 This represents one of the first times on British TV where crime is  seen to pay. Writer Lynda la Plante was very keen for the characters  to get caught, but her producers were set against that. At the time,  Thames Television, who backed the series, had a Head of Good Taste  who approved all scripts. He was sent the first 5 scripts while all  this backstage wrangling took place, only for him to ring up,  desperate to know how the plot was resolved. When informed that  there was a split over how it should end, he told them that it was  imperative that they should let the characters get away with it.