The Listening Post - Captivating Audiobooks and Radio Programs

[Resurgence]

Happy Valentine's Day!


Drama


Dixon Of Dock Green - Series 1


Dixon of Dock Green was a British police series on BBC Television, which aired between 1955 and 1976. The central character was neighbourhood bobby PC (later Sergeant) George Dixon, a character who first appeared in the 1949 film “The Blue Lamp”. Dixon was played in every episode by Jack Warner.

These 12 radio episodes have been adapted from creator Ted Willis’ original TV scripts. Set in the mid-1950s, they reflect a style of yesteryear policing, where the crimes are low key, nobody gets hurt, and Dixon can return home safely each night for his tea.

This BBC Radio drama stars David Calder as PC George Dixon, with David Tennant and Hamish Clark as PC Andy Crawford.

Written by Ted Willis
Dramatised by Sue Rodwell
Produced by Jeremy Howe
Directed by Viv Beeby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2005



Episode 1 00:00

London Pride

George Dixon is showing new boy in blue, Andy Crawford, the ropes on the beat of Dock Green in London's East End.

Much to PC Crawford's surprise, Dixon is prepared to bend the rules in order to arrest one of a gang of safebreakers.



Episode 2 28:03

Needle in a Haystack

Dixon causes a stir at home when he offers PC Crawford the spare room...



Episode 3 55:28

Crawford's First Pinch

Some unsavoury postcards turn up on the Dock Green beat and the link to a recent spate of bicycle thefts makes PC Andy Crawford desperate to notch up his first arrest.



Episode 4 1:22:48

Dixie

When things go missing from the Dixon household Doris, the downtrodden girl from next door, is exposed as a petty thief. But it's Mary Dixon who comes to her rescue, against George's wishes, and who earns the admiration of Andy Crawford...



Episode 5 1:50:03

Rock, Rattle and Roll

When a fanatical Spurs fan has his prized football rattle stolen, an FA cup tie provides the perfect excuse for a weekend away in Blackpool for Andy and Mary.



Episode 6 2:17:37

Roaring Boy

Mary and Andy have some exciting news for George, but he's nowhere to be found - and on the other side of Dock Green, a desperate ***** man with a gun is on the run.










Dixon Of Dock Green - Series 2


Episode 1 00:00

Little Boy Blue

PC George Dixon and PC Andy Crawford investigate a break-in at Dock Green's local pinball palace.

Is one-time bad boy Geoff back to his old ways?



Episode 2 27:58

The Gentle Scratcher

Some counterfeit money turns up at the Dock Green Social Club and PC George Dixon thinks he knows who's responsible.



Episode 3 55:46

A series of burglaries on empty houses bears all the trademarks of one of Dock Green's most colourful characters.

But is PC Andy Crawford a bit too keen to make an arrest?



Episode 4 1:23:45

Andy Steps Up

PC Andy Crawford gets another chance to earn his stripes when some suspiciously priced tins of salmon turn up on Dock Green market.



Episode 5 1:51:26

Give a Dog a Good Name

PC George Dixon helps the newly promoted DI Andy Crawford trap a particularly vicious criminal - a man with an achilles heel in the shape of a small dog called Shirley.



Episode 6 2:19:21

The Key of the Nick

There's supposed to be a surprise party to celebrate George's 21 years on the beat at Dock Green police station.

But it turns into a night in cold storage instead as Dixon and Crawford are held hostage...

[Resurgence]

Drama



Inspector West

Three vintage crime serials adapted from author John Creasey's thriller series









Chief Inspector Roger West of Scotland Yard is a home-loving, hard-hitting and very human policeman.

Six of his adventures were dramatized for radio between 1967 and 1971, starring real-life husband and wife Patrick Allen and Sarah Lawson as Roger and Janet West.  Unfortunately, only three of the six dramas survive, all of which are included here.




Battle For Inspector West


Idle curiosity takes the Chief Inspector to a high-society wedding—and leads him into a case involving a notorious blackmailer and a missing bride. Drawn into a web of terror, West comes face-to-face with an old adversary—a dangerous criminal mastermind named Carosian.


