this is the kind of entertainment that is sorely lacking in this day and age. what we have in this series "redcap," is the ability to provide tightly-scripted plots with some brilliant acting.
in his first regular starring t.v role, john thaw plays a military police officer who is sent to different parts of the world and investigates cases of assault, soldiers who are absent without leave, armed robberies, allegations of systematic beatings, murder and almost any other reported crime that occurs at an army barracks.
the thing that struck me when i watch this series, is how most of the characters in any given episode, prove to be thoroughly unhelpful and obstructive. it is mainly down to officer types who would rather brush the current investigation under the carpet and forget about it all. of course, john thaw as sergeant mann, will not let the matter drop until he has solved each and every one of his cases to the best of his ability.
john thaw has been superbly cast and given his very young age at the time(22 when "redcap" was first broadcast), he injects plenty of authority and maturity into his character. his take on sergeant mann, although tough and harsh at times, is also possessed of a compassionate streak as he hates injustice but also loathes the idea of criminals escaping their crimes unpunished.
considering that the british t.v archives are in somewhat of a mess with a good deal of programmes missing or destroyed, happily "redcap" is hardly affected. 26 episodes of this series were made and 23 currently exist. as a special feature, approximately 12 minutes that was recovered from a missing episode has been added in this dvd set.
the footage is a bit grainy and the sound isn't always clear but that should not put people off from watching this programme as it is well-written and features some fine actors apart from john thaw. you see notice guest stars such as: mike pratt, michael robbins, leonard rossister, ian macshane, peter copley and many others.
the lack of location shooting doesn't much matter, there is a bit of that here and there but it's the dialogue and acting that counts above everything else.