And here is another answer, this time from Jenny, to the forever interesting question: Why are you a Doyle-Fan, Jennie?

Okay - I think at 19 (20 on Sunday - yay!) I'm the youngest on the list, though feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I first saw The Professionals on Granada + back in October when we had cable installed at university. I like that kind of show anyway, and used to watch Bugs and Starsky and Hutch and all the old cult stuff repeated in BBC2, and mum always told me that if Pros was ever repeated on normal TV, that I absolutely had to watch it, because I'd really like it. I never really thought that much about it beyond 'yeah., yeah - I bet it's rubbish,' (for which I should obviously be burned at the stake as a heretic <g>). But when I was bored one evening at uni I was flicking through the channels and saw Pros (Foxhole on the Roof I think). I watched the last half hour, thought it was okay, and watched the odd bit of one when I remembered it was on for a couple of weeks. Then I saw the last half hour of The Ojuka Situation one evening and have been hooked ever since. Seven months later I have all bar one of the episodes on video, am now an avid Martin Shaw/Doyle fan and have been writing fic about it since January. Has to be the quickest any obsession of mine has ever taken off! Jennie, 26. April 2000

Jennie also answered these questions on the egroups-list "prosfanfic". She is British and as you can see: young as she is, she already has the right taste :-)

Hmm - what do I like about it? Apart from Doyle, of course, which goes without saying. ;-). (even with the style of the time - which does sometimes make me cringe, just a little.) First, I guess it's not exactly tiring watching, is it? I work hard enough that when I watch TV I like to watch something perhaps more entertaining than educational. Jennie, 26. April 2000

Yes, thats quite true. And somehow I always felt, that everything is educational in it's own way. <g> Reality don't divide, like we might do. What is especially remarkable in The Professionals for you, Jennie?

It's got all the action and stuff that I enjoy from other favourite shows, and the quality of the show impresses me. I mean, okay, most of the stories have plot holes that you can drive a fleet of trucks through, but even the episodes that aren't that good are better than some of the rubbish you get on TV these days, and they all have some redeeming qualities, even if it's only one scene. And considering the plots aren't always the best in the world, it's a tribute to Shaw, Collins and Jackson that their acting keeps people watching. Far above all that - the relationship between B&D is fascinating. Even with not particularly in depth characters from the scripts, you can really get a sense of what drives them, why the characters do what they do and that kind of thing - which, I guess, is what I write about. Jennie, 26. April 2000

Are the plots old-fashioned?

I don't think that they're particularly old fashioned in general terms, they're more kind of 'stock plots' that get used in almost every action show that's made. I guess the main thing that dates the plots was the use of Russian agents in every other episode. While that probably seemed quite normal back then, now that the cold war is over it's a little old-fashioned. Jennie, 30. Januar 2001

What did change through your becoming a fan in your real, everyday life? I think, you started writing? <g> Or do you use special terms of speech, something like that?

Erm, I've always been writing, so while I obviously didn't write Pros before I'd seen the episodes, I've written other things. I think the main change is that it's broadened my group of friends. Through the various lists I'm on I got to meet an awful lot of people, and spend quite a lot of time with them in Real Life. Jennie, 30. Januar 2001

If you would have to describe Ray Doyle to another person, who don't know him, what would you say?

I would say that he's someone who has very strong emotions that he has trouble controlling. He has a very complex personality, and can be both very kind and considerate, and very ruthless as well. He has a very strong moral streak, and finds it very difficult to trust people, which is why he doesn't seem to have a particularly wide circle of friends. But those he does have, like Bodie, he is completely loyal to, unless, of course, they do something to offend his moral code, when he probably has trouble choosing which he should be most loyal to. Jennie, 31. Januar 2001

And now the last question: Which episode is your all-time favorite - and why? :-)

Probably either Hunter/Hunted or Slush Fund (it depends on what kind of mood I'm in), because both of them had a good mix of action and humour, and are a little more in-depth than some of the others. Jennie, 30. Januar 2001

Vielen Dank, Jennie

rg 2001-01-31