Portrayed by Philip Whitchurch
First Appearance New Tune, Old Fiddle
Final Appearance Is That The Time?
Call Sign Sierra Oscar 54
The day Chief Inspector Philip Cato arrived at Sun Hill Police Station Charles Brownlow celebrated, finally there was someone at the station who was more unpopular than he. The ‘Bald Headed Bastard From Barton Street’ had arrived and the whole station felt it (that’s not me being overly rude, Frank Burnside named Cato that and it stuck). PC Mike Jarvis and Sgt Ray Steele had both worked with Cato at Barton Street immediately distanced themselves from their new Chief Inspector and we were soon to find out why. Cato had no patience for anyone who thought differently to himself and station morale dive bombed. Thankfully for all who worked in Sun Hill Philip Cato lost out to Chief Inspector Derek Conway for the Acting Superintendent’s job. He was then passed over for promotion for a second time as Area Welfare Chief Inspector. Cato became disillusioned, he had been passed over for promotion one time too many and so left the Metropolitan Police Force.
Trivia
In the 1990 episodes Close Co-operation and One for the Road, Philip Whitchurch appeared as a similar character named Twist, an Inspector at Barton Street, who was implicated in Tom Penny’s abrupt departure from Sun Hill. It is implied from dialogue (for instance, Garfield and Datta referring to that incident) that Twist and Cato are in fact the same character. However, this might be pure coincidence.
Quotes
Official Site
Twitter https://twitter.com/PhilipWhitchurc
IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0924360/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Where Can I See Philip Now?
We are waiting for news of Philip’s next project. Please watch this space for news.