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Capturing highwayman Dick Turpin (Richard O'Sullivan) has so far proven
impossible to Sir John (Christopher Benjamin) and his right hand man
Captain Spiker (David Daker) because Turpin has strong support from the
peasants who celebrate him as their folk hero and thus do their best to
hide him whenever in need - peasants like Amos (William Moore), the uncle
of Turpin's sidekick Swiftnick (Michael Deeks). So Sir John and Spiker
come up with a devillish plan, they have one of their ranks, Miller (John
Patrick), pose as Dick Turpin to discredit him with the locals by
committing heinous crimes against them. The plan works, though for the
longest time Swiftnick stands by Turpin's side - until the fake Miller
shoots his uncle, and Swiftnick has every reason to believe it was the
real one. And as a consequence he shoots and almost kills Turpin - and he
would have died to if it wasn't for loveable crook Rag, who drags him to
his hideout and slowly nurses him back to health. Now Sir John, Spiker and
Miller of course know nothing of this turn of events, and when Swiftnick
learns the next day that a healthy Turpin has raided a church while he
knows Turpin to be (at best) badly wounded, he puts two and two together
and tracks Turpin down to ask for forgiveness, which Turpin grants of
course. Turpin and Swiftnick learn that the fake Turpin will strike next
at a local fair, and they infiltrate the fair dressed up as shepherds -
and manage to overcome Miller and unmask him as a fraud. An
actually quite intelligent episode that goes beyond pure adventure and
asks questions about one's public image and the tarnishing of one's
reputation, and how easily public opinion is swayed one way or the other.
However, all of this is rolled into a fittingly light-footed swashbuckler
that counteracts the seriousness of its topic with plenty of humour and
irony, with all the regulars giving their usual solid performances, to
make this a fun watch indeed.
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