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Gangsters was a unique series, and one very much
rooted in its time. Its story was jerky, but absorbing, very racially
orientated and the segregation and American-imported ghetto-mentality of
the seventies was very much to the fore and dominating the language. There
were plenty of jibes about blacks and Asians, English and Irish micks,
something that would be virtually unthinkable on the sanitised tv of two
decades later. Despite this, Gangsters was pure drama with a
hefty touch of un-realism about it which endeared it to viewers and made
sure it continued into a second year, becoming ever more bizarre and
surreal. New and rather strange lyrics welcomed viewers to the start of
the second series, together with titles which presented the turn towards
Oriental gangland influences, now the other nationalities had been sorted
out, and each episode had an individual episode title.
The writer of both seasons, Philip Martin, was renowned
for producing intelligent and dramatic detective scripts, and one of his
best creations was the character of John Kline, former part-nightclub
owner and a strong, forceful individual with a slightly shady past - he
had caused the death of a man who murdered his girlfriend - simply served
to bring him closer to the audience. Each episode was very characteristic
and quirky and ended in a cliffhanger, with the legend "To be
continued..." written over a suddenly faded-out picture. The stunt
adviser was Pat Roach, famous at the time for his all-in wrestling career.
Philip Martin made a bizarre appearance in the final two episodes of
season two as assassin White Devil, credited under the equally bizarre
name of Larson E Whipsnade. He also starred as a writer in Khan's home
country, dictating the story as it happened. All in all, Gangsters was
absolutely, one hundred per cent 1970s tv, and watching it today is a
revelation, in more ways than one.
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Season
One
John Kline is released from a Birmingham police station
after only a couple of hours of questioning. With form and a prison stretch
for manslaughter behind him he wonders why. He soon learns that Khan, a
government agent, was the string-puller, and he wants Kline to join him and
help in a little operation he has planned: since Kline caused the death of
Rowlinson, the city’s crime boss, illegal activities in Birmingham are
spiralling out of control, and together Khan and Kline will root out the new
gang leaders and put paid to their careers. Of course, Kline is suspicious,
and at first wants nothing more than to get his share of a nightclub he
part-owns. However, he finds he’s been swindled by his erstwhile partner,
Dermott MacIlvoy, boss of the Maverick Club and of the local Irish muscle,
and there is no money to be had. Dermott himself is now in league with
Malleson, ex-right hand man to Rowlinson and head of the black gang in the
area. They are both being backed by the local Asians under the apparent
leadership of Rafiq and his henchman Kuldip, who command illegal immigration
in the Midlands, known as The Blackbird Run. Khan knows full well about this
and is determined to put a stop to it, initially by forcing the wife of one
such deported immigrant, Manga, to provide him with information on how her
husband intends to return to Britain. Kline realises there is a lot of work
to be done and, after a violent meeting with Malleson and his bodyguards,
makes an instant enemy and throws in his lot with Khan.
Kline plans a cover which will see him aiming to set up
in competition with the local gangs, with eventual domination and control of
every crooked deal in mind. Then everything can be turned over to the boys
in blue to clear up. Before things can get under way, the first thing Khan
must do is rescue Kline from an old house which Malleson is about to
demolish. Kline has already made himself a nuisance to be rid of. When this
attempt fails, Malleson and Dermott set up Kline to be at the abandoned Snow
Hill railway station, where the combined gangs are waiting for him. Rafiq,
who is in reality a member of the shady Consortium, has already intended to
play the ‘paddies’ off against the ‘wogs’, and rescues Kline,
releasing him to be piggy-in-the-middle, something to keep Rafiq’s
bothersome rivals busy. Kline can now run The Maverick without Dermott, who
dares not return without some force behind him, and who eventually gets his
IRA contacts to invite Kline to answer a few questions...
Soon after, Dermott is dead, and Kline makes sure his
friends go the same way, before becoming embroiled in events between
Malleson and Sarah Gant. Gant is the sister of Kline’s late girlfriend,
whom Malleson killed. When she discovers the truth, Malleson finds his
options running out. Also, Khan is getting closer to Jashir’s wife, whilst
suffering the distraction of Jashir’s unexpected return, and a new boss
who isn’t keen on his suspect operations, Kline also employs Anne
Darracott, an old associate whom he saved from drug addiction, to set up a
regular drugs run between Rafiq and his bosses, and a local Chinese gang.
