Budgie

Ronald "Budgie" Bird has just been released from prison, and has been given the job of looking Charity, one of Charlie Endell's strippers While looking after Charity, Budgie and his Irish mate Grogan accidentally steal a van load of pornographic magazines from the police and then try to destroy the evidence by burning them on a cricket field.

Budgie seems to have fallen on his feet - a flat right in the centre of Soho all to himself for six weeks. But why is Charlie doing him a favour - and Hazel's mother has plans for him too.

Budgie's on to something big. It means "playing at home" in Watford for a change. It means seeing his wife Jean; but Budgie knows he's sure of a welcome there isn't he?

An evening of "luxury"- Spanish nosh and chateau-bottled "plonk" at the Grandee Hotel on the North Orbital Road - gives Budgie the chance of clinching an important business deal.

Budgie's in the money - it's unheard of. But it's true. But how did he get it, and more importantly how can he hang on to it?

Budgie's got a job working in Charlie Endell's bookshop. He's saving up for a holiday. But Hazel has a problem that starts off a sequence of events which leads Budgie back to his old school and into a tricky situation.

"A man's best mate is his best mate" they said, especially when he is in trouble. But Budgie finds that in the case of Maguire that trouble leads to trouble, and still more trouble - 500 troubles to be exact.

Budgie is in the farming business - but not the kind that includes furry creatures or our feathered friends. The only "birds" are two-legged ones.

Budgie is asked to join a gang of criminals to rob a bank, but the police are on to it. But Charlie Endell's sex shop is hit instead.

There are domestic problems for Budgie - one of them being his dad; and, to quote Budgie: "What is a dad? A dad is a bloke who skives from home and tries to tap you for a couple of quid."

Budgie's sister, Vi, wants to marry Tony, and Budgie says he'll fix it. But one problem is how to get Tony to the altar, and another is the "paying guest", Zip.

Budgie, avoiding the police as usual, meets Janey and Denzil, an odd couple, gets involved in the throbbing world of show business. But he finds that every silver lining there is a cloud.

Budgie gives Charlie Endell a birthday present, but Charlie shows his gratitude in a very peculiar way - and Budgie finds himself back in the company of old friends.

Providing he behaves, Budgie is due to be released from prison in three weeks' time. It looks as though his luck has changed - but anyone who knows our hero can be certain that 'waiting' will prove a bit of a strain.

Alive and well, and back home in Watford with his wife Jean, it isn't long before Budgie gets an itch to visit his old Soho haunts. What he finds there is not what he expected.

Old venues, some old faces - and some new. After a surprise meeting with his ex-girlfriend Hazel, Budgie decides it is high time to make some quick money. It isn't long before he's back to his old tricks again.

When Budgie dons a white coat and takes a job, his friends are amazed. Could it be that he has started on the straight and narrow at last? Even Charlie Endell shows surprise - but then he's privy to secret information.

Budgie is on the run again. This time both the police and Charlie Endell are after his blood. It's just a question of who catches him first - and which is the lesser of the two evils.

When Hazel asks Budgie to take her cousin Herbert on a guided tour of London, she has no idea of the trouble her request will cause - most of it on her own doorstep.

Our tactless hero does it again. Having arrived home very late one night, to face Hazel's wrath, he compounds the issue by telling her he has a friend waiting outside - one whom he's invited to stay the night.

When he meets Inky Ballantine, and gets involved in a new money-making racket - capital investment- Budgie believes he's struck it rich. He's thought that before - but look where it got him last time.

When Charlie Endell clothes him in a new suit and makes his 'chief associate', Budgie is confident that Charlie has finally recognised his true potential - but Hazel isn't so sure.

When Budgie asks Charlie Endell for a job reference, it appears that the lad has finally taken the decision to go straight. But in Budgie's world, things are seldom what they appear to be.

Charlie Endell drives Budgie to a football match in his Rolls Royce. Just after they park, someone tries to shoot Charlie, but hits Budgie by instead. They both take refuge in a nearby house, much to the annoyance of the owners, who have a dark secret of their own.

A chance meeting between Budgie and his old friend Inga the Stripper on a railway station sets in motion a chain of events which places our hero well and truly in the firing line - and leads to a final showdown.

Budgie's blown it. Charlie Endell is after his blood, and this time he means business. Budgie's friends have gone to ground, and the heavies looking for him all over London, he needs somewhere to hide. Where?