Series 7 (1992): Crawford-Boon Security

Ken Boon	Michael Elphick
Harry Crawford	David Daker
Rocky Cassidy	Neil Morrissey
Alex Wilton	Saskia Wickham
Charlie Hardiman	Mark Benton

Laura Marsh had left CBS because she felt as if she was being taken for granted. Harry was interviewing a series of useless replacements while Ken and Rocky were investigating an electronics firm where one of its recently-dismissed employees, Alex Wilton, was suspected of stealing the design of the firm’s new computer, “MacGuffin’s Transputer”. Coincidentally Alex applied for Laura’s old job, so Harry employed her simply so he and Ken could keep an eye on her. However they soon cleared her of any involvement and, although she had been to prison for cheque fraud, they kept her on permanently.

This series involved several of the characters contemplating their futures. In “Walkout”, Rocky had fallen in love with a bank clerk (Debra Beaumont) and ran away with her, neglecting his job and laying himself open to accusations from Harry that he had stolen a client’s jewellery; Alex organised a strike to protest his innocence – and nearly lost her own job in the process! In “Away From It All”, Ken had just finished working on a very acrimonious adultery case and was on the point of resigning, and Harry was suffering from “executive stress”. Harry took Ken away into the country for a complete break and eventually persuaded him to stay with CBS.

During this series, the relationship between Ken and Alex developed. In “Minder”, Alex organised a friend to paint a large mural of a masked Lone Ranger, astride a white horse, on Ken’s living-room wall, as a birthday present. “Whispering Grass” ended with Ken comforting Alex after her boyfriend had left her. In “Shot In The Dark”, Ken was shot while protecting one of his clients and Alex sat for many hours at his hospital bedside, tenderly reading poetry to him. Back at the office, Rocky interrupted them in mid-snog and it was obvious that they would get together. In the meantime Harry had also fallen in love – with Mary, the mother of Ken’s client. “Shot In The Dark” ended with Harry saying to Ken “I’ve got something to tell you”. As the credits rolled, the two men walked off into the sunset with Ken slapping Harry on the back – perhaps Harry and Mary were planning to get married.

Episodes

^† Extra episode, not shown in 1992

The opening titles of Series 7 (set in a cinema) show clips from the title sequences of Series 1 – 6. As Ken is walking into the cinema, he passes a poster advertising “The Seven Year Itch”.

Notes and episode list © Martin Underwood, 1999

Page last modified: 07 February 2009, 16:17