1

TX : 26th November 1966

Publicity : John Thaw, Dudley Foster and Sylvia Syms in Bat Out Of Hell - What could be more normal than a Sussex estate agent preparing to fly off for a month's holiday? But this new thriller serial has been written by that master of suspense, Francis Durbridge: Ever since he devised his first thriller serial (radio's Send For Paul Temple) at the age of twenty-four, Francis Durbridge has not looked back. He's never had time: serials have poured from his typewriter, each one consolidating his reputation as the world's best-known writer of this form of entertainment. The BBC sells films of his stories to many parts of the world, notably Canada, Australia and Europe.

"It's what I set out to do," he says, "a deliberate plan to appeal, as did the books of Edgar Wallace, as universally as possible. Of course, when I started I had no idea whether or not I could manage it and it certainly hasn't all been done by writing skill. To have got this far, there had to be an element of luck. No, I don't work to a formula. There's no set of ingredients on which I depend. I just get an idea that appeals to me and work from it. I also spend a lot of time touring around, looking for likely locations. If I can, I always visit a place before I write about it". Bat Out Of Hell, which starts tonight, is Durbridge's fourteenth television serial and it stars Dudley Foster, Sylvia Syms and John Thaw. "It's different from my previous stories," he says, "in so far as you know the villain early on. I usually start with a body and the problem is who dunnit? This time, we begin before the murder". Producer Alan Bromly adds: "Nevertheless, there's no lack of surprise. I think Francis' success lies in his gift of making a thriller's setting and character seem quite ordinary, at first. It would be easy to slick up the presentation and make the episodes look fashionably bizarre, like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. But that would destroy the Durbridge atmosphere". This thriller can also be followed on Wednesdays. (Radio Times, November 24, 1966 - Article by David Griffiths).

Notes : Episodes were originally transmitted 10:05pm to 10:30pm on BBC 2 under the banner title of Francis Durbridge Presents….

2

TX : 3rd December 1966

Synopsis : Wealthy Geoffrey Stewart is shot by his wife Diana and her lover Mark Paxton. But their plans go wildly astray when the body disappears and Diana gets a shock telephone call.

3

TX : 10th December 1966

Synopsis : The mysterious Kitty Tracey telephones Mark to say that Diana has been arrested at the motel for the murder of her husband.

4

TX : 17th December 1966

Synopsis : Diana has seen Thelma's body lying on the landing of the blackmailer's flat. At her home she and Mark are visited by the police with a surprise witness.

5

TX : 24th December 1966

Synopsis : Mark and Diana are shocked to learn of the will in favour of Geoffrey's mistress. Mark hurries to the girl's flat only to find she has a visitor.

Characters	Portrayed By
Inspector Clay	Dudley Foster
Diana Stewart	Sylvia Syms
Mark Paxton	John Thaw
Geoffrey Stewart	Noel Johnson
Thelma Bowen	June Ellis
Walter Bowen	Emrys Jones
Mrs Houston	June Bland
Vince	David Quilter
Ned Tallboy	Stanley Meadows
Sergeant Booth	Clive Graham
Mary Wayne	Ann Windsor
Beryl	Margaret Frost
Kitty Tracey	Patsy Smart
Sergeant Booth	Clive Graham
Sergeant Dawson	Bernard Martin
Diana Valesco	Paddy Glynn
Miller	Patrick Ellis
Nigel Mills	Norman Scace
Ryan	Ali Hassan
Sloane	Terence Donovan
Len Morgan	John Caesar

The series was created and written by Francis Durbridge, and produced and directed by Alan Bromly. The series was designed by Roy Oxley.