Softly Softly: Task Force

- Season 2

(1970)

Chief Constable Cullen puts Task Force is on high alert for three escaped prisoners who are holed in a derelict building.

Det. Supt. Watt leads a special a Task Force at the seaside after Cullen hears rumours that a gang of skinheads are heading there on Sunday.

A gang of skinheads are attacking young Pakistanis who are illegal immigrants. Det. Supt. Watt attempts to find someone who give evidence that a crime is committed.

PC Snow takes the time to listen to an old lady who is book keeper for an established firm that's under new management and appear to be running a long fraud scam.

When Sergeant Jackson spots ex-convict Ingram, the task force suspect the recently released former prisoner is trying to located a loot of stolen bullion which had been hidden at an unknown location just before Ingram and his soon-to-be-released partner in crime Thompson were arrested. There's a lot of hard, dirty and arduous work to be done, but it's not the task force members who sweat over it.

Chief Superintendent Charlie Barlow is having himself a ball lecturing crime investigation officers how to proceed when investigating a murder case. But things soon turn nasty when the body of a teenage girl is found on the beach. Barlow and his team are forced to deal with the prime suspect, a window cleaner, and a grief-stricken father. Will Charlie Barlow be able to solve the case and show the inexperienced officers how the job is done?

While investigating a series of thefts Sergeant Evans steps on the toes of a shady landlord who allegedly employs some enforcers to collect rent due from his tenants. Evans gets into trouble with his superiors when he decides to take matters in his own capable hands and pays the landlord a visit for a friendly chat and a warning. Meanwhile, Superintendent John Watt has his own problems to deal with, having been assigned to substitute for Chief Constable Cullen as guest speaker at the Kingsley Rotary Club.

Thamesford CID is investigating some cases of highway piracy. The robbers focus on lorry loads containing whiskey. Prime suspect is a Scottish lorry driver who seems to be involved in the crimes. When WP/DC Betty Donald volunteers for an undercover assignment posing as a prostitute to win the suspect's confidence, she soon discovers the risks her job entails - the hard way.

Police Woman Detective Constable Donald has to prove herself to her colleagues when she returns work following an injury she received making an arrest.

Dynamite stolen from a quarry and it is now in the hands of an explosive expert who is using it as part of a gang robbing armed cars. Barlow must work out their next target.

Collator Sergeant Jackson puts together a chart of a large number small crimes in the area to Det. Supt. Watt. He and Barlow put together a campaign of zero tolerance.

Det. Chief Supt. Barlow gets a tip off that there will be attempt to rob a haulage lorry as it leaves the motorway. A delay means Task Force now need to be more proactive.

PC Snow finds himself in hot water when sees a man leaving the flat of prostitute who is later found badly beaten up. Hawkins needs to solve the crime before it happens again.

Det. Chief Supt. Barlow is livid that a witness, to a passenger train crashing into a goods train, is ignored and Rail bosses start to pass the buck.

Det. Supt. Watt investigates a protection racket after a prostitute was badly beaten up by a sadistic criminal. Witnesses belief this was a warning to jailed hard man Jackie Frankitt.

In the early hours, PC Snow discovers an abandoned van hidden on the hedge of a forest. On a closer inspection he discovers a woman bludgeoned to death in the back seat.

Det. Chief Supt. Charles Barlow takes an interest into a local business that appears to be stealing bricks on an industrial scale from a new housing development.

Watt and Hawkins are looking into an employee at the fertiliser company Nitro Sync Chemicals who they believe has stolen platinum on three separate occasions.

At a football ground, Barlow is on the look out for villain Tommy Nunn. When he suddenly vanishes, in the crowd, reports come in of a diamond robbery at a local jewelers.

The shop robbery by Tommy Nunn is far more serious than first thought after cleaner Elsie Young is arrested with a suitcase carrying money and uncut diamonds

Regional Crime Squad requests the assistance of Thamesford CID. Two known London criminals are apparently setting up a huge illegal gambling operation in the Kingley vicinity. Soon Chief Superintendent Barlow gets the feeling that his CID officers are being used in an investigation where Task Force does all the work and Regional Crime Squad gets all the glory.

A surprise security check at a local police station leads to the investigation of an assault on a teenage girl. As the rate of sexual assault on children is on the rise, Superintendent Watt and Inspector Hawkins are determined to crack this case quickly and efficiently to set an example. But things may not be what they seem.

Chief Constable Cullen gets a taste of the action when he witnesses a police officer getting severely beaten. Coming to the young constable's aide, Cullen soon faces a dilemma as one of the culprits makes allegations against the Chief Constable. Eventually, CC Cullen has to appear in court and gladly accepts Inspector Armstrong's help after one of the defendants dies in consequence of Cullen's action to safe a young bobby.

Tommy Lee has just been released from prison, and suddenly a series of safe-breaking cases are reported in the Thamesford vicinity. Task Force officers are hot on Tommy Lee's trail. But then a security guard is shot and seriously wounded, and all of a sudden a safe-breaking could turn to murder. While Inspector Hawkins is working hard to get a lead on Tommy Lee's whereabouts, the safe-breaker is desperately trying to escape the net that Thamesford Task Force is tightening around him.

An equal rights movement demonstration turns nasty when the protesters lock several dozen guests in a hotel dining room and plan to keep them hostage until their demands are met. Charlie Barlow tries to clear the situation without using violence but his plans soon fail when one of the protesters threatens to use a petrol bomb.

An apparent false alarm at a cash and carry company causes Chief Superintendent Charlie Barlow to set a trap when the investigation reveals that the robbery must have been an inside job. Now it's up to the Task Force officers to not only catch the thieves but also to find the man behind the crime.