Chief Inspector Roger West - Patrick Allen
Janet West - Sarah Lawson
Michael Grant - Philip Bond
Christine Grant - Denise Buckley
Sir Guy Chatworth - Hamilton Dyce
Prendergast - John Cazabon
Vic - Charles Haggith
Carosian - Francis de Wolff
Arthur Morley - Preston Lockwood
Julieta - Eva Stuart
Sir Mortimer Grant - Humphrey Morton
Detective Sergeant Hubert Gill - Trevor Bannister
Pearly Willis - Henry Stamper
Superintendent Mulloon - Harry Webster


Written by John Creasey
Adapted by Maurice Travers
Produced by John Fawcett Wilson


First broadcast BBC Light Programme, 4th May - 15th June 1967







Inspector West At Home


When Roger West finds the dead body of a small-time crook, he faces opposition from the formidable Superintendent Abbott, his superior at the Yard. Suspended from duty, he sets out on a trail of conspiracy, corruption and murder.


Chief Inspector Roger West - Patrick Allen
Janet West - Sarah Lawson
Detective Inspector Bob Cornish - Frederick Treves
Mark Lessing - Edward de Souza
Superintendent Abbott - Grant Taylor
Pep Morgan - Harry Landis
Pickerell - Robert James
Sir Guy Chatworth - Maurice Hedley
Mrs Fleming - Margaret Robertson
Lois Randall - Carol Marsh
Bill Tennant - Anthony Jackson
'Whistler' Malone - Rio Fanning
Raymond Fleming - Frederick Jaeger


Written by John Creasey
Adapted by Maurice Travers
Produced by John Fawcett Wilson
Pianist: Max Harris


First broadcast on BBC Radio 2, 25th March - 15th April 1968







Inspector West At Bay


First West is targeted by a vicious attacker, then his wife, Janet, receives an anonymous, threatening message. Caught up in a deadly game of blind man's buff, can he save himself and his family from an enemy who seems determined to destroy them?


Chief Inspector Roger West - Patrick Allen
Janet West - Sarah Lawson
Sir Guy Chatworth - Maurice Hedley
Detective Inspector Bill Sloan - Derek Newark
Mark Lessing - James Kerry
Eve Wedlake - Anna Gilchrist
With Leonard Fenton, John Baddely, Elizabeth Proud, Judy Bennett, Margaret Wolfit, Peter Williams, John Pullen, Ian Frost and Peter Thompson


Written by John Creasey
Adapted by Maurice Travers
Produced by John Browell


First broadcast on BBC Radio 2, 27th May - 19th June 1969

[Resurgence]

Documentary

Dunwich: Time Trieth Reality



A BBC radio documentary about the lost English city of Dunwich.

Dunwich today is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around 92 miles (148 km) north-east of London.

In medieval times, Dunwich was the capital of the Kingdom of the East Angles, but the harbour and most of the town have since disappeared due to coastal erosion. At its height it was an international port similar in size to 14th-century London. Its decline began in 1286 when a storm surge hit the East Anglian coast, followed by two great storms in February and December of 1287, until it eventually shrank to the village it is today. Dunwich is possibly connected with the lost Anglo-Saxon placename Dommoc.

All that is left today after centuries of coastal erosion is half a street and the ruins of a priory and of a leper hospital.


Dunwich then and now:




The remains of the Franciscan Greyfriars Monastery:





Churches lost to the sea in Dunwich:

St Leonard's: a parish church that fell to the sea in the 14th century.

St Nicholas's: a parish church with a cruciform building to the south of the city. Lost to the sea soon after the Black Death.

St Martin's: a parish church built before 1175, it was lost to the sea between 1335 and 1408.

St Francis Chapel: beside the Dunwich River, was lost in the 16th century.

St Katherine's Chapel: in the parish of St John, lost in the 16th century.

Preceptory of the Knights Templar: the foundations washed away during the reign of Charles I.

St Peter's: It was stripped of anything of value as the cliff edge drew nearer. The east gable fell in 1688 and the rest of the building followed in 1697.

Blackfriars: Dominican priory in the southeast of the city. It was founded during the time of Henry III by Roger Holish. By 1385 preparations were made for the Dominicans to move to nearby Blythburgh as the sea front drew nearer, although prematurely, as the priory remained active and above sea level until at least the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. The last building fell to the sea in 1717.

