REVIEW: Bulman – I Met A Man Who Wasn’t There

Bulman (Don Henderson) is hired by Kate (Sheila Hancock) to obtain proof that former gangland boss, Lol Gallio (Peter Wyngarde) is back in London after being forcibly exiled for over 20 years. Having formally managed one of Gallio’s numerous brothels and strip joints in London, she wishes to convince the Home Office that he’s back in town and out for revenge.

Peter as Lol Gallio

The grumpy detective attempts to snap a photograph of the crook on his arrival at Heathrow Airport, but is thwarted by a couple of Gallio’s heavies and he’s able to slip away without capture.

Bulman finds Kate at her cafe, which is really just a front for a seedy ‘Peep Show’ she’s running. She tells the detective that she plans to get out of the sex industry and has bought herself a small garden centre in Norwood, Northwest London, and fears that Gallio’s reappearance will end her dream of a new life.

The detective’s assistant, Lucy McGinty (Siobhan Redmond), is dispatched to search the archive of the local newspaper for any information about Gallio that might be on file there. She learns from a reporter there that the ‘paper has already received calls concerning the whereabouts of Gallio, which Lucy finds concerning given that on she, Bulman and Kate knew that he would be returning to the UK.

Bulman learns that Gallio has entered the country under a false name and is now posing as an Amazonian Trade Delegate, and so he heads to Amazonian High Commission where he hopes to catch up with the criminal. However, when he reached the Commission he’s informed that no one by the name of Lol Gallio is there, despite the fact that Bulman has already caught a glimpse of his quarry. To add to the conundrum, the detective is warned off from perusing Gallio by one of his former colleagues (John Benfield).

For her own protection, Bulman advises Kate to temporarily leave her home, so she moves in with one of the strippers that works for her. In the meantime, Bulman realises that his office phone has been bugged, which answers the question as to how the news of Gallio’s arrival in the country had got out.

In spite of her moving out of her own home, Gallio learns where Kate is and forces his way into the taxi she’s hired to take her to her garden centre. There, the Gallio attempts to force her into signing over all her assets to him, but when she refuses, he instructs his gang of henchmen to set about destroying all the buildings and stock at the Centre.

Having got what he came for, Gallio places the documentation he’d forced Kate to sign into a briefcase and heads Straight for the airport. When he gets there, however, he finds a crowd waiting for him that include Bulman and Lucy, plus several members of the press. In the scuffle, Gallio misplaces his briefcase which just happens to fall into Bulman’s hands. Harassed and jostled by the press pack, Gallio finally loses his cool and punches a female reporter in the face, knocking her to the ground. He’s immediately arrested and marched away by the police, much to Bulman and Lucy’s delight.