Home

Turtle and Razor Eddie

(On Topic: | Credit Where Credits Due | DVD | Series 1 | Series 2 | Theme | Turtle And Razor Eddie | Index )

Turtle
Turtle (cunning wee sod)
Razor Eddie
Razor Eddie, AKA Edward Winston Malone
(bloody berserker)

Turtle's Progress was not Turtle and Razor Eddie's first appearance on television, they originally showed up in a crime series called The Hanged Man produced in 1975. Here's some descriptions of them from the novelization of that series:

Turtle was about thirty, short, with receding hair and a habit of patting a premature paunch. He had once been a very good burglar, but shrewd enough to acknowledge that the law of averages was running against him. He specialized in planning and commission now... and was very selective about any individual jobs he did,. His information was always very good and his cut for subcontracting it was not exorbitant. The whereabouts of lorries with whisky or wages collections or blocks of flats changing hands and caretakers were part of his stock in trade. The other part was a painstaking perusal of all the personal advertisements in all the quality newspapers and magazines - particularly the 'For Sale' or Wanted to Purchase'.
Business had boomed since Turtle had persuaded Razor Eddie to go into partnership with him. Now there was no difficulty at all in collecting outstanding debts. Mackay had described Razor Eddie accurately as a bloody berserker, completely fearless against knives, broken bottles or shooters. Linked with this, however, was a thrifty mind, and he admired Turtle's businesslike approach to thieving. Let the other tearaways do the work and get their collars fingered and slop out in the mornings. The combination looked unlikely - Turtle, resembling a bewildered, not very bright bank clerk and Razor Eddie, hooligan turned apprentice schemer - but its unlikeliness made the combination effective. (pp170-171)
Turtle's business acumen was well respected in the Fulham pub, as was his aptitude for figures. It was said that if he had been able to stomach the food at approved school instead of constantly escaping, he could have qualified as an accountant. Best of all, he never brought any trouble to the pub. When he stood [with the police] all the that a regular clientele could admire before rapidly finishing their drinks and leaving was an Olivier-standard act of aggrieved innocence, a rotund Iago hanging on to large brandies like lifebelts. (p283)

Eddie, Aunty Ethal and Turtle in the Robin