All Saints' Church: a parish church, last of Dunwich's ancient churches to be lost to the sea. It was abandoned in the 1750s after it was decided the parishioners could no longer afford the upkeep, although burials occurred in the churchyard until the 1820s. The cliff edge reached All Saints' in 1904 and the tower (at its west end) fell in 1922. One of the tower buttresses was salvaged and now stands in the current Victorian-era St James' Church. One of the last remaining gravestones, in memory of John Brinkley Easey, fell over the cliff in the early 1990s. A large block of masonry could still be seen at the water's edge at low tide in 1971. In 2022, only one gravestone (in memory of Jacob Forster who died in the late 18th century) remained, about 15 feet (4.6 m) from the cliff edge.

The ruins of All Saints' Church, here in a postcard of 1904:








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Drama



The ABC Murders








A BBC Radio full-cast dramatization starring John Moffatt as the great Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

Alice Ascher is murdered at Andover. Betty Barnard is strangled at Bexhill-on-Sea. Each time, an ABC railway guide is found by the dead bodies and, each time, Poirot is warned in advance by a letter from someone signed "ABC." But who is ABC? And can Poirot find out in time to prevent the death of C?

It was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 22 April 2000.






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Drama



Orbiter X








The Commonwealth Space Project (CSP), based in Woomera, South Australia, is working to build a space station orbiting a thousand miles above the Earth's surface. Planned to be a refueling station for further space exploration, along with laboratories and other services, the CSP has launched the various components for the space station into orbit. But before construction can begin, the first assembly ship, Orbiter 1, is seemingly attacked and loses contact with CSP Control. A second ship, Orbiter 2, piloted by Captain Bob Britton, is sent to rescue the first crew, but finds Orbiter 1 deserted and the spacecraft's log missing.



Cast:

Captain Bob Britton...John Carson
Captain Douglas McClelland...Andrew Crawford
Flight Engineer Hicks...Barrie Gosney
Colonel Kent...Donald Bisset
Captain Jack Bradley...John Witty
Control Officer Brown...Peter Noel Cook
Control Officer Camm...Francis Hall
U F O Commander Gelbin...Arthur Lawrence
Radio Operator...John Matthews
Max Kramer...Gerik Schjelderup
Greta Ravel...Irene Prador
Sir Charles Day...Leslie Perrins
Neasen...Ian Sadler
Letmann...John Cazabon
Captain Knight...John Graham



Broadcast by the BBC Light Programme on Monday evenings from 28th September to 28th December 1959


The producer of Orbiter X, Charles Maxwell, aimed to make the series authentic as possible. During the studio recordings, the cast wore 'space helmets' to help them to achieve a sense of realism. Harry Morriss and Ian Cook created around 40 different sound effects for the series, with "as many as four or five effects sometimes being blended together to produce one particular sound".


The series was presumed to have been wiped and lost. However, a set of discs of the entire series, recorded for the BBC Transcription Service, was discovered and restored.




Episode 1 - The First Step to the Stars (28 Sep 1959)




Episode 2 - Conflict in Space (5 Oct 1959)




Episode 3 - The Master Plan (12 Oct 1959)




Episode 4 - Flight to the Moon (19 Oct 1959)




Episode 5 - Inside the Moon Station (26 Oct 1959)




Episode 6 - Breakaway (2 Nov 1959)




Episode 7 - Price of Survival (9 Nov 1959)




Episode 8 - Marooned in Space (16 Nov 1959)




Episode 9 - Operation Salvage (23 Nov 1959)




Episode 10 - Return to Woomera (30 Nov 1959)




Episode 11 - A Flight Against Time (7 Dec 1959)




Episode 12 - Building the Space Station (14 Dec 1959)




Episode 13 - The Net Closes (21 Dec 1959)




Episode 14 - The Final Round (28 Dec 1959)

[Resurgence]

Merry Christmas!


Happy New Year!









Drama


Earthsearch








Three generations previously, the starship Challenger - a vast ten-mile-long survey vessel – was launched from Earth on an interstellar mission to search the universe for an Earth-type planet to colonise. The ship's once enormous crew-count has now been reduced to four, all third-generation crew- the only survivors of the disastrous Great Meteoroid Strike which seriously damaged the ship two decades previously, killing the entire second-generation crew and rendering large areas of the ship "uncontrolled" and inaccessible to its electronic systems.

From infancy, the four third-generation crew members (now in their early twenties) have been raised by robots and by the Angels – mysterious unseen beings who run the ship and who only manifest as disembodied voices. With no suitably colonisable planet found after over a hundred years of searching, a crew-vote is taken and the Challenger sets a course for the return to Earth.



