The Sweeper

TX : 15th April 1980
Director : Gilchrist Calder

Cast : Sydney Staffer (Solly King), Glyn Owen (Jack Hanlon), Lindsay Campbell (Assistant Commissioner), Alyson Spiro (Liz Lewis), Stewart Bevan (Lenny), Terry Cowling (Tony), Sally Sanders (Sally Benson) and Ivor Salter (Park Keeper).

Publicity : London-orientated crime series have been running somewhat on tramlines of late, know what I mean? I sometimes think that if I hear one more bent copper advise one more bent publican that he is all mouth, or one more villain ask one more grass to do him a favour and leave it out, I will switch off. The Enigma Files (Tuesday, 9:30pm, BBC-2) promises to take the diabolical liberty of offering something different. It's a series of whodunnits based on a little-known branch of the Metropolitan Police known as the Prisoners' Property Office - a backwater sinecure that allows a chairbound detective chief-inspector to operate more or less like a private eye. Makes a change for Old Bill. (Radio Times, April 12, 1980).

Synopsis : For Nick Lewis, his forced transfer to the Prisoners' Property Office promised nothing but boredom and the antagonism of Kate Burton, but is also nearly costs him his life.

Notes : Episodes were originally transmitted 9:30pm to 10:20pm on BBC 2.

Gone Missing

TX : 22nd April 1980
Director : Gilchrist Calder

Cast : Kevin Stoney, George Moon, Robert Walker, Michael Deeks, Darien Angadi, Alyson Spiro (Liz Lewis), Kenneth Gilbert and Frances Tomelty.

Synopsis : Nick Lewis vanishes whilst investigating the disappearance of heiress Caroline Bates and a murder takes place.

False-Hearted Lover

TX : 29th April 1980
Director : Christopher Blake

Cast : Gwyneth Powell (Anne Gerrard), Tina Martin, James Greene, Colin Fay, Anthea Holloway, Robert Booth, Rosie Collins, Alyson Spiro (Liz Lewis), Kenneth Watson and Taylor McAuley.

Synopsis : Nick Lewis becomes emotionally involved with a suspect when the file on Arnold Humble's accidental death is re-opened.

Billy The Late And Great

TX : 6th May 1980
Director : Lovett Bickford

Cast : Jane Hylton (Vera Croxley), Ian Hogg, Shirley Stelfon, Hugh Martin, Jack Walters, Alyson Spiro (Liz Lewis), Sarah Grazebrook and Toddy (Toddy).

Synopsis : . Billy Swain died in prison and a lot of people are interested in what has become of his fortune. The only lead is Toddy, and he can't talk!

Investigation Of A Copper

TX : 13th May 1980
Director : Christopher Baker

Cast : Ian Hendry (Joe Mackie), Tony Doyle, Frederick Hall, Bernard Kay, John Moreno, Jill Martin, Alyson Spiro (Liz Lewis), Luan Peters and Jack Watson.

Synopsis : Video-taped evidence from an old case is missing and Nick Lewis is suspended.

The Charity Man

TX : 20th May 1980
Director : Gilchrist Calder

Cast : Geoffrey Hinsliff (George Wooderson), Barry Justice (Roger Shelley), Gabrielle Lloyd, Ronald Leigh-Hunt, Sylvester Morand, John Rolfe, Oliver Smith, Johnny Shannon, Margery Withers, Jonathan Scott, Jacki Webb, Brian Leake, Norton Yorke, Johnny Dennus and Fergus O'Kelly.

Synopsis : A disaster in 1700 BC, a load of empty collecting-boxes and a disease carried by sandflies are the clues Nick Lewis has to catch an enterprising villain.

Cook-In

TX : 27th May 1980
Director : Lovett Bickford

Cast : Michael Byrne (David Stanley), Elizabeth Bodington, Joseph Charles, Shirley Dixon, Anthony Dawes, Yvonne Bonnamy, Rachel Herbert, Michael Drew, Michael Anthony and Cameron Miller.

Synopsis : All the victims had two things in common - they were middle-aged, wealthy widows, and they adored the con-man's cooking.

Gunpowder Plot

TX : 3rd June 1980
Director : Vere Lorrimer

Cast : William Gaunt, Steven Barnes, Paul Antrim, Willie Jonah, Tommy Wright, Alyson Spiro (Liz Lewis), Michael Ripper, Mark Burdis and Anna Hayes.

