The series concerns the adventures of three London teenagers: Kate (Pamela Franklin), Johnny Martin (Teddy Green) and Mark Dennison (David Griffin), who use their unique talents to solve crimes in their neighbourhood. Kate, the youngest of the three, possessed a photographic memory and was a talented artist; as well as a sketch artist, she most often trailed suspects. Johnny was a technology student and often built surveillance equipment and other inventive gadgets. Mark (David Griffin) was the "nerdy" bookworm of the group, arguably the most intelligent of the three, and was the photographer.[1]
Kate works part-time as a waitress at a café. She is approached by several suspicious men who wish to rent her attic room. The men offer to pay her at first, but then intimidate her until she reluctantly agrees to rent them the room. She befriends Johnny Martin, a mechanic who works at a nearby garage, and photography student Mark Dennison. Kate remains suspicious of her new tenants. With the help of her new friends, she exposes a real estate agent who was using the camera obscura in the attic room to spy on local tenants and blackmail them.[3]
In their second adventure ("Mark Of Distinction"), Mark stops a purse snatcher who inadvertently leads the three friends to uncover a plan to steal a valuable stamp collection. While vacationing on the southern coast of England, the three friends are drawn into a naval plot after Mark snaps an odd-looking photograph. In their last adventure they start a band. Performing at the opening night of the "Big A" nightclub, they find out that someone is planning to steal a picture from the club as part of an art fraud scheme.[3]
Each screenwriter wrote one four-episode story. The first story was written by Crisp who, at the time of the series, had written over a dozen original television plays and was a regular contributor for Doctor Finlay's Casebook and Dixon Of Dock Green.
The first episode aired on 7 May 1966 in an early Saturday evening timeslot. The Radio Times promoted the show during the first few weeks on the air, and the series appealed to the younger audiences of the 1960s. Although the series received high ratings throughout its run, the series was not renewed. Its final episode was aired on 24 September 1966, and was replaced by the returning Dixon Of Dock Green.
The series theme song was performed by Paddy, Klaus and Gibson, a Liverpool-based group managed by Brian Epstein. It was released as the B side of their third and final single (on Pye 7N 17112 in the UK).
Quick Before They Catch Us heavily influenced Gerry Anderson's 1970s television series The Protectors.[3] The series was never commercially released on home video and no longer exists in the BBC archives, a victim of the BBC's wiping practices.[1]
Characters
Kate (Pamela Franklin) - the youngest of the three, she is a typical carefree teenage girl who has unconventional tastes in clothes and pets. She works part-time in a local café while waiting to go to art school.
Johnny Martin (Teddy Green) - a technological student, Johnny works part-time in a nearby garage also waiting to attend school. He has an exceptional skill for electronics and has, for example, assembled a fully working walkie-talkie from a box of assorted wires, plugs and transistors.
Mark Dennison (David Griffin) - son of a well-known photographer, Mark also intends to become a photographer as well. He is extremely intelligent and well-read with an encyclopaedic knowledge on a wide number of subjects. He is often referred to in the series as the "brains" of the operation.
^Larkin, Colin, ed. "Paddy, Klaus and Gibson." The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 2nd ed. London: Guinness Publishing, 1995. (pg. 3,153) ISBN1-56159-176-9
Butler, David. Time and Relative Dissertations in Space: Critical Perspectives on Doctor Who. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007. ISBN0-7190-7682-X
Docherty, Mark J. and Alistair D. McGown. The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama - An Encyclopedia. London: British Film Institute, 2003. ISBN0-85170-878-1
Parish, James Robert. Film Actors Guide: Western Europe. Metuchen, New Jersey and London: Scarecrow Press, 1977. ISBN0-8108-1044-1
