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TV ONLINE EPISODE GUIDE
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Director : Shaun Sutton Script : By Edmund Crispin. Adapted by John Hopkins Cast : John Wood (Richard Cadogan), Brian Oulton (Erwin Spode), Ivor Salter (The CID Sergeant), Philip Ray (The Grocer), Enid Lindsey (Mrs Wheatley), Derek Francis (Rosseter), Christopher Hodge (The Publican), Philip Latham (George Sharman), Nicholas Pennell (Hoskins), Suzan Farmer (Sally Carstairs), Barbara Couper (Miss Winkworth), Graham Crowden (Doctor Havering), Sandra Barry (The Shop Assistant) and Amy Dalby (Miss Tardy). Publicity : Detective - A weekly series of plays featuring the great sleuths of crime fiction. Rupert Davies, as Mairget, will introduce each week's play beginning tonight at 9:25pm with … The Moving Toyshop featuring Richard Wordsworth as Professor Gervase Fen: In sordid reality, the work of a detective generally consists of one part inspiration to nine parts perspiration. "Routine enquiries" always count for a great deal more than flashes of intuitive genius. For the detective of fiction, life is a far less humdrum affair. He is permitted, indeed required, to solve his cases in as bizarre a manner as possible. He can use any special talent he may possess - such as an exhaustive knowledge of Assyrian ceramics, perhaps, or a passing acquaintance with the ecology of ferns - to find an answer to the question Who Done It? Since Conan Doyle set the style with his Sherlock Holmes, most detective writers have traditionally wedded themselves to a single detective who figures in any number of stories. And, collectively, the crime writers have created as rich a gallery of eccentrics as is to be found anywhere in literature. These are the heroes of the series which opens tonight. You will be meeting booming extroverts like Carter Dickson's Sir Henry Merrivale, elegant academics like Michael Innes' Appleby, cosmopolitan connoisseurs like E C Bentley's Philip Trent, and many others including of course the great Holmes himself. And you will be able to study their diverse methods in detail because, says David Goddard, producer of the series, "we are concentrating on pure detection. Stories which are really just thrillers are out, and in the ones we are using, irrelevant `colour' material has been cut to a minimum". A team of top television scriptwriters has been assembled to bring the paper sleuths to visual life, and John Hopkins - the veteran of more than forty Z-Cars scripts as well as other plays - opens the bowling tonight with his adaptation of Edward Crispin's The Moving Toyshop. Crispin belings to the academic world of detective-story writers, so his sleuth is naturally a ripe scholar. Professor Gervase Fen (played here by Richard Wordsworth) is in fact as dotty a don as ever lost his way among Oxford's dreaming spires. But nobody has ever been known to get the better of the Professor when there is a question of nailing a literary allusion. So, when a respectable poet friend finds himself mixed up in a murder committed in a toyshop which forthwith vanishes, and shortly afterwards a cryptic agony-column advertisement appears whose wording seems to refer to the nonsense poems of Edward Lear, Fen is clearly in his element. Tonight's play is directed by Shaun Sutton, and introduced - as will be all subsequent programmes in the series - by Rupert Davies as Maigret. In his character of the Chief Inspector from the Police Judiciaire, he has established himself as the doyen of all television detectives; and, as such, is fully qualified to comment on the varied working methods of his professional and amateur colleagues. (Radio Times, March 26, 1964 - Article by Michael Williams). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Richard Wordsworth as Professor Gervase Fen in Edmund Crispin's The Moving Toyshop. A poet finds a body in a toyshop. But when he returns with the police next morning, the body has disappeared … and so has the toyshop. Notes : This season was originally transmitted 9:25pm to 10:15pm on BBC 1. This episode attracted 6.3 million viewers and was ranked the seventh most popular programme of the week. This episode was the highest-rating of the programme's duration.
Director : Terence Dudley Script : Gil North Publicity : Detective - The Drawing: The second play of this new series by Gil North whose hero is Detective Sergeant Caleb Cluff. Embodying the law in the North-country moorland town of Gunnarshaw, he finds violence and passion seething under its dour surface. Cluff is played by Leslie Sands who appears from time to time in Z-Cars - as a Detective Superintendent: Michael Gover plays Harris, a councilor of Victorian strictness, whose daughter Mona gives Cluff and Inspector Mole a great deal of trouble. (Radio Times, April 2, 1964). Cast : Doel Loscombe (Inspector Mole), Frank Pettit (The Duty Constable), John Rolfe (Constable Barker), Susanna Carroll (Mona Harris), Allan McClelland (Whitaker), Robert Fyfe (The Young Clerk), David Kirk (The Elderly Clerk), Jeanne Watts (Mrs Cockshott), Margaret Ward (Mrs Whitaker), Polly Murch (Miss Hewson), Michael Gower (Harris), John Kirkby (Johnson), Margaret Carlisle (The Waitress), Anna Wing (Annie Croft), James McManus (The Police Constable), Derek Benfield (Doctor Hamm), Doris Rogers (The Cleaner) and Mary Fouracres (The Nurse). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Detective Sergeant Cluff played by Leslie Sands in Gil North's The Drawing.
Director : Peter Duguid Script : E C Bentley Cast : Lewis Wilson (Doctor Stock), Ross Parker (Inspector Murch), Peter Williams (Sigsbee Manderson), Morris Perry (Martin), Petronella Barker (Celestine), Bill Nagy (Calvin Bunner), Kenneth Fortescue (John Marlowe), Carleton Hobbs (Nathaniel Cupples) and Penelope Horner (Mabel Manderson). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Philip Trent played by Michael Gwynn in E C Bentley's Trent's Last Case. A pair of damaged shoes helped Philip Trent to solve the mystery of a tycoon's death, but the solution revealed astounding facts that even he had not expected.
Director : Patrick Dromgoole Script : By Nicholas Blake. Adapted by Gerald Kelsey Publicity : Detective - End Of Chapter - Glyn Houston and Jennifer Jayne in tonight's story: The writing of detective stories has during this century become a favourite leisure pursuit for authors whose more serious interests lie in quite different branches of literature. They are often scholars, and when they change their academic caps for their crime-writer's deer-stalker, they usually complete the disguise with a new name. Tonight's author is one half of just such a split personality. Nicholas Blake is otherwise Cecil Day Lewis, scholar, critic and poet. He is Irish-born, a descendant of Oliver Goldsmith, and in the late 1920s became one of the most prominent figures on the Oxford literary scene. Among his contemporaries at Oxford were W H Auden and Stephen Spender, and with them he formed part of a poetic movement inspired by the work of T S Eliot. Besides several books of original verse, verse translations, volumes of criticism, and "straight" novels, he has published as Nicholas Blake many detective stories, including A Question Of Proof and Malice In Wonderland. All in all, Messrs Lewis and Blake have spent a large part of their joint life in the world of books, so it is not surprising that tonight's play (adapted for television by Gerald Kelsey) should take that world for its background. Proofs of a book have been mysteriously altered, threatening its publishers with a disastrous libel action. Nigel Strangeways, a mildly hypochondrical private eye, is called in to try to solve the mystery, and he soon finds himself with four highly promising suspects. Strangeways is played by Glyn Houston, among whose many television credits are Z Cars and Dixon Of Dock Green, and the director is Patrick Dromgoole. (Radio Times, April 16, 1964). Cast : Jennifer Jayne (Clare Massinger), Joan Heal (Millicent Miles), Geoffrey Denys (General Thoresby), Ralph Michael (Arthur Geraldine), Tony Calvin (Cyprian Gleed), Peggy Ann Wood (Miss Waters), Laurel Solash (Miss Allen), Richard Carpenter (Basil Ryle), Ronald Russell (Mr Marsh), Constance Chapman (Elizabeth Wenham), Geoffrey Bayldon (Stephen Protheroe), Geoffrey Matthews (An Author), Sheila Dunn (Miriam Saunders), Penny Morrell (Betty), Hamilton Dyce (Inspector Wright), Michael Collins (Sergeant Summers), Mersa Foster (Mrs Geraldine) and Joan Sanderson (Mrs Blayne). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Nigel Strangeways played by Glyn Houston in Nicholas Blake's End Of Chapter.