Cast:

Commander Telson - Sean Arnold
Sharna - Amanda Murray
Darv - Haydn Wood
Astra - Kathryn Hurlbutt
Angel One - Sonia Fraser
Angel Two - Gordon Reid
Commander Sinclair - Christopher Scott
Simon - David Bradshaw
The Sentinel - Alexander John
George - John MacAndrew
Helan - Judy Franklin
Emperor Thorden - John Bott
Thail - Graham Faulkner
Spegal - Stephen Garlick
The Custodian - Eve Calfe
Fagor - Sion Probert
Krol - Michael Spice
Dren - John Webb
Lenart - Jane Knowles
Tandor - Pauline Letts
No. 41 - John Church



Episodes:

Planetfall 0:00
First Footprint City 27:09
Sands of Kyros 55:11
The Solaric Empire 1:23:37
The Pools of Time 1:52:24
Across the Abyss 2:20:56
New Blood 2:48:17
Marooned 3:15:19
Star Cluster Tersus 9 3:43:27
Earthfall 4:12:57



Written by James Follett
Directed by Glyn Dearman



Originally aired January-March, 1981 on BBC Radio 4







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Earthsearch II



The story begins four years later, when Telson, Sharna, Darv and Astra have settled into their life on Paradise (assisted by two androids, the agricultural machine George and the argumentative general-purpose service unit Tidy). Both couples now have ***** *****ren - Darv and Astra have the twins Elka and Savin, and Telson and Sharna have their son Bran. Despite the colonists' embrace of Paradise as home, the lifestyle is difficult and full of hardships. Noticing the appearance of an unidentified artefact in planetary orbit, Telson and Darv fly up towards it in the shuttle, to discover that it is an eight-mile long spaceship called Voyager 30 and apparently part of an Earth-originated survey mission.



Cast:

Commander Telson - Sean Arnold
Sharna - Amanda Murray
Darv - Haydn Wood
Astra - Kathryn Hurlbutt
Elka - Jill Lidstone
Bran - Michael Maloney
Angel One - Sonia Fraser
Angel Two - Gordon Reid
Tidy - David Gooderson
George - Stephen Garlick
Solaria - Pauline Letts
Elkeran - Nicholas Courtney
Halston - David McAlister
Theros - John Warner
SA7 - Spencer Banks
Kraken - Crawford Logan
Peeron - George Parsons
Earthvoice - Michael Tudor Barnes



Episodes:

Return 0:00
Flood 26:54
Surrender 54:33
Solaria 1:22:50
Sundeath 1:50:52
Supermass 2:18:39
Deathship 2:45:56
Megalomania 3:14:15
Earth 3:41:58
Earthvoice 4:10:02



Written by James Follett
Directed by Glyn Dearman



Originally aired between January and March 1982, BBC Radio 4

[Resurgence]

Happy Valentine's Day!



Drama - Comedy


As Time Goes By








A radio adaptation of Bob Larbey's TV sitcom, starring Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer as former sweethearts reunited in middle age.



Series 1:


Broadcast from March to April, 1997






Series 2:


Broadcast from January to February, 1998






Series 3:


Broadcast from February to March, 1999

[Resurgence]

Drama


Detective









DS Dave Brook is a long-serving, ducking-and-diving police officer who takes armed robberies and violent crime in his stride.

Originally broadcast as Detective: Stories of Crime and Detection in London, this BBC radio drama ran for four series between 1980 and 1985. Written by the award-winning creator of Z Cars and Softly Softly, Robert Barr, it comprised 39 thrilling stories set in London’s criminal underworld.

Among the thrilling cases in these four series, the detectives tackle an armed gang, confront a notorious crime family, search for a missing wife, investigate a gruesome ax murder and the death of a reclusive ***** woman, and assist ‘The Sweeney’ flying squad. It’s all in a day’s work for Brook and his team....

Ray Brooks stars as DS Brook, with Christopher Blake as DC Maxton, David Daker as Chief Inspector Roach, Peter Cleall as DC Harrison, Jacqueline Tong as Judy and Stephen Garlick as DC Tully.



