#long odds

The Bill - ‘Long Odds’ (ITV, 1984).

I give 20:1 odds we go to war with Iran before January 20th

5:1 odds we bomb Iran and come to the brink of war, but they don't retaliate because they think the incoming administration will try to undo the damages

4:1 odds that Trump has to be escorted from the White House by secret service

100:1 odds they have to drag him out kicking and screaming. Odds are in his favor that he'll go quietly once the guards come. He'll walk out surrounded like a mob boss, he'll wave to the cameras and flash the double Nixon victory signs as he boards his private helicopter to Mar a Lago.

2:1 odds that he never formally acknowledges Biden's victory. I mean not only will he not concede, but he won't even talk about it, he'll say give a speech about how his first term is expiring and he’ll be leaving office, but he’ll pretend like he doesn’t know anything about his successor.  He’ll die before he says he lost and Biden won.  No calls, no letter in the Resolute Desk, no organized transition, Biden is left completely in the dark.

3:1 Pelosi introduces a bill to formalize the transition period between presidents, but McConnell refuses to vote on it

59:1 there are a significant number of faithless electors to change the outcome

6:1 there is at least one faithless elector, but the outcome doesn’t change

Like Lando’s contacts didn’t help the Rebels identify Hoth as a planet to make a base on. Like the Rebels didn’t use his mining operation as a front to secure transports. 

“Oh, here are these TOTALLY EMPTY transports being sent off to FILL UP WITH TIBANNA GAS they are DEFINITELY NOT FULL OF SPACE HEATERS AND GUNS and are CERTAINLY NOT TAKING AN EXTRA DAY ON THEIR SCHEDULE BECAUSE THEY’RE UNLOADING SUPPLIES it’s because the Baron Administrator has a really nice city and they’re taking shore leave”.

I have a head canon of actual betting sites for which Rangers are dating. Mako/Raleigh is even odds, Herc had some truly great odds on a few, but Chuck/Raleigh was looooong odds. Some people get rich, including a few in the shatterdome. (Like some J-Techs who swear they see the glances and longing…)

Sean Bean guest stars as an armed robber at a petrol station. Whilst the robbers are distracted by the hostages the assistant manages to press the silent alarm bell. At the station, CID go through the (remarkably clear for the time despite the moaning Mike does about them) CCTV pictures. The robbers have hit several building societies, garages and off-licenses recently and Sun Hill want to catch them before someone gets hurt. Bob takes the pictures to show during the briefing for Uniform to keep their eyes out for them.

In said briefing, Bob tells the gathered uniform officers that they're to concentrate on the spate of muggings on the High Street, even if it is boring for them. "It's not boring on the television Sarge..." Taffy drawls (ha!). June and Viv are in civvies and placed at the south end of the street to try and attract the suspects to attempt to mug them. Dave claims that they're perhaps looking too hot to handle and not vulnerable enough. June is not amused...

Dave thinks he's got an inning with CID as he recognises one of the armed robbery suspects, hoping that it'll count towards him getting out of uniform and into CID. Once Roy has the name - Desmond Holt - he calls Dave out for trying to score points and for not being loyal to Uniform. Having already gathered what Dave would want, Roy had arranged for Bob to pop upstairs. He's a slippery one, Roy! ❤

At the north end of the High Street, a lone female shopper is mugged for her handbag. When she doesn't instantly hand it over, the female half of the couple starts laying into her for not making it easy before the male drags her away.

Two officers, Kirk and Wheeler from CIB arrive to speak to Roy after a complaint was made against Ted Roach by Mrs Taylor, a neighbour who insists Ted purposely sets out to annoy her. They tell Roy that Taylor claims he called her "a nosey old cow" and to "piss off out of it." Roy plays it down as a serial complainer, however CIB insist on playing it by the book. Wheeler asks Roy if there's anything vindictive about Ted and he replies "I wouldn't say so. He gets moody from time to time but who doesn't in our line of work." Roy insists Ted is a bloody good detective and Kirk agrees that Ted's record speaks for itself. They tell Roy that they're going to speak to Mrs Taylor to make her feel like she's been listened to in the hope that it stops her from taking the complaint further. As he leaves, Wheeler brings up Ted's duty sheet showing him as knocking off late at 5pm- Roy quickly covers and says it was legitimate overtime. Roy isn't happy...!