Director : Edgar Wreford Script : By Carter Dickson. Adapted by Dick Sharples Publicity : Detective - The Judas Window with David Horne as Sir Henry Merrivale, the barrister-detective created by Carter Dickson: The room is firmly locked from the inside. Both windows are closed tight with steel shutters. And inside the room a man lies murdered with an arrow piercing his heart. Nobody could possibly have got into the room - and yet a young man, with a rambling story of a doped glass of whisky, is discovered beside the corpse. An open-and-shut case? By no means. In fact, this is the classic test-problem for the crime writer, and tonight you can see just how a master of the detective story solves it. The master in question is Carter Dickson, alias John Dickson Carr, who is a writer of mysteries under the former name and of historical novels under the latter. He created Sir Henry Merrivale, a barrister-detective of enormous ebullience and boundless self-esteem. Sir Henry - or "the Old Man" as he likes to be called - operates as skillfully in court as out of it, so tonight's play includes some tense scenes set in the Old Bailey. Sir Henry is played by David Horne, a specialist in such larger-than-life characters who appeared recently in C P Snow's The Affair and The Masters. He also played Chasuble in Sir John Gielgud's production of The Importance Of Being Ernest. The story has been adapted by Dick Sharples, writer of many light entertainment shows on television, and the director is actor Edgar Wreford, making his directing debut. (Radio Times, April 23, 1964). Cast : Christopher Guinee (Jimmy Answell), Daniel Thorndike (Alan Kenton), Dennis Handby (Dyer), Katherine Parr (Miss Jordan), Peter Madden (Avory Hume), Leon Sinden (Randolph Fleming), Rosemary Nichols (Mary Nume), John Devaut (The Usher), Philip Howard (The Foreman Of The Jury), John Wilders (The Clerk Of The Court), Donald Eccles (Judge Rankin), Llewellyn Rees (Sir Walter Storm), Douglas Milvain (Doctor Stocking), Neil Wilson (Inspector Mottram) and Alan Rowe (Reggie Answell). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Sir Henry Merrivale played by David Horne in Carter Dickson's The Judas Window.
Director : Michael Hayes Script : By John Trench. Adapted by David Goddard Cast : Judi Dench (Charlotte Revel), Francis Matthews (Charles Garnish), Peter Gill (Henry Revel), Patricia English (Isobel Vilrey), Aubrey Morris (John Rose), Ernest Hare (General Revel), Elizabeth Bell (The Girl Student), Jeremy Conway (The Boy Student), Christopher Banks (Doctor Cardmaker), Marian Spencer (Mrs Revel), Arthur Pentelow (The Workman), Peter Halliday (Sergeant Few), Edna Petrie (Gammer Samways), Gerald C Lawson (Actree), David Garfield (Will Samways), Geoffrey Chater (Tony Garnish), Ivor Ellis (The Footman), Tina Matthews (The Nurse) and Robert Croudace (Police Constable Kendal). Publicity : Patricia English, Alan Dobie and Aubrey Morris in tonight's "Detective", Dishonoured Bones: When an archaeologist starts investigating a "barrow", or Stone-Age burial mound, he expects to find human remains. What he does not expect to find is a body which has been dead just twenty-four hours. However, this is precisely what tonight's detective, Martin Cotterell, uncovers in the course of his "dig" at Penverne. He turns his attention from the distant to the recent past, and in his search for suspects his metaphorical spade turns up some rare and interesting specimens. This archaeologist-detective, played by Alan Dobie, who was seen recently in The Affair, is the creation of John Trench who has made him the hero of three of his four novels. Tonight's play is directed by Michael Hayes. (Radio Times, April 30, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Martin Cotterell played by Alan Dobie in John Trench's Dishonoured Bones.
Director : Max Varnel Script : By Roy Vickers. Adapted by Anthony Read Cast : Sandra Keenan (Elsie Natley), Donald Churchill (George Carshaw), Leslie Allen (Violet Laystall), Jacqueline Bacon (Madge Clayton), George Lee (Police Constable Hankin), Geoffrey Hibbert (Sergeant Martleplug), Alan Lawrance (Mr Marshall), June Barry (Polly Flinders), John Gabriel (Mr Heneage), Toni Gilpin (May Toler), Brian Hayes (The Coroner), Brian Haines (Mr Quilter) and Grace Arnold (Lady Pengore). Publicity : Michael Hordern as the unconventional Inspector Rason in Detective - The Man Who Murdered In Public: To lose one's wife by drowning is sa,d but lamentably not all that uncommon. To lose a second wife in identical circumstances can only seem, as Oscar Wilde might have said, like downright carelessness. But when yet a third lady meets a similarly watery end, some suspicion might be expected to attach to the grieving widower. But remarkably enough, no such breath has touched the thrice bereaved George Carshaw. Not, that is, until the case reaches the hands of Inspector Rason, Head of Scotland Yard's Department of Dead Ends. The department of which Rason has charge - or rather had charge, since the story is set in the Edwardian era - is a very curious one. It is a repository for all the odd scraps of information and routine reports which other departments have discarded as useless. But it is somewhere among this clutter that Rason hopes to find a clue which will put a stop to the career of the uxorious George. Author of tonight's story, The Man Who Murdered In Public, is Roy Vickers, a prolific ex-journalist who gathered his knowledge of crime and criminals during his time as a reporter for the courts, and has since gone on to write more than eighty books. Another ex-journalist, Anthony Read, is responsible for tonight's television adaptation. Playing the unconventional Inspector Rason is Michael Hordern, who starred recently on BBC Television as the aloof aristocrat in Nigel Dennis' August For The People, and also in Land Of My Dreams. He is supported by Donald Churchill as Carshaw. The play is directed by Max Varnel. Mr Varnel has directed no less than four hundred films, but this is the first time he has been responsible for a television play. (Radio Times, May 7, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Detective Inspector Rason played by Michael Hordern in Roy Vickers' The Man Who Murdered The Public.
