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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 439615" data-attributes="member: 23">3.02-3.07Is it me, or is Bergerac getting rather more violent. Not specifically the series - although there has been some graphic stuff when it comes to the crimes - but Jim Bergerac himself. In recent episodes it’s become the norm for him to get hands on with those he apprehends, usually throwing some punches. He has the instincts of a bloodhound, though. A key example of this being the last episode I watched - A Cry In The Night - where he instinctively knew a death was murder even as other experts - including Crozier - were happy to conclude the death an accident. Sometimes - as here - he can can appear to be either as possessing a kind of superhuman level of gut feeling or just extremely cynical. And I suppose neither of those does him any harm in his role since he is invariably right. Mind you, I wouldn’t mind him being wrong a bit more. Chinks in the armour are always good, even if he does have a few in other areas. In this particular episode I was fascinated by his treatment towards a suspect who ostensibly was pouring out his heart about a difficult childhood and the death of his father. Jim remained cold and distant and cut him down to size without really saying anything beyond a crisp goodbye, a forced half smile and some knowing looks. He was right about the man (of course), but the evidence wasn’t there. The dialogue in this episode was particularly cheeky at times, with several lines of innuendo. This was evident from the start when a man invited a woman up to the cabin of a cruiser with the promise “I’ll show you which knob to pull” and there was a thread throughout the episode. Crisp coolness was evident with the debut of Phillipa Vale, who had a ready answer for every question. It was fun to see the cat and mouse games she played with Jim. He needs an adversary to give him a run for his money, and she can do this. Interesting, as well, to see her use her sexuality to gain advantage. There’s been a good degree of nudity in this series - mostly female - with boobs and bums on display, and this was amped up with Phillipa. I’m fairly sure a body double was used for the longer shots, but it’s still a little eyebrow raising - especially since my main association of Liza Goddard is as one of the wholesome team chairs in Give Us A Clue. She’s not the only familiar face. There have been a number. Chas from Dempsey and Makepeace was a boxer in a nicely structured story involving kidnaps, sporting corruption and racism (one of several episodes where the wife or girlfriend turns out to be treacherous). Raquel from Only Fools… was in the same episode with a cough and spit as a reporter. Elsewhere, Nadim Sawalha was the exotic businessman who knows the Hungerfords (effectively a variant of Art Malik’s character) in another nice story. And back in the latest episode, Hi-De-Hi’s Linda Regan (AKA Mrs Brian Murphy) delivered the most appalling Scandinavian accent I’ve heard since I saw Bjorn Again in concert. I was distracted trying to work why one of the bad guys from 3.03 was so familiar. I questioned if it was because he resembled Gareth Thomas or James Hazeldine, but the answer was simply because I’d watched many of Bruce Lidington’s Crossroads episodes as dashing PC Steve Cater.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?