It's Not Bad!
| Date | 01 March 1988 |
| Published date | 01 March 1988 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058803500120 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
36
’Hard
Cases’:
Ever
Green
Blues
It’s
Not
Bad!
Geoffrey
Parkinson’s
Half
Way
Reaction
It’s
difficult
to
know
precisely
what
to
say
about
~lard Casc~s.
At
the
time
of writing this,
alter
only
three
episodes,
and
in
search
of
some
sharp
insights,
I
touted
around
my
London
colleagues.
Unfortunately
most
had
more
or
less
abandoned
the
series
but
few
could
say
precisely
why.
So
let’s
begin
with
something
rather
bland:
it’s
not
bad!
If the
plots
are
tending
to
get
less
and
less
believable
(did
you
see
the
Sunset
Boulevard
mock
up?)
the
probation
officers
nevertheless
come
out
as
recognisable
characters.
Admittedly
they
all
rather
talk
like
each
other
but then
I
find
that
probation
officers
do
develop
their
own
particular
styles;
in
some
the
staff
pull
each
other’s
legs
unmercifully,
in
others
they
all
stare
into
each
other’s
eyes
waiting
to
see
whose
going
to
draw
first
with
the
insight,
and
in
yet
others
the
great
pleasure
seems
to
come
from
not
actually
talking
to
anyone
at
all
(and
letting
them
know
it!)
In
this
probation
team
it’s
been
decided
by
the
writers
that
the
staff
will
have
their
feet
on
the
ground
and
their
hearts
in
the
sky!
One
somehow
suspects
that
before
setting
to
the
scripts,
diligent
enquiries
were
made
of
the
Probation
Training
Board:
’What
qualities
do
you
look
for
in
a
good
PO?’
’Well,
we
like
them
to
be
solid,
practical
people
who
know
what
life
is
all
about without losing
their
ideals!’
Marvellous!
When
I
think
back
to
my
own
entry
to
the
Probation
Service
I
remember
consciously
telling
myself
’I
must
appear
realistic,
yet
full
of
cheerful
hope!’
Much
good
did
it
do
me:
I
had
to
present
realism
and
cheerful
hope
for
three
full
performances
before
they
believed
me!
Anyway!
We
can
accept
the
world
of
the
fictional
team
and
any
momentary
disbelief
is
suspended
in
the
first
episode
when
we
discover
that
the senior
is
very
far
from
being
out
of
the
run:
he
is
quietly
but
very
finmly
going
mad.
Or
so
it
is
suggested.
In
fact
he
makes
generally
rather
sensible
remarks
to
his
staff
but
as
the
various
recipients
rum
away
from
him
they
either
raise their
eyebrows
or
shrug
their
shoulders
or
sometimes
even
do
both
so
that
the
viewer
has
the
tIp
off
that
the
old
codger’s
running
straighmut
of
orbit.
-
This
suspicion
is
confirmed
by
the
arrival
of an
Assistant
Chief -
an
entirely
fictional
character
if
only
because
he
seems
to
know
precisely
what’s
going
on
in the
team.
’Take
some
holiday!’
says
the
ACPO,
without
so
much
as
a
query
about
left
over
leave
days.
The
Senior
says
such
a
suggestion
is
ludicrous
-
there
is
so
much
to
be
done
in
the
office.
And
he
proves
his
point
in
the
last
reel
by
taking
all
the
files on
his
desk
and
setting
fire
to
them.
Far
from
being
instantly
promoted
for
such
a
gesture,
he’s
s
promptly
kicked
out
of
the
office
and
the
series.
His
successor
we
know
all
too
well.
He
has
a
long
double
barrelled,
unpronounceable
name:
Mr.
Iamasssolidasbrassandltrustruystaffandwh-
enthechanceariseslmakelongspeechesaboutthe-
goodolddays-Phoney.
Surprisingly,
however
he
does
occasionally
get
involved
with
the
clients,
thus
wasting
valuable
hours
that
should
have
been
spent
feathering
his
own professional
nest
in
committee
work.
Certainly
as
I
watched
him
standing
with
a
basic
grade
colleague
outside
the
door
of
a
raving
lunatic
I
couldn’t
help
thinking
’Why
isn’t
the
fellow
back
at
his
office
working
out
’strategies’
for
something
or
other?’
But
then
I
suppose
that’s
where
the
ways
of
fiction
and
reality
divide.
I
must
say
I
rather
took
a
shine
to
a
young
woman
officer
who
when
not
caring
and
controlling,
made
a
regular
hobby
of
screwing.
In
one
scene
she
invites
a
cherubic-looking
male
colleague
back
to
her
flat,
gives
him
double
spaghetti
and
chips
(or
something)
then
generously
offers
to
make
the
evening
perfect.
I’ve
got
a
feeling
that
like
most
of
my
London
colleagues,
I
shan&dquo;t
now
see
this
series
out.
So
there
we
are
-
back
where
we
started
and
that
judgement
that
somehow’s
worse
than
damning
-
It’s
not
bad!
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