Director : Robin Midgley Script : By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adapted by Giles Cooper Cast : Liane Aukin (Helen Stoner), Marian Diamond (Julia Stoner), Felix Felton (Doctor Grimesby Roylott), Donald Douglas (Percy Armitage), Nigel Stock (Doctor Watson), Mary Holder (Mrs Hudson) and Nan Marriott-Watson (Annie). Publicity : Detective - The Speckled Band with Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Stock as Watson: No series with a title like "Detective" could possibly afford to ignore the father of all fictional detectives - the man with the deer-stalker and the pipe, the Sage of Baker Street - Sherlock Holmes himself. Bestriding the crime-fiction world like a colossus, the saturnine sleuth created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is no longer simply a character but has developed into a cult. And understandably so. For apart from his lofty place in the history of the genre, Holmes still remains one of the liveliest of all fictional investigators. The Speckled Band is one of his most intriguing cases, and its adaptation by Giles Cooper (of Maigret fame) is tonight's presentation. Julia Stoner, step-daughter of the choleric Doctor Grimesby Roylott, has died, apparently of fear, alone in her bedroom. Two years later her sister Helen has a presentiment that she is about to suffer the same fate, and is persuaded to call in Holmes. And so the Master - attended of course by the obtuse Watson - brings his mind to bear on a tangle of clues which includes strange whistling sounds heard in the night and Julia's dying words about a "speckled band". Tonight Douglas Wilmer adds his name to the distinguished list of stage and screen Holmeses. Known principally for his films (Cleopatra, The Fall Of The Roman Empire) he is a life-long Holmes fan. Nigel Stock seen recently on BBC Television in The Life Of Galileo, plays Watson and Robin Midgley, who directed the Holmes stories for radio, now directs this production of The Speckled Band for television. (Radio Times, May 14, 1964). Synopsis : . Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Sherlock Holmes played by Douglas Wilmer in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Speckled Band.
Director : Terence Dudley Script : By Douglas Sanderson. Dramatised by Terence Dudley Cast : Lew Luton (Tony Fontaine), Barbara Shelley (Eve Race), Terence Holland (Jordan), Martin Wyldeck (Sam Alford), Laurence Dane (Jeff Pastor), Frank Gatliff (Al Kresnick), Ray Roberts (Charlie), David Cargill (Scrine), Jeanne Moody (Virginia Ferrer), Sally Lahee (Mrs Fontaine), Barry Shawzin (Louis), Richard Montez (Jose), Marcella Markham (June), George Little (Ernie), Patrick Whyte (Smollet), Derek Murcott (The Patrolman), Clive Cazes, Norman Chancer, Ken Goodlett, Patricia Leatheren, Mary Ellen Ray and Drew Russell. Publicity : Detective - The Night Of The Horns with Frank Lieberman as Bob Race and Jeanne Moody as Virginia Ferrer: Here in relatively ordinary Britain the classic detective story tends to be a calmly cerebral affair. The detectives themselves are unusually thoughtful and courteous men, and even the criminals quite often seem to preserve some sense of decorum. But things are not the same the whole world over, and tonight's "Detective" presentation deals with the much more violent world of the American crime story. The hero of The Night Of The Horns has in fact to use fists and gun as often as brains to arrive at the solution of the case. He is Bob Race, one of those tough West-Coast attorneys, and he is a detective only from necessity. A shady client has involved him in an illegal act, and to clear himself Race has set to work to expose a major racket. In addition he finds himself caught up in a nightmare of treachery and murder. Despite the American flavour the play's author is British-born. Douglas Sanderson is a former merchant seaman who came originally from Kent, emigrated to Canada after the last war, and now lives in Spain. The Night Of The Horns is his best-known novel. Television dramatisation and direction are by Terence Dudley, who has written two plays and a thriller serial since joining the BBC in 1959. Frank Lieberman, who stars as Race, is an actor with world-wide experience and is now resident in Britain. (Radio Times, May 21, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Bob Race played by Frank Lieberman in Douglas Sanderson's The Night Of The Horns.
Director : Max Varnel Script : By Clifford Witting Cast : Wilfrid Downing (Gunner John Fieldhouse), Clive Colin Bowler (Gunner Postbechild), Michael Peake (Battery Sergeant-Major Yule), Virginia Wetherell (Susan Carmichael), Brian McDermott (Bombadier Paul Morton), Veronica Strong (Fay Gilbert), Totti Truman Taylor (The Landlady Of The Pub), Alec Ross (Battery Quartermaster-Sergeant Ackroyd), James Hunter (Gunner Aubrey Lovelock), Richard Shaw (Battery Captain Fitzgerald), Joe Greig (Gianella), Anthony Woodruff (Major Mellis), Stanley Price (Sergeant Burroughs), Harry Brunning (Doggett) and Basil Dignam (Detective Inspector Charlton). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Detective Constable Bradfield played by Mark Eden in Clifford Witting's Subject: Murder. As good a place as any for a murder is an isolated anti-aircraft post in wartime. A group of browned-off soldiers thrust too much together, over-stretched nerves, a rigorous blackout - and all too often an unpopular Sergeant-Major…
Director : Shaun Sutton Script : Ngaio Marsh Cast : Keith Barron (Nigel Bathgate), Nigel Hawthorne (Temple Doorkeeper), Christopher Coll (Claude Wheatley), Joss Ackland (Jasper Garnette), Vanda Godsell (Dagmar Candour), Derek Francis (Samuel Ogden), Frieda Knorr (Cara Quayne), Nora Nicholson (Miss Wade), Roger Delgado (de Revigne), Ronald Lacey (Maurice Pringle), Brian Cant (Detective Sergeant Bailey), Arnold Bell (Detective Inspector Fox), Anthony Sheppard (Police Constable Evans), Marcus Hammond (Police Constable Harris) and Richard Hurndall (Mr Rattisbon). Publicity : Death In Ecstacy - Tonight's detective story is by Ngaio Marsh: Knocklatcher's Row is an undistinguished street in central London, and in it stands a building marked by a discreet plate which reeds "The house of the Sacred Flame". Apparently as normal as the street, this could be a convent perhaps, or a mission. But in fact is is something much more weird - the temple of a pantheistic sect whose high priest is "Father" Garnette. A young newspaperman stumbles on the place, scents a story, and eavesdrops on a "service". And as the solemn ceremony reaches its climax, he sees a neophyte, who is misguidedly seeking a heightened spiritual life, find instead a squalid death. And so tonight's "detective" Chief Inspector Alleyn of Scotland Yard takes the stage. He is the creation of Ngaio Marsh, a New Zealander whose unusual Maori first-name is pronounced "Ny-oh". Besides being a crime writer she is an artist, an actress, and a producer, and in 1948 she was awarded the O.B.E for "services in connection with drama and literature in New Zealand". Her Mr Alleyn is a mild-mannered character whose gentle approach conceals a fiercely dedicated professional mind, and tonight he is played by Geoffrey Keen, whose recent work includes the New York production of Man And Boy and the Disney film Doctor Syn. (Radio Times, June 4, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Detective Chief Inspector Alleyn played by Geoffrey Keen in Ngaio Marsh's Death In Ecstasy.
