Quick Before They Catch Us

In the summer of 1966, as Dixon of Dock Green took its seasonal break, the BBC stepped into fresh territory with Quick Before They Catch Us, a bold attempt to capture the energy of Swinging London through the lens of teenage adventure. Though short-lived, this engaging action-adventure series offered a lively blend of crime-solving, youthful rebellion, and urban mystery, targeted squarely at a younger audience hungry for something with a little more edge.

The series starred Pamela Franklin as Kate, Teddy Green as Johnny Martin, and David Griffin as Mark Dennison — three teenagers who become amateur detectives, drawn together by chance and united by a shared desire to put right the wrongs in their local community. Though all three actors were still early in their careers, each would go on to enjoy success (on both sides of the Atlantic as far as Franklin was concerned), and their natural charisma is evident even in these early performances.

Quick Before They Catch Us was structured as a series of four-part stories, each penned by a different writer — including N. J. Crisp and Margot Bennett — all of whom brought their own distinctive tone to the scripts. The result was a stylistically varied but consistently entertaining series, which managed to remain grounded despite some enjoyably far-fetched plots. The production also benefited from the experience of several key Doctor Who veterans, including directors Richard Martin and Paddy Russell, as well as designer Barry Newbery, whose visual flair helped bring 1960s London vividly to life on screen.

The opening storyline saw Kate — a waitress with a photographic memory and a knack for sketching suspects — drawn into a web of surveillance and blackmail, when a group of shady characters rents out her attic room. With help from gadget-obsessed Johnny and bookish Mark, she exposes a crooked estate agent and begins a friendship that becomes the heart of the series. Subsequent stories saw the trio foiling a stamp theft, stumbling upon a naval espionage plot while on holiday, and even uncovering an art fraud during a night of live music at a trendy nightclub — a storyline which fittingly captured the mod spirit of the era.

The show’s soundtrack added to its youthful vibe, with the catchy theme tune by Paddy, Klaus (being none other than Klaus Voorman, designer of The Beatles Revolver album cover) and Gibson — managed by none other than Brian Epstein — becoming a minor hit without really cementing the series' place in 1960s pop culture.

While it never returned for a second run, Quick Before They Catch Us remains a fascinating and stylish snapshot of 1960s British television — blending crime capers with cool fashion, music, and a youthful energy that set it apart from more traditional children’s fare. For those with a fondness for vintage TV and a bit of groovy nostalgia, it’s a forgotten gem that unfortunately will not be rediscovered as all the recordings were wiped.