The Rat Catchers

Great series from yesteryear though the greatest memory I have was the start of each episode/story with Philip Stone's character the Brigadier saying "say so if you understand me"!

A superb, masterful series in the riveting evolution of the genre from the superb Dangerman to the superb Callan (yes, all three were superb - and I don't doubt that this evolution of the genre will be a much-noted part of our cultural history, like impressionism to cubism, or blues to pop). As others have noted: suffused with class issues and the dirty truths of the espionage game - but not yet quite as much as Callan. What a tragedy that so little seems left - search the attics!

I first saw it in the UK, then was ecstatic to see it again after migrating to Australia. So tapes definitely went in that direction. My bet is that there's a few dusty tapes lurking out in the colonies, such as regional (country) TV stations in Aust. Please keep your eyes open.

I remember watching this show in Australia on black and white TV in the mid-sixties (I am 58) before going to England on an oversea's trip as most Aussies did in those days and usually by boat. It was a fabulous show (my favorite) and I think depicted the spy game probably the way it was. When assassinations had to be carried out they were quite dramatic and not the shoot'em up gun-ho stuff you see these days. I have been trying to find out if it was ever released on DVD possibly re-mastered but I gather from other comments that all episodes have been lost except maybe the pilot episode, a great tragedy. Another show of that era I never missed was 'The Trouble Shooters'. I am trying to find out if that series was ever or likely to be released on DVD also.

I also fondly remember this series (I am 48). I think it was one of the earliest TV shows that presented British intelligence agents not as square-jawed heroes but as ruthless operators prepared to resort to any measure to eliminate enemies of the state. Glyn Owen's character was the conscience of the team, agonising over how to reconcile each dirty mission with his own moral code, and how to extract himself from an organisation that did not countenance resignation. Counterpoised against him was Gerald Flood as a cold-blooded assassin.

The series also operated against the background of the British class system, with Owen's character the working-class ex-policeman with a heart of gold, and Gerald Flood the urbane, mannered ex-public schoolboy with the granite centre. Excellent stuff!

The Rat Catchers had a unique TV format - a series of 13 for two consecutive years, with story lines written as a trilogy or two parter, taking Smith, Hurst and the Brigadier to many European countries, the furthest abroad being the Greek trilogy (Corfu, Meteora and Athens). They also visited Ireland (Dromoland Castle Hotel), Madrid, Lisbon, Stockholm, Amsterdam (where Alpha finally got his come-uppance!) and other locations around London and the UK. Gerald Flood, formerly Colonel Sharif Mahmoud from "Crane", was wonderful as Peregrine Pascale Smith, the urbane, elegant assassin who, in Mr Flood's own words in a magazine interview enjoyed "doing his rather dreadful job supremely well." Glyn Owen, as Richard Hurst, was the "common working policeman", uneasy at his assignment, whilst Philip Stone's Brigadier Davidson, whose catch phrase was "Say so, if you understand me", was delivered with icy coolness. I would love to re-view all these shows but gather that only a half-hour of one episode is all that has been kept. Ah, yes, I will never forget the thrill of hearing that unique musical introduction (I still have the 45!) and the real enjoyment this unique TV series and serial afforded all those who watched. "Say so, if you understand me!"