"Give a man a fish and he can feed himself for a day. Give a man a gun and he can steal fish for the rest of his life."
—Boris
Simon is an electronic musician who is deeply unhappy - because his music career isn't developing, he has to work in an arms dealing company, and is too lazy to quit and find a more satisfying job. He's accompanied by his co-worker friend Boris, girlfriend Anna, and International Aid Worker sister Judith.
The series ran between 2007-2010.
Safety Catch provides examples of:
- A.K.A.-47: Some real-world weapons are named.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Simon is interviewed by a woman researching evil people. He believes she's interested him in that way, which she attempts to deny, but realises she is because those are the only type of people she meets.
- Arms Dealer: Simon and his friend Boris are the legitimate, International Arms Merchant type. Although 'legitimate' is strained when one of Simon's skills is getting a shipment of rocket launchers listed on customs manifests as 'sports equipment'.
- Black Comedy: The series as a whole, which is centred around a man who knows that people will die if he does his job.
- Class Reunion: Simon, Anna, and Judith are invited to a school reunion. Simon tries to hide his work due to shame, but is found to have taken the most interesting path in life. Judith, although doing the more worthwhile job, is seen to have taken an obvious, boring path.
- Comically Missing the Point: Simon gets competitive with a co-worker about how depressed they are about their jobs, leading Simon to narrate how people will compare the two of them. His co-worker commits suicide by throwing himself out of a window, and Simon's first thought is "Oh! Clever..."
- Freudian Slip: Simon is prone to these, such as going on holiday with his girlfriend to London, and saying that he's looking forward to their "pastie".
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: Simon is unhappy working as an arms dealer, and knows how the weapons he sells hurt others. He also knows that if he didn't do the job, others would - and would be more effective.
- Narrator: Episodes are interspersed with Simon narrating, diary-style, about events in the story.
- Soul-Crushing Desk Job: Selling weapons may pay reasonably well, but knowing that people are getting injured, maimed, or killed because you are doing your job would wear you down.
- Twisting the Words: Simon is describing his job to his sister's new boyfriend, not realising he is actually a reporter, investigating Simon's employer. Simon talks about the arms trade, and how his company can profit unethically by selling to both sides in a conflict. When his company is asked to comment, and they are played a copy of the recording made at dinner, he and his friends add dialogue to make it look like they always acted ethically, and that the reporter was trying to take them out of context.
