The Professionals (TV series)

The Professionals
Title card used from Series 2 onwards, and repeat transmissions of Series 1
Created by	Brian Clemens
Starring	Gordon Jackson Martin Shaw Lewis Collins
Theme music composer	Laurie Johnson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	57 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Avengers Mk1 Productions / London Weekend Television
Running time	50 minutes
Release
Original network	ITV
Original release	1977 – 1983

The Professionals is a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions for London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon Jackson as agents of the fictional "CI5" (Criminal Intelligence 5, referencing the real life MI5).

The Professionals was created by Brian Clemens, who had been one of the driving forces behind The Avengers. The show was originally to have been called The A-Squad. Clemens and Albert Fennell were executive producers, with business partner Laurie Johnson providing the theme music. Sidney Hayers produced the first series in 1977, and Raymond Menmuir the remainder.

CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5) is a fictional British law enforcement department, instructed by the home secretary to use any means to deal with crimes of a serious nature that go beyond the capacity of the police, but are not tasks for the security service or military.

The choice of name CI5 is possibly inspired by Criminal Investigation Department and MI5. The premise allowed the programme-makers to involve a wide variety of villains including terrorists, hit-men, racist groups and espionage suspects, with plots sometimes relating to the cold war. Led by the formidable George Cowley (Jackson), CI5 is known for using unconventional and sometimes illegal methods to beat criminals, or as Cowley put it "Fight fire with fire!" The use of a fictitious force in this context was somewhat less controversial than the portrayal of the real flying squad on The Sweeney.