Picture courtesy of Anke Lantin

On a London canal, a barge is under surveillance by Inspector Keaton and some of his men from Scotland Yard. He has a further two men on board the boat plus one agent, wearing a wire, who are waiting for a contact to arrive. A fisherman leaves the bank and goes onto the boat and down into the galley. The agents hand over five million dollars worth of diamonds but the fisherman then kills them. He places a calling card on one of the bodies then grabs the wire a tells Inspector Keaton to come on board.

The police quickly move in but the angler has already gone. Keaton sees a mask and wig floating in the river and one of his men finds the killer's card. It simply reads, 'the MONGOOSE' and has a drawing of the animal fighting a snake.

Back at New Scotland Yard, Lee has arrived and is on the phone to Billy explaining that fellow agent, DeMarco, was on a simple diamond bust with the British but unfortunately came up against the Mongoose. Two days on, there's still no leads apart from a casino chip and a scrap of paper with the name, Conrad Walter Barnhill on it, that they found in DeMarco's pocket.

Billy informs Lee that the computer has found someone who can ID Barnhill. Lee is pleased thinking that if DeMarco had somehow found out the Mongoose's real name and someone could then ID him, then they could possibly catch him in London. Billy says that the person who can help is on a plane already but he won't tell Lee who it is and just puts the phone down on him instead.

Lee soon finds out that that 'person' is Amanda King as it turns out that she knew him at school. Unfortunately, before they can start looking, Lee must sort out Amanda's small problem of grabbing the wrong lugguage. The bag she took belongs to a Trixie Berlinger and contains a lot of sexy underwear. Lee takes Amanda shopping then fills her in on the case. He tells her that all she has to do is point Barnhill out then go home.

Lee explains that the Mongoose is ruthless, very smart, very elusive and master of disguise. He's also rumoured to be using the stolen gems to set up a syndicate of international hitmen headed up by himself. Amanda doesn't believe that her friend, Connie, can be the Mongoose as he was so nice at school.

Later that evening, Lee and Amanda visit the casino that the chip came from. Amanda plays Black Jack while Lee sits to her right and looks out for Barnhill. An older man sits on Amanda's left and gives her tips on how to play. She's winning well, then Lee decides to go and call Billy. The older man also takes his leave and she sits there alone, still playing. Seconds later, Connie walks up behind her and puts his hand on her shoulder. He tells her not to turn around then makes her move to a nearby slot machine. As she starts to play that, he arranges a meet with her for the next day at ten o'clock at Trafalgar Square then walks off.

Meanwhile, Lee is in a boothe on the phone to Billy. The door opens behind him and as he finishes the call a man wraps a scarf around his neck and starts to strangle him. Amanda comes looking for Lee and scares the assailant away just in time. After Amanda tells him that she's made contact with Connie, Lee is convinced that Barnhill is the Mongoose but Amanda still doesn't believe it.

Next day, Connie meets a man outside The Gondolier pub and checks that the diamond drop points are all OK. The man says yes and Connie leaves.

At Trafalgar Square, Amanda is patiently waiting for Connie. Lee is in disguise and busking nearby. Inspector Keaton then walks over to Lee and, as it's almost noon and there's still no sign of Barnhill, they decide to call the meet off. Amanda goes shopping and Connie suddenly appears having obviously been following her. He takes her to a nearby pub and then Lee appears, having also apparently followed Amanda, and goes into the pub as well. He takes up position by the bar and watches the couple from a distance.

Connie and Amanda talk and he tells her that he knows she's there to ID him. Amanda tries to play innocent but he tricks her into admitting she's a trainee spy. He then looks down at the table distractedly and begins to talk about himself being the Mongoose. Amanda suddenly notices Lee and begins gesturing to him that it's Connie that's with her. Connie catches her but pretends he didn't see, then suddenly asks if she wants to play darts. He grabs her arm and takes her out of the pub by a second exit. Lee see's them leave but by the time he gets out of the pub, they are just driving away in a black cab. Lee steals a black cab himself and then gives chase. They race through the streets of London until Lee cuts them off. Connie gets out of the cab and runs taking Amanda with him. Lee follows and pulls out a gun ordering him to stop. Connie does but then also pulls out a gun and holds it to Amanda head, threatening to kill her if Lee comes any nearer.

There's a stand-off until Lee notices that Connie's gun hasn't got a clip in it and he moves in and grabs the gun from him. Connie gets scared and starts apologising to Amanda then admits he's not the Mongoose.

They take him to Scotland Yard where Keaton and Lee interrogate him using the ole 'lamp shone in the eyes' ploy. Finally convinced that he's not the Mongoose, Lee demands that Connie tell all he does know. Barnhill agrees to talk but only if Amanda is present. Leeleaves and gets Amanda but before they go in he explains to her the concept of good guy/bad guy. Amanda says that she'd prefer to be the 'good guy' as she hates it when she has to scold the boys.

They begin 'interrogation' but Amanda is a bit too nice and Lee gets annoyed. Amanda then says that she'd rather just talk to Connie as he used to confide in her all the time. Lee is reluctant but let's her try. Naturally, Connie spills everything about how he met up with the Mongoose and how he was duped into working for him. He also explains that he can't leave him otherwise he'll be killed. Amanda assures him that Lee will help. Before they finish, Conrad tells Amanda that he loves her and always has. She's glattered and says that he'll always be very special to her.

Lee then enters the room and offers Barnhill two options. Either go free and face the possibility of being killed by the Mongoose or help them and they'll offer protection. He chooses the latter and then Lee tells Amanda to go home. He takes her to the nearest bus stop as she wants to ride a London bus before catching her flight. On the bus, she meets the man from the casino who turns out to be the Mongoose and he tells her that she's now working for him as they have Conrad.

