Maxwell Beckett and Nikki Page were an unlikely pair of crime solvers in this short-lived CBS drama series.
Maxwell (Edward Woodward) was a former researcher who had worked for Scotland Yard in London and was now a mystery story writer living in San Francisco. He pretended to be a retired Scotland Yard Inspector to lend credibility to his books, claiming to have been known in his heyday as “Beckett of the Yard” and “The Catcher of Uncatchable Thieves”.
He also wrote a series of children’s books – M Mongoose – under the pen name A.J. Edison.
Nikki (Jessica Lundy) was a newspaper obituary writer who wanted to be a crime reporter. She was a pretty, brash, street-smart young woman in her late twenties who aspired to bigger and better things. She worked under the name Miss Black.
It was Nikki’s fascination with Maxwell Beckett’s stories that led her to become an amateur sleuth.
One night while nursing a cold, Nikki saw a man strangle a woman in the apartment across from hers. When no evidence of a crime could be found, the police dismissed the case.
When Nikki approached Beckett to help and he dismissed her as a flake, she printed his obituary in the paper. The prank almost cost Nikki her job, but it accomplished her goal: to convince her hero that a murder occurred and to set out together to prove it.
The investigation stirred Maxwell’s creative juices and Nikki felt she was acquiring the experience she needed to become a reporter. The two found they needed each other and remained a team.
The show floundered on Friday nights and was yanked from the schedule before all 12 episodes had aired.
Maxwell Beckett
Edward Woodward Nikki Page
Jessica Lundy Wendy
Jill Tracy Detective Ritter
Rick Fitts Detective Mueller
Peter Looney
Nikki (Jessica Lundy) was a newspaper obituary writer who wanted to be a crime reporter. She was a pretty, brash, street-smart young woman in her late twenties who aspired to bigger and better things. She worked under the name Miss Black.
