- Jim is invited to a castle in Brittany by a man named Hapgood, who has survived an attempt to kill him. Jim discovers that Hapgood was formerly a professional assassin, who has now turned his back on the job and wants to go straight. However his ex-employers want his silence and have sent another assassin to kill him. Hapgood hopes to dissuade the man but Jim has his doubts as to whether he will succeed and the two men await the killer together.—don @ minifie-1
- Jim Bergerac (John Nettles) is engaged to provide personal protection to a mysterious ex-currency trader, Mr Hapgood (Christian Burgess). Hapgood is a very wealthy man and has retired to the french countryside whilst still in his forties. But he's a wealthy man with enemies. After receiving an anonymous letter, containing a single photo of a unknown man's dead body, Hapgood offers Jim a healthy day-rate to provide personal protection and track down the letter's sender. Jim is sceptical about the poison pen letter, which he attributes to a crank, but with his private-eye business on the rocks the offer of cash and free board & lodging prove irresistible. However, the cushy babysitting exercise is terminated when a would-be assassin opens fire on Hopgood and Jim with a high velocity rifle during a lunchtime picnic. Although they escape unscathed, it dawns on Jim that Hapgood knows more than he's letting on. Jim calls upon his old sparring partner Charlie Hungerford (Terence Alexander) to look into Hapgood's Jersey contacts. Discovering links to South American drug running and the CIA, Jim finally challenges Hapgood to come clean. In a dramatic confessional, Hapgood describes a previous life as a gun for hire assassinating targets around the world on behalf of various employers - including the CIA. He has now renounced violence but his ex-employers have not - they have sent in his successor (Mark Sprotson) to wipe him out. Hapgood plans to negotiate with the hitman, pursuading him to disregard his orders to kill. Jim is doubtful of Hapgood's plan but he holes up with him and awaits the hitman's inevitable next attempt. A fascinating mind-game between Hapgood and the CIA man builds to a crescendo in which, despite the best efforts of Jim and Hapgood, the assassin is killed. As the Gendarmes appear over the horizon, Jim helps Hapgood destroy the evidence of his previous career - completing his rehabilitation as a human being.
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