By the conclusion, Kline has run out of immediate
enemies; Malleson is dead, and Rafiq’s bosses in the Consortium, which
happens to be headed by Khan’s new boss and a racist politician, have been
arrested. Kline and Anne settle down to run the Maverick, Rafiq is now his
own master, and Khan is heading for promotion.
Dermott MacIlvoy Paul Antrim
Manga June Bolton
The Tailor Milo Sperber
The Bomb-Planter Trevor Butler
Malleson’s Bodyguards Oswald Lindsay and Oscar James
Dermott’s Bodyguards John Main and Terry Downes
Maverick Comedian/Compere Rolf Day
Stripper Marie Dali
Blackbird Run Pilot Peter Fontaine
IRA Unit Commander Chris Gannon
IRA Gunman Terry Taplin
IRA Muscle Pat Roach
Detox Doctor Talat Hussain
Asst Managing Director Christopher Benjamin
Norah Mikel Lambert
Mr Yang Dennis Chin
Khan’s new boss Robert Stephens
Jashir Tariq Yunus
Consortium MD/Politician John Abineri
Prostitute Doņa Croll
Season
Two
Khan is in Pakistan, tracing the origins of the drug
supplies that are swamping Europe and Britain. The trail leads him towards
Birmingham’s Chinese community and the Triads. Kline, who is now living
with Anne Darracott and has branched out into restaurant ownership, has
passed important information concerning Birmingham’s Triad, The Red
Disciples, and their leader, Shin Tang, to the police. This earns him Shin
Tang’s permanent enmity, and after Kline’s first brush with him, he and
Anne are rescued by Khan. But Kline doesn’t need Khan now. Neither does he
want the intelligence operative bothering his operations, legal or
otherwise, and Khan soon becomes a problem for both Kline and Sarah Gant,
who is back in Britain working for the US drugs agency. Rafiq is also
involved in events because of his recent business connections with the
Chinese community, and it is this community, in the shape of Shin Tang’s
daughter, Lily, and through the late Dermott MacIlvoy’s bodyguard Roy
Studd, which launches a firebomb attack on Kline’s restaurant.
Fortunately, the attack is badly bungled and Studd is killed, but assassin
Red Stick is brought in to frighten Kline off, putting Anne into a martial
arts-induced coma at the same time.
This isn’t going to stop Kline, however, and he
is determined to continue disrupting the Triad business, and, through Gant
who passes him information from Khan, he manages to gain a drugs package
that forces the Triad leader to ensure Anne’s recovery. After a further
assassination attempt on Kline, the ex-SAS man gives chase and puts paid to
Red Stick’s career with deadly efficiency.
Rafiq has been ‘persuaded’ to help Khan against
his Triad business partners, but instead plots with Kline and Gant to frame
Khan for murder, thus putting him out of the picture. Due to Kline’s one
indiscretion with Sarah Gant, Anne decides to leave him and get an honest
job elsewhere, but it doesn’t work out. Due to his failures, Shin Tang is
assassinated, and his daughter decides to take over, first in partnership
with Kline, but, when he welcomes Anne back into his life, then with Rafiq.
Events continue to twist and turn with almost
bewildering speed until Kline causes the death of assassin White Petal and
makes a raid on Wo Shing Wo Triad’s heroin cache. The Triad bosses who
sent White Petal, fed up with continued interference from Kline, send in top
assassin White Devil, a bemusing character who bases himself on W C Fields,
with just the middle initial changed. Khan’s father is caught up in all of
this whilst in Britain to successfully prove his son’s innocence.
Gant, with CIA backing, is supporting White Devil
to get rid of Kline, whom they think is a major heroin dealer. Kline, with
enemies on all sides, wants nothing more than to sell up and settle down
with Anne. But it’s not to be. White Devil delivers a killer blow, and
Kline is buried shortly after. Lily and her fledgling Triad are rounded up
by the police, Rafiq and Kuldip end up helping Gant and the CIA, and Khan is
released from jail, all charges dropped.
Roy Studd Terry Downes
Shin Tang Robert Lee
Lily Li Tang Chai Lee
Mr Yang Dennis Chin
Red Stick Kahjoo Chura
Triad No.1 Kristopher Kum
Firebomber John Main
Khan’s Father Zia Mohyeddin
Double Petal Eric Young
W D Fields (White Devil) Larson E Whipsnade
Office Boss Donald Pickering
Other parts played by Philip Martin
Chapter One: The Dictates Of Sheng Tang
Chapter Two: The Red Executioner
Chapter Three: While Beauty Sleeps
Chapter Four: Double Peril
Chapter Five: Enter The White Devil
Chapter Six: East Of The Equator
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