Mike and Ted sit outside a local cafe known to be frequented by Holt and see if they can identify him from the CCTV pictures. Both complain that they find Dave too pushy to consider working alongside him. They continue keeping an eye on him until they have a positive ID. Roy suggests to Brownlow that Ted go in and arrest Holt because he is trained to work with firearms. Charles wants to wait until they're sure it's definitely him. The last thing he wants is a shootout in the middle of the street so he calls for a marksman from The Yard.

Bob heads to the High Street to catch up with Uniform about the mugging victim. Thankfully other than a bruised chest she isn't badly hurt and the couple only got away with £2.50 and her cheque book. Thankfully she had the card that would enable the thieves to use the cheque book in her pocket. Bob decides to keep the team where they are at the south end in the hope that they'll move down and get caught, telling them to return for refs soon after. June thinks they keep missing the boat and won't catch them. Bob takes Dave aside to address what happened that morning. He tells him he's aware - as are the others - that Dave can't wait to leave uniform and get into CID but going over their heads is not the way to do it. The MET rely on loyalty and teamwork and his attitude is only setting him apart from the others. Bob then leaves the room, handing Dave a letter containing the results of his test to join CID...

Nosy neighbour and serial Ted complainer, Mrs Taylor watches the officers approach her flat, having a full afternoon tea laid out for them in advance. She has two papers on the side - The Mirror and The Times. She leaves The Times on the arm of the chair and hides The Mirror behind the settee cushions before pulling the front of the TV cabinet out to hide it. She tells Kirk and Wheeler that she canceled her plans for the rest of the day to speak to them about "that sordid young man." She spoke to Ted at 3.50pm - and she's sure of the time because she rushed home from the local market to watch a televised tennis game - when she saw "that man and his trollop coming down the stairs." She says the disagreements started months ago over the communal garden. She's lived there for 15 years and always sits in the same shaded area to avoid 'getting a rash from the sun'. Wheeler tells her it's called prickly heat and Taylor is horrified, telling him that it's something quite different. Prickly heat is too common for her! She was furious to find Ted's "Trollop" sat in her chair when she went outside "You do realise, Chief Inspector, that they're not married?" Taylor claims she asked quite politely to have her chair back and that the 'Trollop' moved "but I could tell from the look in her eyes that she resented doing so" and ever since then she claims Ted has been nothing but rude to her. She complains that he comes home at all hours of the day and night and isn't pacified by Kirk explaining that being a DS in the MET means working shifts at all hours of the day and night. She then claims he uses the toilet at 3am in the noisiest way possible on purpose (by urinating right into the water) because he lives directly above her. Oh the humanity! She then returns to the day in question, claiming both were 'almost naked' (dressed for the heatwave). She says she asked him not to sit in 'her chair' and he called her dirty names like 'a silly cow' and swore at her. Kirk asks her why she asked him not to sit in her seat and Taylor explains that she wanted to use it herself. Kirk points out that she wouldn't be able to if she was going to watch the tennis match she had rushed home to see. She insists she intended to go down straight after the match. She isn't the type who will let it drop - but they can understand why Roach doesn't get on with her.

The marksman from The Yard is confirmed to arrive by 8.30am the next day. Ted and Roy both agree that it's a waste of time, especially as Ted is trained for firearms but Scotland Yard won't have it any other way after 'The Baker Street Cock Up' (which I can only imagine after a lot of googling is this). Roy tells him that they've been visited by the 'rubber heelers' and that Kirk is OK but Wheeler, is a head hunter and could be a problem.

After shift, Dave insists on buying the first round after his chat with Bob. He tells Jim he's celebrating good news after his CID exam results. Dave is baffled when Jim is genuinely pleased for him despite how Dave has treated him. Roy reminds Dave that there are still a few hurdles and invites him to join CID for a drink.

The next morning Bob takes the briefing. The focus is again the muggings on the High Street. Jim suggests a small alteration to the beats of 2 sets of officers to cover the north end of the High Street in the hope it would give them extra cover.

CID are preparing to arrest Holt at the relieving Reg and Extra!Pete who updates Ted that Holt hasn't been seen since he returned home with a rather well-endowed lady at almost 4am.

There's a potential first football mug sighting when Bob is asked to take CCTV pictures of the suspects of the armed robberies to the garage to see if the staff recognise them.

As Ted and Mike watch Holt's house, Sean Bean Clark arrives. The Sgt from the yard arrives at Sun Hill but before Roy can take him to the scene, Brownlow asks for a word. Kirk and Wheeler are in Brownlow's office and tell Roy normally it would just be a wrist slap for Ted but there's a problem. Taylor is adamant she spoke to him at 3.50pm. Ted's duty rota, and Roy himself, said that Ted was at work until 5.13pm. Taylor's statement has signed witness statements from other neighbours who heard the argument and remember the time. Roy tries to say that he could have just nipped home for five minutes but they point out that he was supposed to be on the other side of Canley and had changed into shorts.

