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Thirty one year old Lewis Collins plays the tough, good-looking cop, alongside Martin Shaw's Doyle, a cop who's a softie at heart, in LWT's The Professionals. For months before shooting started both Martin and Lewis were sent on an intensive training programme - to toughen both their minds and Bodies!
Although the series is supposed to be based in and around the London area, most of it is actually shot on location at Pinewood. After all, it would be almost impossible to shut down a street for a day in the capital.
"A lot of indoor sequences are shot in private homes that are hired out instead of using a studio" Lewis told us, "of course they're all heavily insured just in case we ruin their persian rugs"
Before The Professionals hit our screens last year, both men were busy studying and learning the art of self defence and for this they enlisted the help of the S.A.S (special air services). Most days were spent under the strict supervision of their own Sergeant Major.
"We were taken off to a secret destination, somewhere in England, where this specialised branch of the forces trains, and there we were taught about guns and ammunition, as well as unarmed combat. We were faced with true Professionals" they told us. "To be honest - it was terrifying." Lewis admits, "I have never been up against somone who is capable of killing me, and sometimes it was difficult to believe that they were only using blanks."
Both Martin and Lewis agree that this intensive training was invaluable to their performance as Bodie and Doyle of CI5 (criminal Intelligence Five)
" I remember one day in particular-we were taken into the wild countryside and told to imagine ourselves in the jungle-we had to prove to our Sergeant that we had successfully learned everything we might need to know," Lewis says. "We were both armed with just a revolver and our enemy was a trained killer with a machine gun! We spent hours prowling around under bushes for cover, when suddenly he sneaked up on me from nowhere, fired a full round from his machine gun-i was a dead man.I don't think i passed the test that day!" he adds with a grin.
Neither men have a weight problem, although Lewis insists that he was a bit 'porky' a few months back. That was before he started to take part in the fast action needed for this series, and as they both agree: "You don't often feel like eating when you've just had your stomach kicked in!"
But in spite of the hard work and long hours - sometimes from six in the morning to ten at night, filming the series has had it's fun moments too. Says Lewis :" I remember one sequence where actress Gabrielle Drake was rowing me in a boat down the Thames-I think she was helping me to escape from the baddies who had shot my arm. Anyway it was a very dramatic scene, or supposed to be, with no dialogue, just background music. I don't know why, but i suddenly saw the funny side of the situation and started teasing Gabrielle by shouting orders at her,just like an Oxford rowing coach. She was desperately trying to keep a straight and serious face at the same time as guiding our boat in a straight line. Suddenly we hit the bank, the boat rocked and Gabriele fell in. By the this time i was almost hysterical with laughter and stood up to help her, the next thing i fell into the water with a loud splash! The director eventually saw the funny side, even though we held up shooting the rest of that day while we drip dried in the changing rooms!"
Another incident that The Professionals crew will remember with a smile is the time that Lewis's tight-fitting trousers split in the middle of a scene-revealing his under clothes! The cameras kept on rolljng as Lewis felt himself blushing. Sadly viewers won't get the chance of seeing the scene because the rest of the sequence was filmed from the waist upwards!
With the news that a second series is due to be shot this summer, both men face the task of getting themselves back into a strict training routine. "I've recently given up the smokes and alcohol" says Lewis, "and i feel a lot better for it".
Co-star Martin is a health fiend, preferring to stick to a strict vegetarian diet: " I'm an animal lover at heart and i hate to see the destruction of life-vegetarianism is my way of rebelling against it" he says. " I like to keep myself in good shape and usually take my sheepdog Harry for a run around the park - it's the best form of exercise for us both!"
Off the set Lewis and Martin are friends - both enjoy the occasional evening together, often shut away in Lewis's studio listening to music and playing the drums and guitar together.
"We work well together and share a respect and admiration for Gordon Jackson (who plays Cowley) - he's a fine actor".
Although both feel a bond between them, neither feels that socialising too closely would be a good thing - they want to maintain their own personal lives and personalities.
There are times that fiming is hazardous for The Professionals as they insist on performing their own stunts.
"I remember one of my first unarmed fights in the series," Lewis recalks, " the actor who was in fact a stunt man too, worked out a few movements beforehand, but as the cameras started 'rolling' he hit me, hard, and almost without thinking i punched him back - we got carried away and both ended up tearing each other to shreds. At the end of it all we emerged with two black eyes and very bruised faces!" He smiles and adds: "The best part of it was that we remained firm friends and later enjoyed a pint in the local."
Lewis is not worried by the possibility of typecasting, " I don't think casting people can afford to take those kind of risks-after all i wasn't exactly typecast after my appearance as Gavin in the Cuckoo Waltz".
Martin disagres, "Once you've been associated with a part it can be difficult to shake that image off, a lot of exposure at this point could harm my career - i don't know, but only time will tell."
The first series of The Professionals has remained almost constantly in the top ten TV ratings and we are promised that the second series will be even more entertaining, although some of the extreme violence will be cut to allow the characters to develop more of their own individual personalities. We think it's going to be well worth waiting for.
(This is written exactly as it appears in the magazine)