Director : Prudence Fitzgerald Script : Michael Innes Cast : Frederick Peisley (Hollywood), Richard Bird (Seth Crabtree), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Bertram Coulson), Benjamin Whitrow (Peter Binns), Bonnie Hurren (Daphne Binns), Helen Lindsay (Edith Coulson), Ann Castle (Lady Judith Appleby), Brian Worth (David Channing-Kennedy), David Garth (Doctor West), Walter Fitzgerald (Colonel Julius Raven), James Bree (Tarbox) and William Kendall (Mr Binns). Publicity : Detective - With Dennis Price as Sir John Appleby in A Connoisseur's Case: Why should anyone want to murder Seth Crabtree just to seal his little model barge? What was the link between the odd-job man and sometime poacher, and the people up at the Big House? And where does the butler fit in? The man who has to try to find the answers to these questions is Sir John Appleby. With some reluctance, too: Sir John, one of the few titled detectives in the business, is really in the district for purely social reasons. But since it was he who found the body in the canal, he feels it incumbent on him to take up the case. The aristocratic Appleby is the brainchild of Michael Innes, a member of the select group of academic detective writers. Under his real name of J I M Stewart he teaches English at Oxford and has published works on literature as well as "straight" novels. (A dramatisation of one of these, The Man Who Won The Pools, was seen recently on BBC-2). Tonight's play is a dramatisation of one of his novels. Dennis Price, who plays Appleby, is an actor who has built up a very big reputation largely in films, and cinema-goers will remember particularly his performance as a far less stable kind of aristocrat in Kind Hearts And Coronets. He is to be seen in the current release A Jolly Bad Fellow, and he also featured in three new films which have not yet been shown in this country. For BBC Television, his last appearance was with Billie Whitelaw in The Lady Of The Camellias by the younger Alexandre Dumas. (Radio Times, June 11, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Sir John Appleby played by Dennis Price in Michael Innes' A Connoisseur's Case.
Director : Brian Farham Script : By Jeffrey Farnot. Adapted by Max Marquis Cast : David Daker (Thomas Yaxley), David Burke (David Loring), Ivor Salter (Jonathan Vokes), Gerald Cross (Sir Nevil Loring), Katy Wild (Anticlea), Hilary Mason (Belinda), Reginald Barratt (Mr Gillespie), Derek Smee (Maulverer) and Harry Landis (Daniel). Publicity : Detective - The Loring Mystery: None of the crime investigators in this series could be described as run-of-the-mill - least of all Jasper Shrig, the creation of novelist Jeffrey Farnol. He was one of the famed Bow Street Runners - the body of men who stood for the law in the days of Regency Bucks and highwaymen and before the advent of Sir Robert Peel's new-fangled police force. Shrig was eccentric and unorthodox but every inch a detective from his steel-lined hat to his elegant shoes. Tonight (played by Patrick Troughton) he is after a wicked baronet who usurp's a family fortune. (Radio Times, June 18, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Jasper Shrig played by Patrick Troughton in Jeffrey Farnot's The Loring Mystery. Bow Street Runner Jasper Shrig uncovers a dark mystery of high passion and hidden identity which brings death to a hell-fire Regency squire.
Director : Michael Hayes Script : By Selwyn Jepson. Adapted by Jan Read Cast : Jack Watson (Charlie), Esmond Knight (Commodore Rupert Gill), Anthony Blackshaw (The Driver), John Quentin (Edward Forsyth), Barbara Couper (Mrs Forsyth), Wilfrid Grantham (Colonel Forsyth), Nan Braunton (Miss Florence Gill), Peter Barkworth (Detective Inspector Christopher Smith), Wendy Gifford (Laura Forsyth), Robert Croudace (The Police Sergeant) and Frank Williams (Doctor Thorne). Publicity : Detective - The Hungry Spider: One profession that still seems to be resisting feminine infiltration pretty successful is criminal investigation. And those ladies who have managed to establish themselves in the field tend to be - to put it politely - of mature years. Except for Eve Gill. The property of tonight's "Detective" writer Selwyn Jepson, who has chronicled her adventures in six books so far, Miss Gill is a vivacious and pretty young woman who finds her looks can be both a help and a handicap in her investigations. A circumstance which is a constant embarrassment to Eve is the fact that her retired naval officer father is an incorrigible smuggler. In tonight's adventure, called The Hungry Spider, she stumbles on a particularly nasty case of murder - a gentle old invalid is removed prematurely from the world. But since she does so at a time when she is helping to deliver a consignment of uncustomed brandy, she finds some difficult in placing the full facts before the proper authorities. Playing Eve Gill is Jane Merrow, who has kept very busy indeed since she left drama school three years ago. She has been in repertory, made her London debut in Wesker's The Kitchen, and appeared in major television productions such as A Suitable Case For Treatment and Birth Of A Private Man. The story has been adapted by Jan Read, and the director is Michael Hayes. (Radio Times, June 25, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Eve Gill played by Jane Merrow in Selwyn Jepson's The Hungry Spider.
Director : Brian Farham Script : By Austin Freeman. Adapted by Allan Prior Cast : Peter Copley (Doctor Thorndyke), Bernard Goldman (Oscar Brodski), George Benson (Silas Hickler), Gerald Sim (Doctor Jervis), Warren Mitchell (Boscovitch), Cameron Hall (Mr Brice), Jack Bligh (The Engine Driver), Frank Seton (The Fireman), Roy Skelton (The Porter), Meadows White (Sergeant Dickens) and Wilfred Garrison (The Constable). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Doctor Thorndyke played by Peter Copley in Austin Freeman's The Case Of Oscar Brodski. Adapted by Allan Prior. What is the sinister Silas Hickler up to hanging around the railway station? The answer can be found in tonight's story when Doctor Thorndyke investigates the murder of Oscar Brodski.
Director : Eric Hills Script : By Clark Smith. Adapted by John Maynard Cast : Penny Whittam (Lily), George Cross (Vescey), Edmond Warwick (Momstead), James Cairncross (Mellent), James Copeland (Dougal), Elizabeth Murray (Meg), Donald McKillop (Hoveden), Mary Webster (The Girl In Accounts), Robert Jennings (The Bartender), Susanna Caroll (The Hat-Check Girl), Elizabeth Wallace (Ann Walshing), Harry Walker (Paris), Jeremy Ure (Weasel), Michael Brennan (Rymer), Duncan McIntyre (Doctor Harfleur), Margo Croan (Grace Lock) and Henry Stamper (The Face). Publicity : Detective at 9:25pm tonight - The Speaking Eye: As the investigating accountant for an industrial empire, Engineering Industries, Nicky Mahoun (Frederick Jaeger) conducts investigations into the accounts of firms that Engineering Industries is interested in acquiring. His enquiry into one such firm, the Mildoune Engineering Company, is the subject of The Speaking Eye by Clark Smith, a Scottish chartered accountant. Mahoun has to keep the reasons for his investigation completely secret and he encounters considerable opposition - not only from the employees of the company, but also from the board of directors. Mahoun soon discovers why. Then a new discovery leads to opposition of a more serious nature and Mahoun is attacked and severely beaten up in an effort to frighten him off. (Radio Times, July 9, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Nicky Mahoun played by Frederick Jaeger in Clark Smith's The Speaking Eye.
