[4] Joe, the policeman, is married with a young child, but when he meets Barry's live-in partner Sue, there is an instant mutual attraction.

[6] Producer George H. Brown said "Our picture is 48 hours in a policeman's life – the mosaic of people and events with which he deals, climaxing in the kind of challenge any PC on the beat alone may have to face.

[9] The other male lead was played by Nicky Henson, who said of the film "you could almost describe it as a sort of 1971 Blue Lamp (1950) although some people may get the wrong idea.

Not only does his script make no attempt to prove or disprove the statement of the title (the missing word is of course 'Bastards'), but it also provides no real identity for its P.C.

And further anguish is caused by the fact that, from the top of the cast list (the immutably genteel Martin Potter) to the bottom (Tony Wright in a sadly inauspicious return to the screen), everyone is painfully miscast.

"[13] Leslie Halliwell said: "Pointlessly titled lowlife melodrama with no style whatsoever; any episode of Z Cars would be preferable.