Feet of clay

		ACTOR	CHARACTER
		Joss Ackland	Alan Ember
		Thelma Whiteley	Margot Ember
		Brian Capron	? Colin
		David Wilkinson	Paul Ember
		Cheryl Campbell	Erica Taylor
		Geoffrey Campbell	Commander Watson
		Phillipa Gail	D.C.I. Barton
		Robert Ogres	Sgt. Jim Hinxman
		John Junkin	Taxi Yard Proprietor
		Diana Weston	W.P.C. Janet Reynolds
		Stuart Blaze	Doctor
		Marc Zaber	Abdul
		Carol Drinkwater	Roz
		Richard Mottau	Peck
		John G Heller	Casino Manager
		Lydia Lisle	Mary
		Wendy Young	Jo

Alan Ember and his wife Margot are woken late at night by the phone ringing. A man tells them to listen very carefully. They hear a man screaming. When the man says they know who that is they realise that it's their son Paul, and they rush into his room only to find it empty. The phone rings again and the man says he'll be in touch.

Jack and George are on special assignment to the Serious Crime me Squad under the watchful eye of Commander Watson. George is masquerading as a taxi driver and Jack as a passenger following other taxis trying to catch some villains who rob their passengers usually after winning at a local cast no.

The Embers go through Paul's things hoping to find a clue to his whereabouts. They find a note from an Erica

Taylor and Alan goes to see her but she hasn't seen him for over a week.

Meanwhile at the casino, an Arab has just won a considerable amount of money and has accepted the offer of a taxi to take him back to his hotel. The taxi takes him to an underground car park where he is set upon and robbed.

The Embers think the kidnap is to do with the fact that Alan had been relocated after giving evidence which sent seventeen very nasty villains down. Margot says there's only one man can help them :Jack Regan. After dropping George at home Jack goes to Ember's boatyard.

Jack asks George to hold the fort for a few days whilst he investigates the Ember's problem. He goes firstly to the

Embers masquerading as a plumber to install a call recording system and then to see Erica Taylor. She tells him that she works at the bank where the Embers are customers.

The kidnapper rings Alan and says he wants £10,000. He decides to ignore Jack's advice and pay the ransom so he erases the message from the tape.

Jack gets a call to meet Erica who tells him that Alan had Just been in the bank raising about £10,000 in used notes.

Jack returns to the Embers whilst there the kidnapper rings and tells him to take the money and, using the car which has been parked outside his house, to go to the caravan site car park. Jack and George are at the car park in a van when a man tries to steal the car and when they move in this blows their cover which doesn't please the kidnapper.

In Commander Watson's office Jack and George are in a briefing. A Sergeant Jim Hinxman is going to win a couple of thousand pounds and hope that he'll be hijacked in the taxi.

Meanwhile, Alan embarks on another attempt to hand over the ransom. He follows the instructions and is told to follow a blue Vauxhall Viva. It takes him to a derelict yard where the money is taken.

Back at The Golden Guinea the plan seems to be working. Sgt. Hinxman enters the cab and is taken to the underground car park where, joined by Jack and George, after an exchange of blows the villains are arrested.

The next morning Paul is dropped off at home bound and gagged. At George's place there's a message for Jack to ring Alan.

There's a little confusion at The Golden Guinea when Commander Watson is told that Jim Hinxman has returned to Manchester with the £6,000 winnings. !

At the Embers, Jack is not convinced with Paul's story of being kept in a dark cellar with no bed or electricity as he was clean and there was a telephone down there. It transpires that Paul has been in cahoots with a friend of his, Colin, and they had planned the whole scam to get back at Alan who had adopted him some years earlier.

Page last updated : October 24, 2000