Now here is one to test the memory – Not from the Fifties but from the late 1960s – and was an American  import and went out on ITV possibly only in certain regions. I was living in London at that time and tuned in to this occasionally – and it is one I have remembered mainly, I think, for the title — which seemed so odd.

It starred Robert Loggia in the title role – and always introduced with these words :

“Out of the night comes a man who saves lives at the risk of his own. Once a circus performer, an aerialist who refused the net. Once a cat burglar, a master among jewel thieves. Now a professional bodyguard. Primitive… savage… in love with danger.  T.H.E. Cat!”

His full name was Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat which he spoke and then followed with ‘T.H.E. Cat’

He drove around in a Black Corvette Sting Ray – I reckon Cliff Richard owned one briefly. The one below is a 1967 model and I don’t think is was exactly like this one – may have been customised for the series, I don’t know.

A former aerialist and trapeze artist for the circus, and cat burglar, THOMAS HEWITT EDWARD CAT (T.H.E. Cat ) now finds employment as a freelance bodyguard and investigator in San Francisco. He works out of an “office” at the Casa del Gato nightclub, a joint run by his good friend, and sometime cohort,  Pepe. His police contact is Captain McAllister, he of the one arm and bowler hat.

The plots weren’t terribly complex, and you could count on a few good thrills every week just watching T.H.E. Cat  clad entirely in black, scaling tall buildings to death-defying heights, skulking around in the shadows, armed only with a grappling hook and some rope.  He relied instead on intelligence and agility, although odd times  he was known to carry both a sleeve knife — a small dagger which he used to lethal effect.

It had a rather gritty, dark mood to it, lots of shadows and some pretty mean characters.

Here are a couple of reviews I have come across

• “One thing I remember is him having a knife in a contraption up his sleeve. When he needed to, he would swing his arm real fast, and the knife would slide down into his palm — ready for action. I don’t recall him ever actually using it on people, but every episode featured a martial arts type fight with lots of karate stuff, which was the really cool part.”

         . “Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat was possibly the coolest customer on TV.