Series 1


A Bit of Tomfoolery 0:00
Operation Homecoming 27:54
Bedtime Story 54:00
The Bank Raid 1:48:25
The Do-It-Yourself Job 2:15:20
The Birthday Party 2:41:26
The Coming Out Present 3:36:02
The Legacy 4:01:32
Time on Their Hands 4:27:57
The Pin-Up Murder 4:52:03






Series 2


A Dream of Riches 0:00
Two on the Run 27:49
A Meeting With Anna 53:25
Contract to Kill 1:20:12
Four Faces of Crime 1:47:54
Missing From Home 2:15:48
A Very Private Affair 2:42:46
The Placer 3:10:40
Death in a Lonely Place 3:38:33
The Point of No Return 4:05:23






Series 3


The Trap 0:00
A Bit of a Grudge 25:04
Lost Without a Trace 49:32
The Sell Out 1:14:33
Murder of a Shy Girl 1:41:32
Rough Justice 2:08:01
A Well Planned Job 2:33:57
Death at the Weekend 2:58:15






Series 4


Surveillance 0:00
A Family Affair 27:30
Search Warrant 55:18
The Interrogation 1:23:04
The Tip-Off 1:50:48
A Bit of Forensic 2:18:37
The Windfall 2:46:16
On the Run 3:13:58

[Resurgence]

Drama


Inspector Morse - The Audio Drama TV Adaptations



John Thaw as Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse and Kevin Whately as Detective Sergeant  Robbie Lewis





Chief Inspector Morse has an ear for Western classical music, a taste for beer, and a nose for crime. He and Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis solve intriguing cases in and around the Oxford area.


In 2018, the Inspector Morse television series was named the greatest British crime drama of all time by Radio Times’ readers. In 2000, the series was ranked 42 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programs compiled by the British Film Institute.

There are two Morse audio series, the radio drama series and the series below which was originally released on cassette tapes and never broadcast on radio.

The cassette-only series is unique among audio dramas in that the sound was taken directly from the TV series, with added narration for clarity.





The Ghost In The Machine


Some valuable paintings are stolen from the magnificent stately home of Sir Julius Hanbury. When Hanbury himself mysteriously disappears, Morse and Lewis delve into the minds and morals of the aristocracy in their attempt to solve this baffling case.






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Deceived By Flight


Sergeant Lewis gets his moment of glory when he has the chance to demonstrate his cricketing skills while working undercover.
The Arnold College Old Boys cricket team has gathered in Oxford for its annual match, but before the first ball is bowled, one of the team meets an untimely death. Morse soon realizes, however, that the players have more than just cricket on their minds.

(There is a background rumble at the start but it goes away)






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The Secret of Bay 5B


Romance is in the air for the thinking detectives, but duty intrudes when there is a baffling murder in a multi-storey car park. The only clues are a diary and an everyday parking ticket.






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The Infernal Serpent


An eminent environmentalist is murdered minutes before giving a controversial lecture. Morse and Lewis are called in to investigate and unearth some unsavoury skeletons in the cupboard of an outwardly respectable academic family.






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The Sins Of The Fathers


Real Ale buff Inspector Morse is in his element when he investigates foul play at a family run brewery. Mystery surrounds an unwelcome take-over bid for the brewery and the suspicious death of its Managing Director.






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Driven To Distraction


Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis have a serious difference of opinion over correct police procedure when they investigate the murder of a ***** woman near a garage and driving instruction centre. Morse has car trouble himself and is not pleased to see his Sergeant working so closely with a female colleague.






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Masonic Murders


After discovering the body of his murdered friend, Morse himself becomes the prime suspect for the crime and even the loyal Sergeant Lewis begins to doubt his innocence. As Morse battles to clear his name and to identify the true killer, he begins to realize that his own life is in grave danger too.






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Fat Chance


When a woman deacon dies in suspicious circumstances, Morse is left to wonder if someone from the Church could be behind the death. Morse finds his investigations and his well ordered life disrupted when he becomes attracted to the female cleric.






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Who Killed Henry Field?


Harry Field was an artist, a raconteur, a drinker...and not averse for forging the odd painting or inventing an impressive coat of arms for a gullible American. When he is mysteriously killed, Morse takes over the investigation and is plunged into Harry's Bohemian friends.






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Death Is Now My Neighbour


Murder first strikes in an old Oxfordshire village when a ***** physiotherapist is shot through the window of her kitchen as the Friday morning milk is delivered.