Director : Edgar Wreford Script : By Delano Ames. Adapted by Pat Dunlop Cast : Howard Pays (Patrick Blythe), Edwin Brown (Fred Cox), Gwen Cherrell (Honey Penfield), Richard Owens (Edgar Bray), Kate Brown (Gladys), Pat Nye (Mrs Bray), William Abney (Marcus Windle-Scott), Kenneth McClellan (The Coroner), Ann Way (Mrs Tremayne) and Ronald Goodale (Constable Peace). Publicity : Detective - Death Of A Fellow Traveller: This week's presentation offers - at positively no extra change - not one but two sleuths, because the author Delano Ames chooses to solve his cases through the medium of a husband-and-wife team, Jane and Dagobert Brown (Joan Reynolds and Leslie Randall). This bright if slightly feckless young couple live in Hampstead, where Jane tries to make her living as a novelist. As Death Of A Fellow Traveller opens she finds herself in a situation only too familiar to most writers: she has committed herself to doing a book, but she has not even got a title, let alone a story. The ever-helpful Dagobert then spots a strange limping man walking a large dog in the street and decides rather arbitrarily that such a character could be the starting point of a story. Implanting this seed, he packs Jane off to a Cornish village where it can be allowed to germinate. But on the way there, who should appear but the limping man … (Radio Times, July 16, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Jane and Dagobert Brown played by Joan Reynolds and Leslie Randall in Delano Ames' Death Of A Fellow Traveller. Think of a story about a limping man. Mix in a murder, a few spies, a little hate. It's a good story - but what does one do when, suddenly, hideously, it all comes true?
Director : Gilchrist Calder Script : By G K Chesterton. Adapted by Clifford Witting Cast : Garfield Morgan (The Reverend Pryce-Jones), Kumar Ranji (Akbar), Victor Brooks (Detective Inspector Greenwood), William Kendall (John Raggley), John Baskcomb (Henry Jukes), Gordon Whiting (Smith), Joby Blanshard (Turner), Artro Morris (Robinson), Margaret Burton (Kath), John Bennett (Herbert), Sam Kydd (Wills), Terence Rigby (The Police Constable), Alan Rolfe (The Station Sergeant), Colin Spaull (Arthur), Ian Anders (James Grant), Sybilla Marshall (The Harmonium Player), Bill Berridge, Betty Duncan, Winifred Sabine and Jack Lee White (The Beach Congregation). Publicity : Father Brown And The Quick One - Tonight's Detective story stars Mervyn Johns: Father Brown as all readers of the late G K Chesterton know is a small, round Roman Catholic priest who hates sin, loves sinners, and likes pubs. He likes pubs principally because they are frequented by people, and above all Father Brown loves and strives to understand fallible mankind. Shrewd and observant by nature, his pastoral work has given him both compassion and a wide experience of human misdoing; and this particular combination of qualities and qualifications makes him a very rare bird among detectives. In tonight's story, called "The Quick One", father Brown becomes embroiled in a most untoward happening in a pub. At the "Maypole And Garland", a once-honest alehouse now become a cocktail cavern, a forthright character renowned for his amateur racket-busting activities dies after taking a glass of his favourite tipple, cherry brandy. On hand is a gallery of suspects which includes a publican with a guilty conscience, a ranting prohibitionist preacher of a stamp which Father Brown sternly disapproves, and a conventionally-sinister Oriental. But as always Father Brown is looking for the man whom nobody else saw, and by finding him he once again astounds his friend Inspector Greenwood. The sharp-eyed little cleric has been portrayed by several distinguished actors in the past and tonight, in keeping with this tradition, he is played by the noted character actor Mervyn Johns. (Radio Times, July 23, 1964). Synopsis : Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Father Brown played by Mervyn Johns in G K Chesterton's The Quick One. Father Brown solves a murder by describing the man nobody saw, and spotting a genuine phoney.
Director : John Frankau Script : By Ursula Curtiss. Dramatised by George F Kerr Cast : Georgina Hale (Caroline Emmett), Lally Bowers (Mrs Maud Oliver), James Bree (Henry Oliver), Cherith Mellor (Lydia Oliver), Jack Woolgar (Sergeant Tregear), Jean Kent (Miss Mayberry), Jean Marsh (Julie Oliver), Frank Gatliff (Mr Clive), Myrtle Moss (Mrs Pendbury), Nan Braunton (Mrs Parteridge), Terry Wale (Templeton), Llewellyn Rees (Doctor Abercrombie) and Ian Anderson (Doctor Henderson). Publicity : Friday Night Is "Whodunit" Night - Detective stories have a special fascination all their own and starting this week you'll be able to see a "Whodunit" every Friday evening: One of the most frustrating things in this world is to be sitting in a railway train engrossed in a detective novel, and to have the complete stranger opposite look up and say: "That's jolly good, isn't it? You'd never think that the fishmonger's stepmother did it, would you?". No wonder there are so many crimes of violence. Detective stories from the early days of Wilkie Collins and Edgar Allan Poe have attracted a large and devoted following. Why should this be so, more than with any other form of fiction? Isn't it perhaps that, apart from the very high-pitched excitement and tension, the author throws out a challenge to a battle of wits in which he conceals small but crucial clues in the fabric of the story. Are we clever enough to pick them up and then draw the right conclusion from them. And remember that lurking under the mantles of Nicholas Blake and Michael Innes as C Day Lewis, the Poet Laureate, and J I M Stewart, the Oxford don. The rules of the game ensure fair play between the author and yourself. In fact, in the period between the two world wars, often called the golden age of detective fiction, all members of the Detection Club had to swear not to use twin brothers, secret passages, or mysterious Chinamen! Detective runs the whole gamut of detective fiction from high drama to low comedy, from Regency England to present-day America. But in choosing the seventeen plays for the series, the producer, Verity Lambert, and the story editor, Anthea Browne-Wilkinson, read between four and five hundred novels. "We chose quite a few old favourites - stories by Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, William Haggard, and Michael Innes, but we've chosen some not so well-known ones, too. What we've tried to do is cover just about every aspect of detective fiction that there is". The detectives themselves are a pretty varied crew - from Jasper Shrig, a sort of Regency West Country Sam Weller, to the pale bespectacled Albert Campion, from Detective Chief Inspector Dover - described by one of his superiors not very flatteringly as a "fat, stupid swine" - to Reggie Fortune a pathologist of the early thirties. They all have their own complete different and often eccentric methods, but of course they all get their man - or woman - in the end. Included among the impressive cast list are Denholm Elliott, Lee Montague, Colin Blakely, and Dudley Sutton, all playing detectives, and Sheila Hancock, Isobel Black, Lally Bowers, Sir Felix Aylmer, and Esmond Knight. To get the series off to a really good star is The Deadly Climate by Ursula Curtiss - "the detective story with Hitchcockian connections," as Verity Lambert calls it. (Radio Times, May 9, 1968 - Article by Gay Search). Synopsis : This week: Dudley Sutton as Ursula Curtiss' Robert Carmichael investigates the case of The Deadly Climate. Life in a quiet West Country village is not exciting as a rule, and Robert Carmichael, a local reporter, usually finds little to write about. But one night he hears that a strange, frightened girl has taken refuge in an outlying farmhouse claiming to have seen a murder. Notes : This season was originally transmitted 8:10pm to 9:00pm on BBC 1.
