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The Rat Catchers
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The Rat Catchers
The Rat Catchers is a 1960s British television drama series made by Rediffusion and broadcast on ITV. The series was not networked, playing on different days of the week in London from other regions. It is about a top secret British Intelligence Unit. It receives orders from the Prime Minister and, without questioning, proceeds to battle enemy spies, saboteurs, and others to protect the security of Great Britain and the Western Alliance.
The Rat Catchers is an organisation based at Whitehall in Central London but officially didn't exist, being denied at the highest level as they worked with the greatest secrecy.
The focus is on three major characters:
The show begins with the arrival of Richard Hurst, the new recruit to the team, an ex-policeman who was said to have gone by the book whilst in the force. However, the secrecy in the organisation's setup finds Hurst somewhat out of step with the other two, including not really knowing which of the other two really has the authority. Officially, Hurst is an employee of Smith's company: Transworld Electronics, leading to some confusion; in episode 3, he is not sure whether Smith or the Brigadier is his boss. This antagonistic approach leads him to feel left out, a situation not helped by Brigadier Davidson insistence that Hurst knows only the bare minimum about the organisation and is keen to keep it that way.
The Brigadier's catch phrase is "Say so, if you understand me." which he repeats each time he sent Smith and Hurst on a mission to ensure his orders are carried out to the letter. This was mimicked on the single version recording of the theme tune which opens with the mimicked "Say Yes, if you understand me".
The show aired in two series comprising 25 x 60-minute episodes. Stories continued over multiple episodes in two or three parts, with cliff-hanger endings.
Made by – Rediffusion TV Network Production (part of the UK's then ITV network)
Producer – Cyril Coke
Director – James Ormerod
Theme music – Johnny Pearson (composer and arranger)
Broadcast 31 January 1966 to 25 April 1966, on Mondays on Rediffusion, London between 8 pm and 9 pm.
Other ITV regions showed it on the following Wednesday.
1. Ticket to Madrid
Written by Raymond Bowers
Ex-policeman Richard Hurst arrives and is sent on a mission. In Madrid, he and the beautiful Miss Larks (Jan Waters) come up against the cold horror of the world of espionage and deception. Also stars Norman Scace and Jeffrey Gardiner. This is one of only two surviving complete episodes.
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The Rat Catchers
The Rat Catchers is a 1960s British television drama series made by Rediffusion and broadcast on ITV. The series was not networked, playing on different days of the week in London from other regions. It is about a top secret British Intelligence Unit. It receives orders from the Prime Minister and, without questioning, proceeds to battle enemy spies, saboteurs, and others to protect the security of Great Britain and the Western Alliance.
The Rat Catchers is an organisation based at Whitehall in Central London but officially didn't exist, being denied at the highest level as they worked with the greatest secrecy.
The focus is on three major characters:
The show begins with the arrival of Richard Hurst, the new recruit to the team, an ex-policeman who was said to have gone by the book whilst in the force. However, the secrecy in the organisation's setup finds Hurst somewhat out of step with the other two, including not really knowing which of the other two really has the authority. Officially, Hurst is an employee of Smith's company: Transworld Electronics, leading to some confusion; in episode 3, he is not sure whether Smith or the Brigadier is his boss. This antagonistic approach leads him to feel left out, a situation not helped by Brigadier Davidson insistence that Hurst knows only the bare minimum about the organisation and is keen to keep it that way.
The Brigadier's catch phrase is "Say so, if you understand me." which he repeats each time he sent Smith and Hurst on a mission to ensure his orders are carried out to the letter. This was mimicked on the single version recording of the theme tune which opens with the mimicked "Say Yes, if you understand me".
The show aired in two series comprising 25 x 60-minute episodes. Stories continued over multiple episodes in two or three parts, with cliff-hanger endings.
Made by – Rediffusion TV Network Production (part of the UK's then ITV network)
Producer – Cyril Coke
Director – James Ormerod
Theme music – Johnny Pearson (composer and arranger)
Broadcast 31 January 1966 to 25 April 1966, on Mondays on Rediffusion, London between 8 pm and 9 pm.
Other ITV regions showed it on the following Wednesday.
1. Ticket to Madrid
Written by Raymond Bowers
Ex-policeman Richard Hurst arrives and is sent on a mission. In Madrid, he and the beautiful Miss Larks (Jan Waters) come up against the cold horror of the world of espionage and deception. Also stars Norman Scace and Jeffrey Gardiner. This is one of only two surviving complete episodes.