Bergerac: Trenchard’s Last Case (BBC-1 18 Mar 1989, with Alec McCowen)

In Trenchard’s Last Case an old Scotland Yard detective, Trenchard, is on the island. Supposedly for a fishing holiday but he quickly begins to make a nuisance of himself, harassing prominent businessman Oliver Sutton. Jim does some digging and discovers that Sutton is rumoured to be behind a £2 million pound bullion robbery some four years before. This was the last case Trenchard was working on when he was invalided out of the force. A young copper was badly injured and left paralysed in the raid and Trenchard is determined to bring down Sutton.

Meanwhile Barney’s promotion to Superintendent is official, he is back in uniform and moving away from the Bureau to general headquarters. There has been quite a bit of talk in the office as to who will replace Crozier, Jim is adamant it won’t be him. However thanks to various recommendations it’s announced that no-one will actually replace him, he will continue to coordinate the activities of the bureau from main HQ. He will be most likely taking Peggy with him.

Jim is sure this is just the prelude to the Bureau being shut down, it was it’s independence from the rest of the force that drew Jim to the bureau in the first place. Jim seeks out Susan’s counsel but she really does want to move on.

As the seventh season ends Jim persuades Charlie to lease him his boat (he initially wanted to buy it and sell the cottage but Charlie thinks the lease option is more sensible), he intends to take a long sabbatical from the force and think through his options.

There is a real sense of closure for this episode, around this time there was lots of talk that the show would finish and this would certainly have served as a very fitting end to the series, Jim sailing off into the distance as Susan waves off with a “bye Jim Bergerac.” As it was the series would be back for a Christmas special and another two seasons. Jim gets all Poldark on us…

production details
UK / BBC One / 1×55 minute episode / Broadcast 18 March 1989

Writer: Brian Finch / Production Design: Gary Pritchard / Director: Mike Barnes

Series: Bergerac Season 7 Episode 8

cast
John Nettles as Det Sgt Bergerac
Alec McCowen as Trenchard
Catherine Neilson as Jennifer Sutton
John Telfer as Willy Pettit
David Kershaw as Ben Lomas
Nancy Mansfield as Peggy
Sean Arnold as Crozier
George Costigan as Oliver Sutton
Terence Alexander as Hungerford
Angus Kennedy as Norman:
Louise Jameson as Susan Young
Alan Brown as Police sergeant
Patrick Monckton as Mike Blain
Paul Bhattacharjee as Photographer