2-10. Jack-on-Top.

Air Date: Mar. 12, 1969. Written by: Trevor Preston. Directed by: Mike Vardy. Produced by: Reginald Collin.

MISSING, PRESUMED WIPED. This review is based on the camera script, available in the .pdf archive on Disc Three of the Callan: This Man Alone DVD set.


THE PLOT:

Safe cracker Trochee (John Bailey) has been in prison for one month of a four year sentence when he suddenly asks to speak to the prison governor. He gives up the names of the network he was working for when arrested, but cannot divulge the identity of the group's leader, code-named "Jack-on-Top." Hunter is able to identify the group as a KGB spy network - and based on Trochee's information, if "Jack" manages to get back to the East, it could set security back by years.

Callan and Hunter decide to give Trochee the chance to stage a jailbreak. Callan sets Lonely to follow Trochee and watch him, in hopes that he will lead them back to the group's leader. But when the thief spots Lonely, he is able to slip away - leaving Callan, Meres, and Hunter with a tight deadline to find him again!


CHARACTERS:

Callan: His best scene comes early in the episode, when questioning Trochee. The script "reads" very much as if both his manner and language change to match the background of the working-class thief, allowing him to strike a rapport even as he seeks to intimidate, and I expect Edward Woodward made a proper meal of the scene.

Hunter: Confesses that he used to be a chess addict, and he can't help but compare the current operation to a chess game. He senses something is off - "There's something somewhere... A false move, a false piece, something..." He and Callan are entirely on the same page when it comes to Trochee's prison break, seeing it as a necessary gamble to identify and apprehend the mysterious "Jack." At the end, after a ham-handed attempt by "Jack" to frame an upper-class suspect, Hunter is able to push the would-be patsy to tell him exactly what he needs to trap his target.

Lonely: Gets a good chunk of the action, following Trochee. Refreshingly, he's portrayed as entirely competent. He realizes that Trochee is aware of him even before the man runs, and he even pursues him to an additional location - which is what enables Callan to find key information. Trochee spotting Lonely is surprises Callan and Meres alike, with Meres observing that Lonely could "take Trochee's socks off without him knowing." Given the abuse normally heaped on the smelly little thief, it's nice to see him given his due.


THOUGHTS:

...And back to the missing episode scripts. The good news: There's only three missing ones left, and then the rest exist!

Jack-on-Top is a script I would describe as "functional." It reminds me of You're Under Starter's Orders, in that it's an entirely plot-focused entry. While I would still rate it fairly low among my missing episode rankings, it is at least a lot better than that one was, with a brisk pace and a more interesting overall story.

If it was ever recovered, this episode would be most interesting for the robust roles given to Hunter and Lonely. I can envision Derek Bond savoring the "chess addict" scene, and also the scene in which Hunter and Callan double-team an upper-class suspect to get needed information. Meanwhile, Lonely gets to show his resourcefulness, with even Callan ultimately unable to fault his efforts.

Overall, however, Jack-on-Top ends up stuck in the "not-badlands": Well-paced and diverting, but very predictable. Callan is a show that's at its best when primarily focused on characterization; the pure plot-driven episodes tend to be the lesser ones, and I believe that is very much the case here.


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Next Episode: Once a Big Man, Always a Big Man



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