George Cowley

Character
Name:	George Cowley
Occupation:	Controller, Criminal Intelligence 5 aka CI5
Relationships:
Fandom:	The Professionals
Other:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

George Cowley is a character in The Professionals. He was William Bodie and Ray Doyle's boss.

Adrian Morgan, from Professionals Calendar (1991)

He appears in all 57 episodes of the program.

His operatives sometimes call him "The Cow", but never to his face.

Cowley was portrayed by Gordon Jackson, who passed away in early 1990.

Brief Canon Description

Cowley was portrayed as a gimlet-eyed, devious, dignified, and ruthless leader; from the moment William Bodie and Ray Doyle sign on to CI5, George Cowley owns them, body and soul.

Fandom and Fanworks

The Fanon Cowley

• as a father figure to Bodie and Doyle, or as an actual father to Bodie
• as a lover (present and past)
• Cowley as matchmaker between William Bodie and Ray Doyle
• in crossovers (one example is in Antiques and Delectables)
• as a closeted gay man

Subject of Con Panels

• A character study of George Cowley, by inamac and lil_shepherd at A Weekend in the Country (UK) (1983) (1983)
• "COWLEY: MENTOR OR NEMESIS?" ("George Cowley could sometimes be the father figure, but occasionally he'd throw his "best team" to the wolves on suicide missions. Was he really grooming them to succeed him in CI5? Or were they unlikely to live to collect their pensions?") at MediaWest*Con (2013)
• "Views of the Cow" (how canon and fanon treated George Cowley) at BistoCon (2016)

Pairings

From a fan in 1992:

Because Gordon Jackson makes Cowley so dignified - even in shirtsleeves - that I can't honestly picture him doing anything other than sleep in bed.

• Cowley/Bodie

Sample Cowley Fiction

• The Devil and George Cowley by Nancy Arena (1984)
• Of Tethered Goats and Tigers by Tarot (1984)
• Ritual Cleansing by Meg Lewtan (1986)
• The Fox and the Wolf (Pros universe created by Jane Carnall) by Jane Carnall (1990s)
  • Lest These Dark Days
  • This Classical Dilemma
  • As Games Are Played
  • Woven Patternings
• Guardian Angels by Baravan (1993)
• The Pillory by Kitty Fisher (1994)
• The Selling Hours by Madeleine Lee
• Carnal Interests by Madeleine Lee

Cowley Art

1984

• 

  from Cowley - alpha one

1986

• 

  by Connie Crouch, from Professional Junkies

• 

  from Cow Tales

1987

• 

  by Kate Nuernberg, from British Takeaway #2

1988

• 

  by Gin Turpin, from Heat #4

• 

  by JJ, from Cross My Heart #4

• 

  by Kate Nuernberg, from British Takeaway #3

• 

  by Tammy Lomas, from The Small Print #4

• 

  by Marilyn Johansen, from Up to Standard

1989

• 

  by Dani Lane, from British Takeaway #4

1990

• 

  by Dani Lane, from Chalk and Cheese #7

• 

  by Sheila Paulson, from Chalk and Cheese #5

• 

  by Cat, from As Games Are Played

1991

• 

  by Cat, from Look Through My Eyes

• 

  by Kate Nuernberg, from The Hols of CI5, Cowley as Father Christmas

1992

• 

  by H. Ann Walton, from Chalk and Cheese #11, portrays Cowley and Murphy

• 

  by Corinna Hansen, from Brit Shriek

• 

  Phoenix]], from Chalk and Cheese #10

• 

  by Corinna Hansen, from Chalk and Cheese #10

1993

• 

  by KOZ, young Tinker (from Lovejoy (TV) and young George Cowley

• 

  by H. Ann Walton, older Tinker (from Lovejoy (TV) and older George Cowley

• 

  by Cat, from Be Gentle With Us #10

• 

  by Kate Nuernberg, from British Takeaway #6

1994

• 

  by Lana Claussen, from Mates #3

• 

  by KOZ, Murphy's Law (1994) and from Mates #4 (1996)

1996

• 

  by TACS, from Chalk and Cheese #15

1997

• 

  by Warren Oddsson, from Motet

1999

• 

  by Cleo, from Celebrations, Cowley, William Bodie and Ray Doyle

2010

• 

  by Roven, colored pencil. Created for CI5 Box of Tricks 2010

Cowley Vids

• Mean Old Man by Mary Van Deusen (1988)
• Devil in Disguise by Lithiumdoll (2004)
• Where I Want To Be by Finnhere (2010)

Cowley Meta

• WHEN THE COW WAS A CALF: Reconstructing part of George Cowley's early life by Dorinda (August 1996)

Fan Comments

1994

There is also some ageism involved for some fans with McCoy and Cowley; it was stated quite openly in Be Gentle With Us, but just as I thought we were going to get a good barney going, the letterzine shut down.

I had no trouble at all writing McCoy as a sexual being (and the fact that McCoy definitely didn't want to be seen as a sexual being and had to be dragged into Spock's bed by the scruff of his neck just added to the joy of writing it) but I had a lot of trouble with myself when writing Cowley as a sexual being. Observant readers will have noticed that every time a sex scene happened in "Lest These Dark Days" Cowley shoved me out of the room, locked the bedroom door, and wouldn't let me back in the story until he and Bodie were drinking coffee in the kitchen the next morning. This wasn't because of Cowley's age, though — or not directly

[...]

I've got better at working it out, but Cowley has never yet let me in the room when he was getting fucked.

Links & Resources

• George Cowley tag at Archive of Our Own