Lewis Collins - sadly missed

I was genuinely saddened just now to hear of the death of the lovely Lewis Collins who played Bodie in The Professionals. I'd never have got a Geography Higher if it hadn't been for the pressure of getting my homework finished on a Sunday night to be able to watch my favourite programme. It seemed so very different to many of the programmes of the time as it was both stylish and the heroes were real heart throbs to a teenaged girl. It seemed to appeal to all of the family too, my Mum and younger sister were total Bodie fans, my Dad imagined himself to be their undercover partner should the two heroes ever need to call on him and I drooled over Martin Shaw's Doyle. There we sat watching it before we headed to bed, it was our final relaxation on a Sunday night.

I had posters on my wardrobe of them from the must have Jackie magazine. As I got older and too cool to have them on show I kept the posters inside my wardrobe doors, and when we cleared out my Dad's house a few years ago after he died he'd kept this wardrobe and the posters were still there. Even to this day if I see a Capri or a Mark I Escort it takes me back and I dreamed of one of these being my first car. Admittedly, Martin Shaw was always the man for me but the on-screen chemistry between the two was what really made the show. So to hear Lewis has died feels like a personal loss as they were a part of shaping my growing up from watching them as The Professionals and in other shows and endlessly poring over snippets of information and posters from the Jackie and Just Seventeen magazine.

May he rest in peace and may God comfort his family and friends he has left behind.