Director : Moira Armstrong Script : By Joyce Porter. Dramatised by James MacTaggart Cast : Ballard Berkeley (Assistant Commissioner), Ruth Kettlewell (Dame Alice Stote-Weedon), Michael Rose (The Deputy Commander), James Cosmo (Detective Sergeant MacGregor), George Tovey (Charlie Chettle), Tenniel Evans (Arthur Tompkins), Charles Hill (Bert Quince), Sheelah Wilcocks (Mrs Quince), Denise Coffrey (Poppy Gullimore), Erik Chitty (Doctor Hawnt), Patsy Smart (Miss Tilley), Joan Paton (Miss Tickett), Hilda Fenemore (Mrs Poltensky), Lisa Daniely (Louise de Gascoigne), Lee Chambers (Eleanor) and Rita Webb (Freda Gomersall). Synopsis : This week: Paul Dawkins as Joyce Porter's Detective Chief Inspector Dover investigates the case of Dover And The Poison Pen Letters. Detective Chief Inspector Dover is middle-aged, fat, dyspeptic, lazy and frankly unintelligent. An outbreak of poison-pen letters in a remote village provides the Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard with a longed-for opportunity of getting rid of him for a time. Dover's efforts are, as usual, desultory, and their immediate effect is to produce one attempted and one successful suicide. Only Detective Sergeant MacGregor, Dover's assistant, suspects that the successful suicide is, in fact, a case of murder.
Director : David Proudfoot Script : By Roy Vickers. Dramatised by Hugh Leonard Cast : Norman Shelley (Sir James Kilkeith), Richard Grant (The Assistant Commissioner), Barbara Couper (Mrs Blagrove), Peter Miles (The Reverend Dudley Simmons), Donald Douglas (Arthur Penfold), Lyn Ashley (Madge), John Kelland (Vincent Gershaw), Tom Macauley (Doctor Delmore), John Wentworth (Chief Inspector Karslake), Edwin Brown (The Detective Sergeant), Bernard G High (The Repository Manager) and Eric Jones (Mr Corby). Synopsis : This week: John Welsh as Roy Vickers' Inspector Rason investigates the case of A Man And His Mother-In-Law. "Is this where you keep Stolen Property?"; "Not quite, sir, Inspector Rason is in charge of our … um … Dead Ends". And in Scotland Yard Inspector Rason sits surrounded by clues which have led to "dead ends", and waits - waits for a criminal to make a move which will connect him with a clue. In the Blagrove case there seems to be no motive - the victim has no enemies. The only thing found at the scene of the crime that seems out of place is a book of love poems. Can Rason find a link between this and the murderer?
Director : David Saire Script : By Michael Innes. Dramatised by John Gould Cast : Charles Tingwell (Pederson), Danny Gray (James Cass), Robin Wentworth (The Doctor), Esmond Knight (Albert), Michael Gough (Holroyd), Bruce Boa (Wesselman), Robert Bernal (Lindsay), Gillian Vaughan (Belinda), John Glyn-Jones (Evans), George Howe (The Mayor), Gareth Forwood (John), Sheila White (Jane) and Ewan Hooper (Roper). Synopsis : This week: Ian Ogilvy as Michael Innes' Inspector Appleby investigates the case of Lesson In Anatomy. The vulture quietly sat and eyed the assembly - and after the corpse grinned two minutes passed before the lights went out. In the darkness murder was committed. Inspector Appleby, called to the scene, finds himself involved in a world of academic back-biting subtlety - a world which he faces with assurance. But he needs more than assurance to unravel this macabre case. That a re-enactment of an eighteenth-century anatomy lecture should be a yearly event in a University is strange enough - that a murderer should choose this time and place for his crime is stranger still.
Director : John Frankau Script : By H C Bailey. Dramatised by Elwyn Jones Cast : Ralph Michael (Sidney Lomas), John Horsley (Superintendent Bell), Elizabeth Shepherd (Joan Fortune), Howard Marion-Crawford (Chief Constable Waldron), Arthur Hewlett (Simms), Felix Aylmer (Sir Henry Exon), Frederick Peisley (Arch), Margaret Ashcroft (The Landlady), Brian Oulton (Inspector Wilson), Drewe Henley (Edward Meyer), Jack May (Inspector Dubois), Walter Gotell (Hamilton Tromp) and Kathleen St John (The Housekeeper). Synopsis : This week: Denholm Elliot as H C Bailey's Reggie Fortune investigates the case of The German Song. Reggie Fortune, plump, good-humoured, and perhaps just a little idle, is helping his friend Sidney Lomas of Scotland Yard to clear up a possible unnatural death, when they are presented with a problem which both intrigues and baffles them. It is not a murder but a robbery. Priceless and irreplaceable antique jewellery has been stolen from the house of Sir Henry Exon and there seems to be no trace of its whereabouts. Reggie tears himself away from his favourite pursuits of eating and dozing long enough to astound the professional police investigators by solving the crime. But the vital clue upon which his deduction is based is given to him by his wife, Joan.
Director : Tina Wakerell Script : By Nicholas Blake. Dramatised by Pip and Jane Baker Cast : Andrew Downie (Felix Lane), Francis Matthews (George Rattery), Jennifer Stirling (Merrett), Christine Finn (Violet Rattery), Claire Nielson (Lena Lawson), Simon Turner (Phil Rattery), Catherine Lacey (Mrs Rattery), Yvonne Gilan (Georgia Strangeways), Robert James (Chief Inspector Blount), Edgar Wreford (Carfax) and Richard Hurndall (General Shrivenham). Synopsis : This week: Bernard Horsfall as Nicholas Blake's Nigel Strangeways investigates the case of The Beast Must Die. The Poet Laureate, C Day Lewis, is well known to many enthusiasts of detective fiction as Nicholas Blake - an unusual combination of roles. He has created the character of Nigel Strangeways, the private detective featured in this week's play. In this story, Nigel Strangeways is called in to help solve a strange case. An attempt has been made on a man's life. This attempt has been foiled and the would-be murderer has been revealed. But later the same day the intended victim dies. The death is no accident - nor is it suicide. Clearly more than one person feels that the Beast must die. Notes : This episode attracted 5.0 million viewers and was ranked the seventeenth most popular programme of the week.
