist him in setting up a highly efficient task force. However, soon the stabbing of a woman takes priority over personnel matters at Thamesford CID.

While the task force officers are busy investigating a series of break-ins, an armed hold-up at a timber warehouse requires immediate attention and quick action. Will Thamesford CID be able to catch the robbers and still have time to deal with the burglaries? It's up to Detective Inspector Harry Hawkins and his fellow officers to prove to their superiors how efficient the task force team can work.

A series of petty thefts and burglaries leads to an undercover operation. On undercover assignment in a deprived area of Thamesford, WP/DC Betty Donald, disguised as a common housewife, comes across a pair of children who are being neglected and abused by their parents. Will the CID team be able to solve the burglary case and save little Molly and her brother from receiving yet another severe beating?

It's Christmas time, and Chief Constable Cullen has a special gift for Chief Superintendent Charlie Barlow who finds himself representing Thamesford CID at Her Majesty's prison in Kingsley. Barlow feels highly uncomfortable with this task, and his discomfort gets worse when the visit at Kingsley prison leads to a pub raid and a case of child abuse. Against better judgment Charlie Barlow decides to do what he can to save the baby. After all, it is Christmas.

It's New Year's Eve, the last day of 1969. While Chief Constable Cullen desperately tries to get all four division chiefs of Thamesford Constabulary to bury their hatchets and make them get along with each other despite their animosity, a van load of tires worth several hundred pounds is stolen from the police compound. It's back to duty for the partying CID task force team. Their task - join efforts, catch the culprits and solve their last crime case in 1969.

Task Force has been requested to assist with crowd control on the night of an important soccer match. While Superintendent John Watt and Detective Inspector Harry Hawkins are coordinating the operation, a young hooligan is planning to have himself a ball - by drowning his aggression in blood and violence. Soon Charlie Barlow and John Watt find themselves in a desperate race against time when the hunter suddenly becomes the prey.

While on the lookout for an escaped prisoner, PC Snow gets involved in a strike at a local factory. As the strike becomes more aggressive, task force members move in and try to de-escalate. Soon DI Harry Hawkins finds trouble heading his way when he inadvertently steps on the toes of a contractor who doesn't appreciate that Hawkins insists to act in accordance with the law.

Superintendent Watt gets on the case of a former police officer who seems to be impersonating a CID constable and is harassing the barman at a local pub. Although Charlie Barlow doesn't like the idea, he gives his okay to go after the impostor with high tech surveillance equipment when CC Cullen requests a lawyer-proof case. But things get tense when Sergeant Jackson is assaulted by the impostor and his accomplice. Shortly thereafter, the impostor is severely beaten and ends up in hospital, and all of a sudden Sergeant Jackson finds himself in an awkward position that...

A case of domestic disturbance turns into murder, and Chief Superintendent Barlow thinks he has an open and shut case on his hands. But soon Charlie Barlow has to admit to himself that he has been wrong, and it tales all his and the CID team's skills to solve this puzzling case.

A rumor causes Thamesford task force to investigate at Eastcote docks where someone allegedly brings illegal immigrants into the country. WP/DC Betty Donald goes undercover, posing as a juvenile delinquent, while Sergeant Jackson receives an undercover assignment at a nearby camping site. Soon the investigation turns into a run against time when a bunch of abandoned illegal immigrants need to be located before they end up dead.

The Thursday Man, a notorious burglar, has kept Thamesford task force busy for quite some time. But the team is hard on his trail when he strikes again at the home of a former war hero. While investigating the latest burglary, the detectives uncover another secret that involves stolen handguns and could lead to another, more serious crime. And Chief Superintendent Charlie Barlow is in for a surprise as well.

Sergeants Evans and Jackson get a special assignment: Playing chaperones for a Times reporter whom Chief Constable Cullen suspects of being after a scandal and planning to use Thamesford Constabulary as scapegoat. But what begins as a cat and mouse game turns nasty when DI Harry Hawkins finds out that the press is after apparent cases of corruption within police ranks. CC Cullen, however, has his own game in mind, and Task Force members have to tread carefully as they realize they're walking on very thin ice.

While investigating the case of a missing Swedish au pair, WP/DC Betty Donald comes across some information about local criminal Christopher Connor who seems to be plotting a crime. As it turns out, Connor and three accomplices plan to rob a jeweler's store. But Superintendent Watt doesn't trust Betty Donald's informer and smells a rat.

A gang of thieves have chosen Thamesford as their hunting ground. Their prey are elderly people, their objects of desire are valuable antiques and silverware, their base of operation is a London antique shop. Superintendent John Watt, however, is hard on their case. But the gang is well organized, they work fast and efficiently. Undercover investigation doesn't get Thamesford CID anywhere, until the culprits set their eyes on the silverware of old war veteran James Portland, aka the hermit.

A senator from the United States is about to visit Oldcote Parish Church, and it's a Task Force job to see that he is protected and nothing untoward is going to happen. It's a job that is not to be taken lightly because the senator has been receiving threats for quite some time. Someone seems to be out to kill him. Preparations are made and safety precautions are taken but ultimately Thamesford CID must accept the fact that there is no such thing as fool-proof security.