Catch Hand

Catch Hand was a gritty, character-driven BBC drama that captured a slice of working-class life rarely depicted on British television at the time. Starring Mark Eden and Anthony Booth, the series followed two men who lived by their hands and wits—drifting from job to job, town to town, chasing work, money, and sometimes escape.

The title refers to the kind of man who could turn his hand to anything tough or dirty that needed doing—a “catch hand.” Eden’s character, Johnny Rich, was the heart of the series: a strong, capable worker whose restless wanderings were motivated by more than just a taste for freedom. There was an undercurrent of mystery and melancholy to Johnny, as though he were fleeing something unseen. It was a role that Eden inhabited with natural conviction, drawing on his own varied background as a labourer, salesman, and even fairground barker before turning to acting.

Opposite him, Anthony Booth, who had an equally varied career, ranging from the Merchant Navy to work as a labourer, waiter, painter, stable boy, docker, and porter at Covent Garden market, brought exuberant energy to the part of Finn Brodie, Johnny’s brash and carefree companion. Finn lived from day to day, spending his earnings on drink and women, and his reckless vitality provided a sharp contrast to Johnny’s brooding introspection. Together, the two formed an unlikely but compelling partnership—a study in opposites united by the shared reality of casual work and the constant search for the next job.

Each episode of Catch Hand took viewers to a new workplace: a building site, a tin mine, a pier under repair, a stretch of motorway under construction. This nomadic structure gave the series an almost anthology-like quality, filled with vivid guest performances from actors such as Tony Selby, George A. Cooper, Rosemary Leach, and Philip Madoc. The writing was taut and grounded, painting an authentic portrait of the physical and emotional demands of itinerant labour.

Only ten episodes were made (just one is believed to survive), and whilst Catch Hand started off well enough, drawing a strong initial audience—over 7 million viewers tuned in for its debut—its attempt to blend adventure, social realism, and character drama to mark it out from other series of its era, split the opinions of some critics and viewers alike who either loved it or hated it – although the majority appear to have been indifferent.

Anthony Booth moved on the following year appearing as Alf Garnett’s loathed son-in-law in Till Death Us Do Part, whilst Mark Eden would later gain television immortality as the villainous Alan Bradley in Coronation Street.

Looking back, Catch Hand stands as an intriguing, largely forgotten production from the BBC’s golden age of drama. Its loss can hardly be described as a real blow to television heritage, but it attempted to offer not only a compelling story of friendship and survival but also a rare, respectful depiction of the men who built the modern Britain of the 1960s—one job, one motorway, one housing development at a time.