division 4 ramps it up

Right from the first moment of this episode of D4 'Today is Eagle Day' (14 March 1973), you know it's a whole new ballgame. For a long time - years? - the opening credits have been dark, sharp and cool. Now, it's bright and full of action, like a cartoon, everyone introduced in full flight, in snippets of scenes I don't remember, which is interesting, suggests they were specially made.* 

Jeff Ashby is stunningly good as the stuttering bank robber Noel 'I ain't promisin' nothin'' Reid who has a bunch of people, including Sergeant MacLeod in what strikes me as his first real featured role (being heroic, getting shot etc) though he's in almost every episode, held hostage in the Yarra Central rates office. 

More greats. The fabulous Roly Barlee, of whom I have previously written:

There's also Joseph Fürst who apparently is infamous for appearing in an early Dr Who as well as Diamonds are Forever. This D4 appearance is one of his early Australian ones - he migrated here in the 70s. What interests me, and I can find absolutely no information on this, is whether Fürst was a refugee from the Nazis (he was born in 1916) or how he ended up in Canada, the UK etc and for that matter when. You know when something is so conscientiously avoided in potted biographies you always wonder what was going on. 

Great ep. You don't need me to tell you all about it. Watch it. 

 

*The closing credits are not redone on this episode, though.