By Slanted Light

(cont'd)

This post (where you also commented) http://the-safehouse.livejournal.com/773094.html was quite adamant about WJ not follow 'canon' characterisation. I don't share all of the poster's views but I agree with some of them. I also agree with the poster's dislike of Operation Susie.


Here:
http://www.mark-1.co.uk/Professionals/d02.htm
The sidenotes say that WJ had originally been "written as a special short story for TV Times magazine in 1978 and never intended as an episode proper. However in March 1980 LWT reversed their (albeit unofficial) decision to axe the series, giving Mark 1 just eight weeks notice in which to get scripts written! As such Ranald Graham did an impressive job adapting the story for television!"

This original story was also published in the book included with the new DVDs (season 2/Mark II), though I left it at my mum's house so don't have it to hand. I remember reading it and thinking it was an interesting story (not particularly well-written, though IMO) but, as I said, if the production company insisted in basing a Pros episode on it they could have done a better job. But it seemed the clock was working against them and this was probably the best they could do.
So no, sorry, it wasn't written for a different TV series, like The Gun, but as a 'special' for the TV Times mag. Anyway, it didn't start as a Pros episode.

PS the Arab girl scene doesn't seem to have any purpose in the context of that episode. I'm not bothered by it, but it just seemed the script editor wasn't doing his job *g*. A fast-paced action series like Pros can't afford to waste film (!) and each scene should have some purpose (big or small), advance the plot, shed light on what's going on, develop characterisation. That short scene seemed to me a leftover loose end which probably had, in an earlier script draft, some meaning which got lost with later rewrites.