On the High Street, the mugging suspects are spotted by June who calls for assistance when they try to mug a woman. June and Viv manage to keep hold of the girl but the male gets away. Taffy runs after him with Dave and Jim with Dave getting injured by a trolley thrown back at him. Soon after the male suspect collides with a member of the public who Jim has to stay and help as she is hurt. Taffy continues running after him, right into a disused warehouse. The suspect continues running through the rooms, but the floor gives way under Taffy as he follows, causing him to fall through. The sudden shock of the collapse brings a wall down onto Taffy too, showering him in bricks with a shocked Yorkie arriving seconds after.

The male suspect scales a gate and hurts his leg as he lands on the other side into the arms of Dave who is only too glad to arrest him, calling him scum as he slams him into the gate.

Ted and Mike see Holt and Carter leaving, following them to a Post Office whilst they wait for Roy and the armed officer from the yard. Bob tells Roy he hasn't had the chance to do the CCTV job he asked for because of Taffy's accident and that they don't know how he is yet as they're waiting for the fire brigade. Roy tells Bob he'll do it himself.

Tom tells the fire officer that Taffy is buried underneath a tonne of rubble and that he isn't responding to their calls.

With no contact from Roy, Ted tells Mike to contact the station and to let them know he's going in to try and prevent Carter and Holt from holding up the Post Office. Mike calls it in and goes running in to help Ted who is now being held at gunpoint. Mike's radio crackles when he appears behind Carter. Carter panics and goes for Mike with the hammer, taking him down with a blow to the arm, managing to get away. Holt and Ted fight with Ted getting the upper hand and knocking Holt out cold. He picks the gun up and checks it over, starting to laugh, "It's a toy!" he gasps for air, both men sitting on the floor and bleeding. "Are you alright?" Mike asks Ted gently, mid Ted's almost hysterical laughter. "Yeah... I wonder if they sell toilet paper?!."

The fire officers have gotten down to the level where Taffy is and have found his radio. There's still no response from Taffy himself.

Ted sits in the back of Roy's car, shaking as he tends to his blooded nose and lip. The Sgt who was supposed to deal with the situation tells him "You've either got a lot of medals chum, or you're a headcase." Ted responds in typical Ted-esque. "Up yours!"

"What was all that about?" Roy blinks. The Sgt tells him it's the best cure in the world for the shakes!

2 more hours in, there's still no sign or response from Taffy. Bob is about to send the others back to the station before the fire officers finally make a breakthrough.

"... Anybody got a plaster?"

The next morning Ted is back at work being teased by uniform. Bob tells him he's a shoo-in for a commendation and Ted laughs and says he can hang it up with the other 2 alongside the divorce papers and the red letter from the mortgage company. The jovial nature doesn't last when Roy arrives to inform him that the Superintendent wants to see him and then he wants to see Bob too because the male mugger is claiming Dave roughed him up when arresting him.

Brownlow tells Ted that Roy has recommended him for a bravery commendation that he's going to endorse, however, in making out he stayed longer than he did on the duty report of the day he argued with Taylor, he has left himself open to a charge tantamount to stealing. For this he could be suspended and charged. Ted admits he lied but claims he was under great stress and counters that he's done overtime lots of times without logging it so it works out in the long run. It doesn't fly with Brownlow who tells him he was only saved by his outstanding record and that because of it, CIB have put the disciplinary option in Brownlow's hands. Charles says it was only because of what he did the day before that he's still there and that he'll let him know what disciplinary action he decides to take later.

Roy, Ted and Bob leave Brownlow's office and go to interview Holt, trying to get him to admit where Carter is. Their ... insinuation... of what will happen to Holt in prison if he has to take the rap alone is very of the time and very uncomfortable and unpleasant. Roy tells him he will have a word with the judge if he tells him where Carter could be hiding. Holt claims that he has nothing to say and Bob starts to lead him out. Yorkie tells Roy that Carter was picked up a few hours ago by Essex police. Holt pretends he's unbothered and points two fingers at Ted. 'Bang bang....' he mutters. Ted flies at him, having to be pulled away by Roy as Bob wrestles Holt out.

Y’all think you’re so cute with your hair and your air pods

but you all look alike, little peas in the same pods

think you’re so slick, that you’re basically young gods