Raymond Hunt

To save the family business, two ne’er-do-well traveling salesmen hit the road with disastrously funny consequences.

Mild-mannered mystery writer D. H. Mercer has become so immersed in his material that his creation, hard-boiled private eye Biff Deegan, constantly appears to him as a hallucination. Intent on getting rid of Biff, and replacing him with a more civilized detective, Mercer soon finds himself in a genuine mystery involving art fraud, murder, and a beautiful lady in peril.

The death of a factory owner signals a change for all of the staff, none more so than a sheet metal worker called Watson, who is denied a promised promotion and finds his position as the unofficial leader of the sheet metal workers challenged by Gregg, a new apprentice who joins the factory and isn't willing to follow the accepted order.

London itself takes the starring role in this series of plays from the BBC – a role which varies between hero and villain, enchantress and harpy. The series features extensive location filming, ranging from Soho to the Law Courts, Wembley to the docks. Of the twelve episodes, eleven are believed to be lost.