This is the final review in our series discussing the surviving episodes of Dixon of Dock Green recently broadcast on Talking Pictures TV. The episode entitled Reunion was the final ever instalment of the revered police procedural. It was originally broadcast on 1st May 1976.
This episode deals with intrigue and mystery around a reunion of policemen who all worked together on a particular operation. It feels like it is trying to nod to all the years of the programme. To acknowledge its own longevity. Only of course, all of the characters who supposedly worked with George Dixon on this 1956 operation are completely unknown to long-time viewers as all the stalwart familiar characters had already long left the series.
If we can suspend that disbelief, this is quite a compelling situation. George is convinced he has seen the waitress serving the group before. DS Ben Cope (Glynn Edwards) is acting cagey and aloof. All the men seem to be trying to forget what happened on that fateful night. But George and Commander Ashe (Jack Watson) want to get to the bottom of things.
Meanwhile, Harry Dunne (Stephen Marsh) has fished a man out of the dock after he appeared to jump in. The man is also mysterious and takes a long time to tell Dunne his real story. He is a seaman who has been away for a long time. He tells Dunne he just wants to find his estranged daughter to see if she is okay.
Wills (Nicholas Donnelly) and Bruton (Richard Heffer) go for a drink when they come off duty. They meet another old colleague of Wills and Dixon. Between this and the party scene, we find out that on that fateful operation 20 years before, one of their colleagues died. Ashe is blamed, as he could have called off the operation and allowed the young constable to be saved. He didn’t, he allowed it to continue in the hope that both objectives could be achieved.
It turns out that the waitress is the widow of the young policeman who drowned that night. And she and Cope had arranged the evening in the hope of shaming Ashe.
The episode closes with the rescued man walking past the pub as the waitress comes out. She doesn’t notice him as it is raining. He watches her walk away, aware he has just seen his daughter.
A compelling story. But a fitting end to the giant that is Dixon of Dock Green? I, for one, say no. It likely was not intended to be. Unlike the previous series closer, Conspiracy. That was a very satisfying and fitting ending. If Conspiracy is going out with a bang, then Reunion is little more than a whimper.
Much like the whole of series 22, this episode was well-acted. It was nice to see Wills with something to do. He is the only character apart from George Dixon who feels like he would have fitted in right back at the beginning of the show. Guest stars such as Jack Watson and Alan Tilvern give great value. The third of three surviving appearances by Glynn Edwards is perhaps his best.
I cannot help but feel glad that series 22 is over. I feel I grieved for the ending of the brilliance of the programme eight weeks ago when Conspiracy aired. Without the great Peter Byrne as Andy Crawford and the way they wrote for him, Dixon was so much poorer. Series 22 is a sad way for such an incredible programme to end. If only they had stopped with series 21, as seemed to be the intention with its series closer, I have no doubt that Dixon of Dock Green would be remembered with much more respect and understanding of its legacy to this day.
