Mark investigates an old case as part of his coursework research, and uncovers an apparent miscarriage of justice which implicates Ed in a fit up. The pair investigate the case to try to work out what really happened, and discover that the truth is not necessarily what it appears to be.

Backfire

Raymond Burr

Don Galloway

Don Mitchell

Barbara Anderson

John Florea

The Laying on of Hands

The Man on the Inside

The Chief begins to receive strange phone calls, warning him of a murder to be committed somewhere in San Francisco, apparently in the interests of justice. With very little to go on and virtually nothing to help him identify his mysterious caller, Ironside eventually traces the case back to a policeman, thrown out of the force fifteen years earlier.

A Killing Will Occur

A sniper working for the criminal underworld seeks refuge in the anti-Vietnam protest movement, and with a number of draft-dodgers relying on his silence, the only man who can help the Chief is unwilling to follow proper channels.

No Game for Amateurs

The Chief travels into the mountains to spend the weekend with an old friend, only to be snowed in following a bad blizzard. Trapped in a small cabin, Ironside discovers that his friend is now an addict, violent and unpredictable without the fix he cannot get.

The Happy Dreams of Hollow Men

A judge decides to begin a series of lectures about a case that he tried eight years previously, the result of which was that a man was executed. Immediately he starts to receive death threats; but with no clues to help, the Chief may not be able to find the would-be murderer - who may, it appears, have committed the murder in the original case as well.

The People Against Judge McIntire

An ageing accountant, weighed down by the responsibilities of his life, decides to break free from the grindstone and try for something different. On the way he comes close to going off the rails, and the Chief makes it his personal crusade to ensure that nothing goes too wrong.

Noel's Gonna Fly

The accountant for the Police Pension Fund confesses to the murder of his secretary, but all of the evidence suggests that he could not possibly be guilty, instead pointing to another culprit and a man merely suffering from alcohol-induced hallucinations. As always, however, the Chief does not go along merely with what is 'obvious'.

The Lonely Way to Go

In Canada for a conference, Ironside and the team get caught up in a spate of bombings, courtesy of Quebec separatists; one of them the son of an old girlfriend of the Chief's. When one of the bombings proves fatal, Ironside suspects that there is more going on than just terrorism; and he soon links the killing to a famous stolen chess set.

Check, Mate: and Murder (1)

Ed goes undercover at the docks to try to identify and capture the murderer, whilst the rest of the team continue investigating the case. Finally, with a terrorist plot to defuse, a parade to protect, and Ed masquerading as the arrested murderer, Ironside has plenty to work on; but still has enough time to spend with his old girlfriend.

Check, Mate: and Murder (2)

A policeman's daughter crashes her car after taking cannabis, and her father sets out to catch the man who sold her the stuff. When it becomes apparent that he has framed the man responsible, the task falls to Ironside to decide whether to charge a known pusher or an old and trusted cop who has clearly gone off the rails.

Too Many Victims

When a drug pusher is arrested following a spate of botched drug raids he fingers Ironside as a gang informer. Ed is press-ganged onto a team set up to investigate the Chief, which leads to conflict with Eve. Meanwhile Ironside himself seems to be taking the investigation very calmly, which leads to concern all round.

Pablo Esteban, a young Mexican boy, is brought to San Francisco by some businessmen who claim that he can heal people just by touching them. Placed on the case to find out whether it is for real, the Chief develops a close friendship with the boy, and has to help him when he finds out that it is all just a money-making scam.

Ironside attends a hospital for psychological evaluation, and whilst he is tying knots in his psychiatrist's theories, it transpires that a crook is trying to use the situation to find out the whereabouts of a police informer. With Mark and Eve on holiday, however, there is just Ed to help the Chief, and a whole city to search through for clues.

This Could Blow Your Mind

The power station for a four mile square area of town is destroyed in an explosion, and when a similar attack takes out the auxiliary generator at Police Headquarters, Ironside realises that somebody somewhere is trying to cover their tracks. The question is, who - and what is their goal?

Blackout

A successful folk trio comprising two brothers and a sister tour San Francisco, and Eve's suspicions are roused when the girl, an old school friend, disappears without a word. When the body of another young woman turns up, brutally murdered, the Chief knows that there is a connection somewhere; but which, if either, of the brothers killed the girl? The clue to their sister's whereabouts might just be in their music.

The Quincunx

The Chief and his team are detailed to escort a spy to Mexico, in order to make an exchange with the Russians for an American scientist. When Ironside and the spy are kidnapped by a Mexican political group, Ed has to keep the Russians at bay long enough to get the pair back, so that the exchange can be made.

From Hrûska, with Love

An ex-con determined to go straight is roped into a scam to steal dynamite, after his son is kidnapped. The Chief manages to get the boy back, but by then a bomb has already been planted, and there may be no time to stop it before it blows up. The Chief not only has to find the bomb, he also has to work out how to defuse it.

The Target

Outside odds horses are starting to win at the local track, and Ironside is soon on the case. He discovers that somebody is trying to fix the races, but his prime suspect is Eve's one-time fiancÃ©, and a jockey who may be the unwitting key to it all.

A Killing at the Track

Ed and Eve travel to Mexico to assist in the interrogation of a former suspect in a murder case, who has been arrested for a similar offence across the border. The local police are determined to convict him, but Ed and Eve are equally certain that he is innocent; and when he is helped to escape from police custody, suspicion falls on them.

Escape

The team is at a theatre to watch the rehearsals of a play Ironside has some money invested in, when one of the actors is found dead. Two attempted murders soon follow, and the Chief has his work cut out for him trying both to find the guilty party and to save the play.

Love, Peace, Brotherhood, and Murder

A court case is put in jeopardy when it seems that the jury is irrevocably hung over its verdict; until the Chief realises that one member must surely be on the take. He has a race against time to unmask the guilty party, however, before the judge must dismiss the jury and let the defendant walk free.

The Riddle in Room Six

An old Armenian, the uncle of a friend of Eve's, appears to be hiding some secret that has his niece deeply worried. It soon transpires that his two nephews are involved in the manufacture of narcotics, drugs which are then being sold to children. But the fact that their uncle is keeping quiet about it suggests that he too has something to hide.

The Summer Soldier

Driving to the garage whilst tired, Mark knocks down an old lady, with whom he develops a close relationship. It soon seems, however, that his guilt over the affair is going to lead to some revelations about his new friend that he might rather not hear.

Accident

A gang of violent anarchists springs a protestor from prison and, when he is recaptured, try to force the police into releasing him again by kidnapping the son of a prominent lawyer. The boy, however, is in on the scheme, until he begins to realise just how far his new friends are prepared to go.

Lesson in Terror

An old woman whose handbag has been snatched asks Ironside to take her case. Moved by his friendship with her late husband, he agrees, and finds a lonely old woman reaching out for somebody to share her long days.

Grandmother's House

A parole officer famed for his hard line against drug pushers begins to fear for his life after a shooting. The line of suspects, however, as well as including one of his current clients, also seems to include that client's lawyer, and even the parole officer himself.

Walls Are Waiting

When an assassin's bullet confines him to a wheelchair for life ending his career as Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside becomes a consultant to the police department. Detective Sergeant Ed Brown and policewoman Eve Whitfield join with him to crack varied and fascinating cases. Ex-con Mark Sanger is employed by the chief as home help but eventually becomes a fully fledged member of the team also. Officer Whitfield leaves after 4 years service, and is replaced by Officer Fran Belding.

Backfire

Seasons8

Season 4 Episodes26

Cast4

Crew1

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Episode Summary