The Professionals (TV series) The Professionals (TV series) The Professionals is a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mark1 Productions for London Weekend Television (LWT) that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon Jackson as agents of the fictional "CI5" (Criminal Intelligence 5, alluding to the real life MI5). "The Professionals" was created by Brian Clemens, who had been one of the driving forces behind "The Avengers". The show was originally to have been called "The A-Squad". Clemens and Albert Fennell
The Professionals (TV series) ever to be released on VHS in Germany in the 1980s. However, only the unaired episodes were released on tape. In all, 14 episodes were withdrawn from broadcast. "The Professionals" was one of a few series from the West broadcast in communist Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. It gained a cult following there very quickly. Originally, only a selection of 21 of the 57 episodes was bought, including "Klansmen". The first dubbed episode "When the Heat Cools Off" was spoken by (Bodie), (Doyle) and Jiří Adamíra (Cowley). Štěpánek soon emigrated so the remainder were dubbed by Alois Švehlík. The whole series