Synopsis : Inside the strong room of the Prisoners' Property Office, a consignment of stolen bullion. Outside, a determined gang with a plan to heist it.

Every Picture Tells A Story

TX : 10th June 1980
Director : Les Chatfield

Cast : Frances Bennett, Andrew Hill, Timothy Carlton, Robert Blythe, James Curran, Eric Mason, George Little, Royston Tickner and Eika Roberts.

Synopsis : . Phil Strong is arrested on suspicion of a serious crime. A new colleague provides unexpected help for Nick Lewis when he decides to investigate the matter himself.

Why Don't They Tell You These Things?

TX : 17th June 1980
Director : Roger Tucker

Cast : Glynn Edwards, Harry Landis, Tom Watson, Scott Fredericks, Paul McDowell, Peter Benson, Michael O'Hagan, Marion Kemmer, Colin Farrell, Ronald Govey, Michael Cassidy, Bill Treacher and Rose Hiller.

Synopsis : All Nick Lewis wanted was to return a crocodile handbag to a released prisoner, but when the man drowns suddenly and the body disappears Nick knows he has stumbled into a dangerous intrigue.

Repeat After Me

TX : 24th June 1980
Director : Les Chatfield

Cast : Janet Key (Pam Knowland), Ed Devereaux (Jerry Knowland), Ralph Arliss (Roger Mitchell), Derek Martin (Brewer), June Page (Lucy), Christopher Guinee (Stanley Eades) and Richard Leech (Joby King).

Synopsis : "Don't you owe something to a man you've put away inside for eight years?" - a desperate appeal from an attractive young wife starts Nick Lewis on the hunt for a vicious blackmailer and a man with two faces. Sue Maxwell and Nick Lewis unravel yet another unsolved case from the archives of The Enigma Files.

Dead Reckoning

TX : 1st July 1980
Director : Jonathan Alwyn

Cast : Don Henderson (Prince), Oona Kirsch (Julie Prince), Terence Davies, John Hartley, Timothy Block, Robert Russell, Christopher Burgess and Ivan Beavis.

Synopsis : Bert Singer has been dead for twelve years when his fingerprints turn up on contraband goods. Nick Lewis decides to investigate - so, unfortunately, does little Julie Prince.

Fit Up

TX : 8th July 1980
Director : Jonathan Alwyn

Cast : Angela Browne (Pauline), Derek Waring, Jon Laurimore, Jon Croft, Godfrey James, Paddy Joyce, David Ellison, Charles Bailie, Pat Gorman and Cyd Child.

Synopsis : Nick Lewis' ex-wife is arrested carrying a murder weapon and his daughter's life is threatened. He is convinced someone from his past is seeking revenge - but who?

The Full Flying Carpet Treatment

TX : 15th July 1980
Director : Roger Tucker

Cast : David Daker (Major Mike Clarke), Emily Bolton (Yasmin), John Flanagan, Michael Wolf, Mellan Mitchell, Yashar Adem, Boris Isarov, Madlena Nedeva, Jacob Witkin, T-Bone Wilson, Alexei Jawdokimov and Constance Carling.

Synopsis : What seems a simple case of mugging lands the staff of the Prisoners' Property Office up to their necks in oil politics. Nick Lewis wakes up in the desert - Phil and Sue are held hostage at home.

Backtrack

TX : 22nd July 1980
Director : Vere Lorrimer

Cast : Nicholas Donnelly (Detective Sergeant Kates), Sarah Atkinson (Elaine Kates), Harriet Reynolds (Miss Stanley), Kim Taylforth (Vicky), Steve Durante (The Wine Waiter), Marc Zuber (Steve Michelaides), Julia Vidler (Tammy Peters), Frieda Knorr (Marion MacMillan), Peter Craze (Detective Sergeant Brown) and Mark Sheridan (Detective Sergeant Smith).

Publicity : Preview: The Enigma Files (Tuesday, 9:30pm, BBC-2) also draws to a close this week. Owing to the routine of my working life, I haven't seen an episode, but judging by the correspondence we've had about it on Points Of View (that's taking a summer break, in case you were wondering) it's much enjoyed. As the series' producer, Joe Waters, is not only a friend of mine but one of the best professionals around. I shall bend every sinew to watch. (Radio Times, July 19, 1980 - Article by Barry Took).

Synopsis : In the final episode of the series, Nick Lewis' deputy is killed in a car crash - but was it an accident or murder and what secret had he uncovered in Nick's blue file?