At Covent Garden, Keaton's men along with Lee and Conrad are in place waiting for the Mongoose to show. They know that he plans to make a five drop tour of London exchanging the diamonds for one million dollars cash at each point and they hope to catch him there. Elsewhere in the Garden, the Mongoose has arrived with Amanda but sees police so decides to start his drop at another point - namely, the Tower of London.

Amanda meets with the contact at the Tower and makes the exchange. Meanwhile, Lee is concerned when the Mongoose doesn't show and thinks it's because his foe realises that they have Conrad who can ID him. Barnhill agrees then adds that Amanda knows what he looks like too, explaining about the night at the casino. Lee is horrified that the Mongoose knows what Amanda looks like and quickly contacts Billy to check if Amanda made her flight. Finding out she didn't, Lee tries to fiugure out the Mongoose's next move and suspects that he probably started at the opposite end of the tour…the Tower of London. He attempts to contact the policeman there but when there's no joy, he tells Keaton to cover the other three drop points while he takes St. Catherine's Dock.

Already at St. Catherine's Dock, the Mongoose points to a boat called 'Discovery' and tells Amanda to meet a man on board called Roxin. She goes over just as Lee and Conrad turn up. Lee spots her and tells Conrad to contact Keaton then asks a passer-by if he can borrow his coat and hat. In disguise, he goes over to the boat and makes contact with Amanda. He asks her where the Mongoose is and is taken by surprise when the man himself jumps out holding a gun on them.

Lee drops his gun as instructed but then Conrad also jumps out and tackles the Mongoose from behind. The man shoots Barnhill in the leg then runs off. Lee gives chase and Conrad yells out a warning that the Mongoose keeps a dagger up his right sleeve. Lee chases the Mongoose over several boats and finally catches up with him on the river bank. They fight but unfortunately, Conrad got his information wrong and Lee is nearly stabbed whne the Mongoose produces a dagger from his left sleeve instead. Lee eventually gets the upper hand and throws the Mongoose into the river where he's picked up by the river police.

Next day, Lee and Amanda stand outside Buckingham Palace anda limping Connie turns up holding a newspaper. He's made the front page and has to go for a radio interview. He thanks them for all their help then leaves. Lee asks Amanda what she's going to do before she catches her flight and she says she wants to have a formal British tea. Lee offers to take her anywhere she wants and she teasingly gestures towards the Palace.

SCENE'S TO WATCH OUT FOR

Lee and Amanda on the top deck of an open-top double decker bus riding around London when she pulls out a red basque from the bag she mistook for hers and Lee teasing her that it could be a 'whole new look' for her.

Amanda reminiscing to Connie while playing the slot machine then turning to find that he's not there anymore but other guests are staring at her instead.

Amanda trying to help Lee after he's been choked by the Mongoose, only to hamper him by treading on his arm.

The stand-off between Lee and Connie when the latter has Amanda 'hostage'.

The 'interrogation' scene where Lee's the bad guy and Amanda's the good guy - so funny.

Lee asking Conrad when he's going to learn his left from his right as he holds up the wrong hands himself.

ROMANCE

This episode was very funny and opened the new season well. The tempo of the show and it's character's continued from where it left off the year before which was great…but doesn't lend much scope for possible romantic scene's this early on, unfortunately.

However, the scene that stands out for me is probably when Conrad professes his love for Amanda while Lee listens over the tape machine. He appears quite shocked at what Connie has said and even looks over at Keaton in disbelief. He obviously feels uncomfortable with the whole situation and even makes a poor excuse. Of course, the fact that he went into the room pretty quickly after that seems to indicate he wanted to break it up fairly sharpish before more was said. A touch of jealousy rearing it's head there if you ask me.

It wasn't long after that that Lee made sure Amanda left for home either. His attempt at trying to thank her for her help was sweet and she was nice not to let him suffer through it for very long. She did try and find out if he was worried about her travelling alone but was disappointed as usual by Lee's apparent unconcern.

Then, during the tag, Lee again shows slight discomfort when Amanda gently straightens Conrad's tie. Can't actually say he looked jealous really - if he was, it didn't appear that obvious. It was more of a sad look that said he wished he could stop it but, he didn't have the right - it was actually rather cute.

It was also cute to see him offer to take her anywhere she wanted to go and the fact she teased him back shows their close friendship. Lee seemed very touchy after Conrad had left too. The way he took her hands in his was nice to see and again shows how comfortable he is with having her around - or maybe he felt a tad threatened by Conrad and need to reassure himself that she was still…'his', for want of a better way to put it! J

QUOTES

AMANDA: It's just that I've been in the same clothes for twelve hours…

LEE: Only twleve?

AMANDA: Well, let's just remember that this is an honest mistake that could've happened to anyone.

CONRAD: Meet me at Trafalgar Square, ten o'clock and lose your boyfriend with the perfect hair first.

AMANDA: I've never seen Trafalgar Square before. I would have hoped I could move around a little.

LEE: Move around, he may kill you.

AMANDA: Well, there's a lot to see from here too.

AMANDA: I know about the Mongoose. He's supposed to be quick and elusive and you flunked gym two years in a row.

AMANDA: Look, you said the good guy acted like a buffer. OK, so I buffered.

LEE: Yeah, every two seconds! Now, Amanda, the technique works better if you let the bad guy play his part, then the good guy takes over.

AMANDA: But by that time, Conrad will be scared to death.

LEE: That's the whole point!

LEE: Sometimes interrogation takes some bizarre twists.

AMANDA: Oh, just remember, Conrad has a way of getting himself into trouble.

LEE: Like someone else I know.