About this season
Barlow at Large is a British television programme created by Troy Kennedy Martin and Elwyn Jones. It broadcast from September 1971 to February 1975, with a total of 29 episodes across four series. Stratford Johns reprises his role of DCI Charles Barlow from Z-Cars, Softly, Softly, and Softly, Softly: Taskforce. Barlow at Large originated as a three-part self-contained spin-off from Softly, Softly in 1971 with Barlow co-opted by the home office to investigate police corruption in Wales. Johns departed in 1972, but returned for a further series of Barlow at Large in the following year, Barlow having gone on full-time secondment to the Home Office. In 1974, the series was rebranded Barlow and two further series of eight episodes each followed, introducing DI Tucker. After the finale's transmission in February 1975, Barlow was next seen in the programme Second Verdict in which he, alongside a former colleague, investigates unsolved cases and unsafe historical convictions.
Episodes (10)
1. Strays
Aired 7 February 1973 • 50 min
Barlow must find a young girl who has disappeared from London Airport.
2. Wanted
Aired 14 February 1973 • 50 min
Fishing for a villain in Amsterdam, Barlow searches for the appropriate bait.
3. Review
Aired 21 February 1973 • 50 min
Eddie Doyle is serving a life sentence for murder, but friends in The Potteries think the police may have moved too fast.
4. Publicity
Aired 28 February 1973 • 50 min
A girl has been murdered in the West Country, and routine methods have failed to find her killer. What's needed is something different...
5. Wheelbarrows
Aired 7 March 1973 • 50 min
Barlow investigates a racket using car ferries to export stolen vehicles.
6. Informant
Aired 14 March 1973 • 50 min
When a voice from the past brings Barlow information about a crime, he has to balance his new responsibilities at the Home Office against his detective's judgment.
7. Trespass
Aired 21 March 1973 • 50 min
The policeman look and sound British. But when Barlow follows the trail of a city swindler as far as Rhodesia, he finds them surprisingly unfriendly.
8. Assessor
Aired 28 March 1973 • 50 min
Barlow finds that Signor Rizzi is interested in something more sinister then good trade relations.
9. Treasure
Aired 4 April 1973 • 50 min
The Rock of Gibraltar proves stony ground when Barlow and Rees start 'digging' for treasure. Their hunt for £750,000 worth of stolen and forged securities leads them to all the Rock's attractions - and one of the attractions leads Rees into temptation.
10. Confidence
Aired 11 April 1973 • 50 min
Barlow's relationship with Fenton is never easy - and it is stretched to the limit when Fenton receives and extraordinary confession.