Director : Moira Armstrong Script : By John Gould. Based on a story by Anthony Berkeley Cast : Tony Steedman (Sir William Anstruther), David J Grahame (The Hall Porter), Jennifer Jayne (Delilah Bryce), Joyce Grant (Mrs Verreker Le Fleming), Marian Spencer (Lady Anstruther), Bella Emberg (Parker), Allan Cuthbertson (Rupert Bryce), John Franklyn-Robbins (Graham Beresford), Geraldine Newman (Jean Beresford), Arthur Pentelow (Inspector Moresby), James Appleby (The Club Servant), Steve Peters (The Clerk In The Typewriter Shop) and Jacqueline Blackmore (The Clerk In The Stationer's). Synopsis : This week: John Carson as Roger Sheringham investigates the case of The Avenging Chance. This play is set in the West End of London in the 1930s. It appears that there are a large number of people who would be glad to see Sir William Anstruther dead. The question is who? Roger Sheringham is determined to find out. Unhappily he has hardly started his investigations when a tragedy, in which an innocent woman dies, takes place.
Director : Alan Bridges Script : By Hilary Waugh. Dramatised by William Emms Cast : David Bauer (Pete Shaw), Sheila Hancock (Mrs Markie), Hazel Bainbridge (Mrs Shaw), Norman Mitchell (Cassidy), Robert Ayres (Mr Norris), Clive Endersby (Philip Norris), T P McKenna (Detective Wilks), Jon Rollason (Jim Finch), Madge Brindley (Mrs Parks), Christopher Benjamin (Ralph Demartino), Norman Florence (The Reporter), Cyril Shaps (Mr Finch), Bernard Hepton (Jeremiah Batson), Colin Rix (Wilson), John Abineri (Mr Jarold), Elaine Wells (Mrs Jarold) and Eva Haddon (Betty Wilcox). Synopsis : This week: Lee Montague as Hilary Waugh's Police Chief Fellows investigates the case of Born Victim. Bobbie Markle, a thirteen-year-old girl, disappears from her home on Saturday morning, while her mother is out at work. The night before she had attended her first formal dance. The local police chief, Fellows, is called in and begins the routine of finding the girl. What starts as a straightforward search develops in a more sinister way and the hunt for clues involves a number of people who at first seem to have no connection with the missing girl or her mother. The setting of this play is the mid-west of America. The next Detective is on your screen in two days' time when the series moves to Sunday.
Director : Claude Whatham Script : By William Haggard. Dramatised by Hugo Charteris Publicity : Detective - On A New Day At 8:15pm Tonight - The Unquiet Sleep: "The Executive's Friend" - a drug designed to give the needed lift to a tired man at the end of a hard day - harmless, indeed beneficial, this is what Mecron is intended to be. But suddenly there are disquieting rumours - tentative murmurs of doubt from the medical profession. Charles Russell, head of the Security Executive, decides to take action and to alert the Minister to the potential danger of the drug which at present is freely sold over the chemist's counter. But other people have heard the rumours too and they have decided to take a hand in discovering the true nature and power of Mecron. (Radio Times, June 30, 1968). Cast : Sarah Lawson (Rachel Borrowdaile), Susan Mitchell (The Secretary), Alan Foss (Clec), Richard Caldicot (Robert Seneschal), Clive Graham (Dick Asher), Delena Kidd (Patricia Leggatt), Bernard Brown (Henry Leggatt), Peter Dennis (The Personal Assistant), Basil Clarke (Doctor Hugh Latta), Wolfe Morris (Lui), Andreas Lynsandrou (Knife), Tommy Mann (Baldy), Pamela Buckley (Molly Lamperton), Tom Bowman (Charlie Lightgrove) and Eric Longworth (The Police Sergeant). Synopsis : This week: Roland Culver as William Haggard's Charles Russell investigates the case of The Unquiet Sleep.
Director : William Slater Script : By Jeffrey Farnol. Dramatised by Hugh Whitemore Cast : Mike Lewin (Jeremy Veryan), Kenneth Benda (Sir James Trevor), Simon Oates (Terence O'Leary), Sydney Arnold (Mr Gillespie), Isobel Black (Olivia Revell), Michael Latimer (Richard Armadale), Otis E Mason (Gaston de Ravenac), Geoffrey Morris (Corporal Dick), Yuri Borienko (Ben Holt), Larry Aubrey (Lord Julian Midmarsh), Roy Stewart (Pompey) and B H Barry (The Timekeeper). Synopsis : This week: Colin Blakely as Jeffrey Farnol's Jasper Shrig assists in The High Adventure. Jeremy Veryan, heir to the estates of Veryan, leaves his guardian's house and goes in search of "The High Adventure". Mysteriously, he is struck down by an unknown assailant. Jasper Shrig, a Bow Street Runner, dedicated to the pursuit of the "Windictiveness" in all its manifestations, hears of this assault and comes to his assistance. Together they set out to track down not only the threat hanging over Jeremy but also the shadow that darkens his childhood - the mystery of his parents' death. In this romantic Regency adventure, the part of Jasper Shrig is played by Colin Blakely, of the National Theatre Company.
Director : Tony Wickert Script : By Macdonald Hastings. Dramatised by Elwyn Jones Publicity : Detective at 8:10pm tonight - Cork On The Water: Mr Montague Cork (Colin Douglas), head of a large insurance company, lands a salmon in a Highland stream. Catching this fish is the start of a long and mysterious trail which he follows with the help of his young assistant Robert Macrae (Martin Jarvis). (Radio Times, July 14, 1968). Cast : Kevin Stoney (Colonel Johnson), Philip Ross (The Watcher), Martin Jarvis (Robert Macrae), Timothy Bateson (The Stage Doorkeeper), Annette Andre (Anna Pryde), George Roubicek (Kurtz), Hamish Roughead (Mackenzie), Jacqui Chan (Miss Rhee) and Phil McCall (Snatcher). Synopsis : This week: Colin Douglas as Macdonald Hastings' Mr Montague Cork investigates the case of Cork On The Water.
Director : Bill Hays Script : By Margery Allingham. Dramatised by Frank Moore Cast : Angela Crow (Effie), Charles Lloyd Pack (Hayhoe), Robin Parkinson (Whippet), Geoffrey Bayldon (Kingston), George Sewell (Lugg), Ken Wynne (Lee), Honora Burke (Poppy), James Beck (Bathwick), Michael Golden (Inspector Pussey), Geoffrey Hayes (Police Constable Jenkins), Caroline Hunt (Janet) and Frederick Hall (The Pathologist). Synopsis : This week: Brian Smith as Margery Allingham's Albert Campion investigates The Case Of The Late Pig. Life in the village of Kepesake in the 1930s has an idyllic, peaceful appearance. But a stranger who appears in this backwater has the power to upset and disrupt the calm. He presents a threat to a way of life and one member of the close-knit community takes the law into his own hands and removes the threat. Albert Campion and his assistant Lugg are called down to clear up the stranger's death and find themselves involved in a mystery unguessed at by the people they have come to help.
