Hadleigh: Family Feeling (ITV 31 Aug 1973 with Gerald James)

In Family Feeling Charlie, Jennifer’s father, is spending a few days at Melford. However when a business call sends Charlie hurrying home Jennifer decides to go with him, sure that there is something going on.

Hadleigh then get a strange phone call that leads him to pay a visit to the site of the first business Charlie bought – a marine salvage yard. It turns out the site manager (who was in the Navy with Charlie) was the one who contacted James. The man, Walter Unwin, is convinced that Charlie is doing something illegal. James discovers that a stack of supposed machine tools, earmarked for Germany are in fact going to Glasgow to a company that doesn’t exist. Unwin gives Hadleigh the keys to the yard and under cover of darkness he takes a look inside one of the crates and discovers that it contains guns and ammunition.

When Hadleigh tells Jennifer what is going on the pair confront Charlie but he loses his temper and insists they keep out of it. Then they receive a call from the CID. It turns out Charlie is working with the police to catch the big fish.

An excellent script from actor/writer Leslie Sands that provides some good background on Jennifer’s father and does a good job of turning the story on it’s head in it’s last third.

classic quote
“Sutton I’ve got a terrible shock for you, for the whole of next week you are going to have to concentrate on good plain cooking.”

production details
UK / ITV – Yorkshire / 1×50 minute episode / Broadcast Friday 31 August 1973 at 9.00pm

Writer: Leslie Sands / Director: Michael Ferguson

Series: Hadleigh Season 3 Episode 11

cast
Gerald Harper as James Hadleigh
Hilary Dwyer as Jennifer Hadleigh
Ambrosine Phillpotts as Aunt Helen
Peter Dennis as Sutton
Gerald James as Charlie Caldwell
Frank Wylie as Brady
Bernard Latham as Reggie
Kathy Staff as Mrs Brennan
Ann Wrigg as Edith
Tony Melody as Walter Unwin
Rio Fanning as Shaughnessy