Original Air Date: October 3, 1958
Starring: David Kossoff, Peggy Mount
Directed by: Bill Ward

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains spoilers for this episode!

Synopsis: Ada Larkin (Peggy Mount) pampers the pedigree black cat she is pet sitting for a friend, bringing resentment from the men in the family who plot to get rid of the intruding Moggy.

Featured Feline: The cat is question is a show cat named The Black Prince, but Ada lovingly calls him Blackie. When her husband Alf first comes in he sees Ada cooing over a baby basket and thinks it is a child but soon learns the truth.

Alf, Eddie (Shaun O’Riordan) and Jeff (Ronan O’Casey) are soon dismayed to find Blackie is getting treated better than they are, being served nicer meals before them. Ada even makes Eddie take the cat for walkies on a lead.

While Ada is away one time, Alf and Jeff open the kitchen door and wait for Blackie to make a run for it. But the cat is content to sit in a chair.

Alf finally encourages Jeff to bring the cat into the kitchen and set it on the floor in front of the open door. Blackie still doesn’t budge, even when the men jump up and down and bang pots and pans.

Blackie finally walks out the door and the men feel triumphant … until they walk into the living room and see Blackie sitting on the chair again, having come in through an open window.

Later they talk Eddie into “losing” Blackie during a walk, having deduced that the tag on the cat’s collar will assure the animal is returned to his owner when she returns. Eddie comes home claiming he took off running and ran all the way home, sure he has lost the cat. They then notice the lead in his hand and sure enough Blackie walks in, still attached to the other end.

Alf takes matters into his own hands and goes out to lose the cat. He comes back home saying he was successful. Then a boy (Donald Wilson) enters and places the cat on the table, asking for a reward.

Seeing an opportunity, the man tell the boy to take the cat and return him to the owner on the tag. But Ada walks in just as the boy is leaving and the plan is foiled.

Eventually Blackie does run away and Ada is furious. Everyone is ordered to look for the cat. Ada then goes outside and finds Blackie and brings him inside. Only daughter Joyce (Ruth Trouncer) also comes in with Blackie. As does Jeff, Eddie and Alf. Now they have five black cats and they don’t know which one is Blackie!

As they try to sort out the mess, Ada gets a call from Blackie’s owner who is furious, saying she has Blackie at home after the boy brought him to her and wanted the reward. Alf is in hot water with Ada as the show ends.

Final Mewsings: Cats make good house guests if they are welcomed.

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