Director : James Cellan Jones Script : By Selwyn Jepson Cast : Angus Mackay (Jones), Michael Wynne (Hooker), Anthony Corlan (Jonathan), John Laurie (Commodore Gill), Allan McClelland (George Wick), Frank Middlemass (Billy Bull), Veronica Hurst (Sophie), John Stride (James Belsin), Charles Hodgson (Boosie), Maurice Quick (John), Iona Macrae (Phoebe), Patricia Mason (Jessie), Kitty Attwood (Mrs Garside) and Andrew Faulds (Gonzalez). Synopsis : This week: Penelope Horner as Selwyn Jepson's Eve Gill investigates the case of The Golden Dart. Thwe strange launch which sails into Commodore Gill's private creek brings to both him and his daughter a feeling of foreboding. Apparently unaware that they are observed, the visitors come and go. Is this a part of the Commodore's smuggling activities which he wishes to conceal? Is it, perhaps, some legacy of his past life bringing with it threat and danger? Or is it something more sinister unconnected except by accident with the life of Marsh House? Eve Gill decides to take practical steps and find out. In so doing she becomes involved in danger and tragedy.
Director : Douglas Camfield Script : Colin Morris Publicity : Double-Take: Doctor Hawley Harvey Crippin. Born 1861, executed November 23, 1910. Bernard Hepton who plays the part of the otherwise meek little doctor is tonight's true-life story of the dreadful events that took place at Hilldrop Crescent, Holloway. Detective at 8:10pm. (Radio Times, August 4, 1968). Cast : Pauline Delany (Belle Elmore), Bernard Hepton (Doctor Crippen), Anna Carroll (Clara Martinetti), Marion Diamond (Ethel Le Neve), Royston Tickner (Paul Martinetti), Shirley Cooklin (Mrs Nash), Olaf Pooley (Mr Nash), Athene Fielding (The French Maid), Richardson Morgan (Detective Sergeant Mitchell), John Levene (The Detective), Dominic Allan (The Policeman), John Barcroft (Captain Kendall), Norman Hartley (The First Officer) and Bill Lyons (The Radio Operator). Synopsis : This week: Glynn Edwards as Detective Chief Inspector Dew in Crime Of Passion. The story of Doctor Crippen has the fascination of real-life drama which far exceeds in macabre fantasy much fictional crime writing. Colin Morris gives here a study of Crippen and his crime which reveals no new facts, but a great deal of the emotional background to the murder of Belle Elmore. There is an intense drama provided by the parts that chance and coincidence play in the story and in the steps that lead Dew the detective, firstly to suspicion of murder and eventually to the certainty of the crime and the arrest of the fugitive doctor.
Director : Roger Jenkins Script : By Ngaio Marsh. Dramatised by George F Kerr Cast : Dorothy Black (Lady Alleyn), Tracy Reed (Agatha Troy), Nick Tate (Watt Hatchett), Justine Lord (Valmal Seacliff), Michael Mellinger (Wolf Garcia), John Stratton (Cedric Malmsley), Simon Brent (Basil Pilgrim), Nova Sainte Claire (Sonia), Geoffrey Lumsden (Colonel Pascoe), Clifford Cox (Detective Inspector Fox), Jon Laurimore (Detective Sergeant Bailey) and Vicky Hughes (Bobbie O'Dawne). Synopsis : This week: Michael Allinson as Ngaio Marsh's Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn investigates the case of Artists In Crime. Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn and his assistant, Inspector Fox, are known to millions of readers of Ngaio Marsh's detective novels. Now they are introduced to viewers in a macabre murder case set in a country house. Not a conventional "country house", since it is owned by the painter Agatha Troy, and she has gathered there a varied collection of arists. The relationships within this group of temperamental people are extremely involved and there are many bitter jealousies and rivalries. The unraveling of the case if made doubly difficult by this "labyrinth of untidy emotions".
Director : Anthea Browne-Wilkinson Script : By Francis Didelot. Dramatised by Derek Ingrey Cast : Peter Elliott (Monsieur Jean), Frederick Jaeger (Mischa Kuprin), Jenny Till (Marie Kuprin), Harold Goodwin (Victor), George Layton (Mervans), Kenneth Farrington (Luniot), Jan Butlin (Flo), Ralph Nossek (Severini), Martin King (Varlait), Elizabeth Shepherd (Jennifer Davis), George A Cooper (Ugo Ahrenfeldt), Peter Swanwick (Judge Austrebert), Sarah Brackett (Valerie Dupont) and Barry Linehan (Gall). Synopsis : This week: Derek Godfrey as Francis Didelot's Commissaire Bignon investigates the case of Death On The Champs Elysees. No hotel likes to feel it is the scene of a crime. To a hotel of the irreproachable respectability of the Henri IV in Paris, the effect of such an event on the management is catastrophic. Their wealthy and distinguished guests cannot be disturbed by the vulgar clamour of police investigation. Surely the business man found dead in his hotel room must have died accidentally. Commissaire Bignon thinks otherwise. Undoubtedly this is murder and he intends to pursue his investigations no matter how inconvenient his pressure and his questions may be. And his questions reveal many strange facts about the guests at this luxurious hotel.
Director : James Cellan Jones Script : By Edgar Allan Poe. Dramatised by James MacTaggart Cast : Charles Kay (Edgar Allan Poe), Christopher Benjamin (Rodier), Marguerite Young (Madame L'Espanaye), Philip Anthony (Belair), Jimmy Gardner (Muset), Walter Horsbrugh (Duval), John Devaut (Bird), Kevork Malikyan (Garcio), Guido Adorni (Montani), Dennis Edwards (Dumas), James Hall (The Clerk), Ray Callaghan (Lebon), Geoffrey Rose (Prefect), Beatrice Greeke (Madame Douterc), Charles Kinross (The Gendarme) and Anthony Langdon (The Sailor). Synopsis : This week: Edward Woodward as Edgar Allan Poe's Auguste Dupin investigates the case of The Murders In The Rue Morgue. Night is the time for terror, that walks the streets and invades the most closely guarded privacy. Who could have penetrated into the locked and shuttered house in Rue Morgue? What superhuman agency could have committed such atrocities on the innocent, elderly victims? And will the terror walk again - will the house be repeated? Dupin and his friend Poe test their theories of deductive reasoning and discover the reality behind the seemingly impossible events. Paris in 1841 provides the setting for this, the last in the series of Detective, and the first detective story ever written.
Director : Jonathan Alwyn Script : By Hilary Waugh. Dramatised by William Emms Publicity : Watch With Mother - with tough, rugged "Detective" Lee Montague. Anne Chisholm talks to him about his versatility: Although a high professional and very successful actor, Lee Montague does not come on like a big star. He is a small, square man with dark, faintly oriental features that can suddenly turn sinister; but he has a happy smile and a quiet, unflamboyant manner. He smokes a pipe and drinks Campari. You wouldn't pick him out in a crowd. On Sunday this week he is the guest star in the first of the new Detective series, playing Fellows, the American police chief. He played the same man in last year's series, but he denies making a special line of this or any other detective. If his face is not |