FANTASY FLASHBACK - PULSE

THE PLOT

A car pulls up in a deserted car park. The chauffeur, Jean-Daniel, steps out of the driving seat, smoothing his immaculate suit. After him, Mr Neville nervously gets out and is shown, rudely, by the chauffeur to an unassuming office. Inside, Neville meets with Patrick Marcel, and the gentlemen begin to talk business. Patrick knows that Neville's company needs re-financing. Patrick offers him money in exchange for control over the company. Outraged by the suggestion, Neville storms out. Nodding to his boss, Jean-Daniel reaches behind a sofa and removes a huge bazooka. He follows Neville and kills him.

The Bugs team meet in Gizmo's, their HQ, to discuss how Patrick has approached many companies. All have turned down his offer down and later mysteriously died. Ed leaves to warn someone he knows at a troubled company called Weapon Works. As he leaves, Beckett wonders, "Why are they buying up every loser in town?"

At Weapon Works, Ed meets with Clare and Katie, her daughter. Ed doesn't stay long, as Clare asks him to leave so she can attend a meeting. As Ed goes, he passes Patrick…

Beckett meets with Newsom, the head of a motor construction company, who responds angrily to Beckett's questions about his finances. Newsom assumes that Beckett has been sent to pressure him into a decision. The man storms into his office, slamming the door. A second later the workshop is showered with glass as a bomb in the office detonates.

Later, Ed, Ros and Beckett are hired by Newsom's company. Beckett poses as the new owner and meets Patrick. While they talk, it transpires that Patrick is privy to knowledge of major competitors that would put the smaller company in a very good position. Beckett agrees to go into partnership and is immediately asked by Patrick to set the company to work on a job, the details of which are handed over on a CD ROM. "A part of the grand design," Patrick explains.

The CD contains a set of blueprints, but the team are unable to identify exactly what they are for. They decide it must be built, or Patrick will get suspicious. Lena, Newsom's assistant, sets about ordering the parts, but the computer seizes up. This happens every day, as the computer is backed up. The information is sent to Computer Recall, who store the data on behalf of their company and hundreds of others. Ros tells Lena to break the link.

At Weapon Works, Clare is trying to go home. Katie, however, is too busy hiding in her den to follow her mother. The phone rings. Clare answers it and speaks to Ed who asks here if she has any dealings with Computer Recall. She begins to answer, but hangs up when Patrick arrives unexpectedly.

Clare explains that she is turning down Patrick's offer. But Patrick won't take 'no' for an answer, explaining that Katie could be in danger if Clare does not comply…

Ed arrives at Computer Recall. He carries an attache case, fitted with a video camera. At the automated door, he explains that he is from the construction company: he has brought the day's data over. A computerized voice tells him to drop the suitcase, and leave.

Watching the pictures transmitted from the case, the team see the control centre where they find the brains of the operation: Jean-Daniel. It doesn't take long for Jean-Daniel to notice the hidden camera and break the transmission, but before the picture is cut Beckett notices something in the background. Reviewing their recordings, they see the face of Katie, trapped behind a wire mesh.

Ros and Ed meet Clare, who explains that the missile she is providing is a pulse warhead - a special weapon that will destroy all electronics in wide radius. They try to stop her from giving Patrick the missile but, unprepared to risk her captured daughter's life, Clare pulls a gun on them and gets away. Ros follows her, leaving Ed to fetch Beckett.

Beckett is in Gizmo's when the video phone at the door buzzes. He answers it, to see a picture of Jean-Daniel standing outside, bazooka perched upon her shoulder. There is a sudden explosion and Beckett is knocked cold to the floor. The chauffeur enters, brushing dust from his suit.

When Beckett comes round, he finds himself with Katie, trapped inside the offices of Computer Recall.

On the back of an HGV, the missiles are loaded into the launcher. Clare confronts Patrick. "When are you going to let Katie go?" she screams. "I don't know," Patrick yells back, "ask my brother."

At Computer Recell, Jean-Daniel explains that the company plans to detonate a pulse missile to wipe out the computers of their major clients to let the small companies that they own take over, earning them millions. Their protected offices will remain unaffected by the detonation.

Ros jumps on the back of the HGV just as it pulls away, but is it not long before Patrick notices her. At Computer Recall, Jean-Daniel prepares the missiles. On the HGV, Ros struggles with the time but Patrick tries to stop her. Just then, the countdown reaches zero, and the launch flare kills Patrick, giving Ros the chance to escape.

Clare, meanwhile, has arrived at the offices when Jean-Daniel has noted her arrival. Smiling, he picks up his bazooka and goes to greet her. Outside, Ed finds Clare and the two of them break into the offices, avoiding Jean-Daniel.

Beckett, with Katie's help, breaks out of the cage. He redirects one of the missiles to a harmless location. Soon after, Jean-Daniel arrives to find them gone and that his plan will fail. He launches off in pursuit of Beckett and Katie. The pair have hidden in the room containing the databanks, but it doesn't take Jean-Daniel long to find them. They make a break for the elevator door, but are too late. Jean-Daniel approaches with his bazooka raised.

Beckett stops him. "There's something you should be asking me," he says. "Exactly where did we aim the second missile?"

Outside, Clare and Ros take cover as the missile screeches into the offices of Computer Recall. It detonates inside, destroying all the data and Jean-Daniel's grand plan.

BACKGROUND

As Bugs came to the end of its first season, it was entrenched in the public imagination. Its stylized action-adventure made sure that it had caught the eyes of not only nearly ten million viewers, but also the favourable attention of tv critics. With Pulse, the final episode, Bugs Season One bowed out on a high. Script Executive for the series, Colin Brake, discusses Pulse.

"In Season One, Pulse was not written as a season climax - it was just another episode. Nothing changed when its position was known; there was no special awareness of it being the season climax. Unlike Season Two, where there was much more planning…" If this was the case, though, Pulse is certainly one of the most outstanding of the series and one which, in hindsight, shaped the second season. Colin concurs: "Certainly by Pulse all concerned were up to speed on the kind of show Bugs was, and the balance of humour and Science Fiction elements in the episode seemed 'right'. It was a good way to end the series for the production team - Season One was a voyage of discovery in many ways and, with Pulse, we knew we'd got somewhere, even if it wasn't quite where we thought we were going at the start."

Certainly the episode's complex and intricate tale involving high-tech industrial espionage seems to be a template for the on-going plot in Season Two. "We quite fancied the idea of a returning villain [for Season Two]," says Colin, "and Jean-Daniel was just about the only one left alive after Season One! Everyone loved Gareth Mark's performance and wanted to see the character return." As Season Two comes to its end, does Colin feel that the inclusion of Jean-Daniel has been successful? "It doesn't seem to have hooked new viewers, and in retrospect the integration of Jean-Daniel into some of the middle episodes of the run could have been better, but generally we achieved what we wanted with the Jean-Daniel strand."

Colin continues, "I was at the read-through and was immediately impressed with Gareth. We all thought that the image of this chap in a suit lugging an enormous bazooka around on his shoulders as his personal weapon-of-choice was a striking one - and it was. Classic big gun stuff!" But will Jean-Daniel return next year? "No, probably not. No decision has been taken yet, but it looks unlikely."

In all, Pulse is the episode that shaped the style of the latest series of Bugs. However, the second series has failed to pull in ratings as impressive as the first and so further changes are in store. What is to come cannot be known right now, but you can be sure that life for Ros, Ed and Beckett won't get any easier in Series Three…