Dennis Waterman (ex-The Sweeneyand Minder) played Thomas Gynn, a geezer on the run ‘up north’ to escape some misdemeanours committed in London.
He happens upon northern businesswoman Sally Hardcastle (Jan Francis), her car broken down on the motorway, and manages to get her back on the road again, cadging a lift in the direction of Leeds.
The two develop an attraction for each other, and Thomas becomes caught up in Sally’s complicated life, involving her recently deceased unfaithful husband, a stolen painting and intimidation from sources interested in the painting’s recovery.
At one point, Thomas drove minicabs in Newcastle while Sally ran her narrowboat charter company in Yorkshire.
By the third series, Thomas had spent time behind bars, and Sally had long since left the scene. Thomas then saved the life of Samantha Mansfield (Susan George), administrator of the Yorkshire Industrial Museum, who gave him a job and more besides, before he enjoyed a fling in Eastern Europe with Isabel (Rula Lenska, Waterman’s real-life wife at the time), a British trade official in Hungary.
The character of Samantha was written out after a few episodes of series 4, and after some hasty re-writes, Leslie Ash’s character Jo Blake, a dancer, was introduced as a replacement love interest for Thomas.
Two old friends, Pippa (Emma Wray) and Lively (Niall Toibin) were usually on the scene, and Franklyn Bysouth (Ian McNeice) was Thomas’s one-time cellmate. Now a dodgy businessman, he took Thomas under his wing and offered him work.
The theme – Stay Lucky and Free – was sung by Dennis “write the theme tune . . . sing the theme tune” Waterman.
Thomas Gynn
Dennis Waterman Pippa O’Connor
Emma Wray John Lively
Niall Toibin Sally Hardcastle
Jan Francis Franklyn Bysouth
Ian McNeice Barney Potter
Willie Ross Samantha Mansfield
Susan George Isabel
Rula Lenska Alex
Dougray Scott Kevin
Chris Jury Jo Blake
Leslie Ash
