Paul Temple: The Complete Radio Collection: Volume One: The Early Years (1938-1950)

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But Temple ruled the U.K. and much of the Commonwealth, and his exploits entertained millions of fans around the world. He made his first appearance in a BBC radio serial in 1938 and went on to appear in further radio serials, several novels, four feature films, a BBC television series in the sixties and even a long-running daily comic strip that lasted almost twenty years. But his main stomping ground was radio–the show was good for a whopping thirty-year run, initially airing on the BBC and then sent out internationally with the result that Paul Temple, even now, has fans all over the world. Because no recordings survive for many of the early serials, in 2006 BBC Radio 4 began recreating them, in as authentic a manner as possible: as mono productions, employing vintage microphones and sound effects, and using the original scripts. In all cases Crawford Logan starred as Paul Temple with Gerda Stevenson as Steve, in place of the original leads. The first of these broadcasts, in August 2006, was a new eight-part production of Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery, originally aired in 1947. A new production of The Madison Mystery, from 1949, aired between May and July 2008, followed by the 1947 serial Paul Temple and Steve in June and July 2010. A Case for Paul Temple, from 1946, was transmitted in August and September 2011. The final such production to date was Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair, aired in 2013 (the longest of all the serials, running to ten episodes). Many of these new productions featured Welsh actor Gareth Thomas as the head of Scotland Yard. Each of the new recordings was also released on CD. [9] [10]

Not much detecting going on here, no discernible chemistry between the two leads, and the plot (and its resolution) makes no sense. Whatever magic there was around this franchise isn’t apparent in this waste of time Peter John Coke ( / k ʊ k/ "cook"; 3 April 1913 – 30 July 2008) was an English actor, playwright and artist. [1] Early life [ edit ]During the Second World War, he served with the Royal Artillery in Italy and reached the rank of major. He was demobbed in 1944 and found that his time away from the cameras had affected his performance. He opened an antiques stall on Portobello Market, later progressing to a shop on New King's Road. He returned to theatre in the 1940s and, in 1950, he started writing plays as a sideline. His first play, The Isle of Umbrellas (co-written with Mabel L. Tyrell), was produced at the Embassy. [4] Coke portrayed the role of William in the film The Blakes Slept Here released in 1953. [6] In 1954, he became the seventh actor to take the role of Paul Temple in the long-running radio drama series written by Francis Durbridge. [4] The first serial he starred in was Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case. He had appeared in an earlier episode (1959) of Paul Temple called The Vandyke Affair as Paul Temple BBC Radio 4 Extra. [7] He played the role until 1968, when he appeared in Paul Temple and the Alex Affair. [4] Those programmes which survive have been repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra. [8] Send for Paul Temple (abridged remake of the radio serial of the same name) with Anthony Hulme (1910–2007) (born Harry Idris Miller) as Temple, Joy Shelton as Steve and Maire O'Neill as Mrs Neddy. Perhaps the biggest trope of all: the mystery writer who actually solves actual crimes. Durbridge didn’t create it, of course, and he certainly wasn’t the last one to do it.

Francis Durbridge licensed the television rights in his characters to the BBC, who between 1969 and 1971 produced a drama series entitled Paul Temple. It starred Francis Matthews as Paul Temple, and co-starred Ros Drinkwater as his wife Steve. [14] None of the television scripts were written by Durbridge.

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Between 1946 and 1952, Paul Temple appeared in four feature films, each an abridged version of one of the early (hence, now lost) BBC radio serials. These films were distributed by Butcher's Film Service based in the North of England. All were made in the years before Peter Coke was cast as the definitive Paul Temple in the radio series in 1954. Marjorie Westbury had been established in the radio series by this point, but was not cast in these films because she was not a film actress. The Paul Temple Library, reprints from the daily newspaper strips, published by Micron (March to July 1964): ten issues, priced at 1s 3d each

Now it's the turn of Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair from 1946, in which Paul and Steve come to the aid of a baffled Scotland Yard in pursuit of a deadly and mysterious criminal mastermind. Not only has the recording disappeared but also the scripts of Episodes 1, 2 and 6. This new production is made possible by the recent discovery by a colleague in Norwegian radio of a complete set of scripts in an old store cupboard in Oslo. Not a bad run at all, if you ask me. Even now, I get quite a bit of mail about this character, and it’s not all from Brits of a certain age. Through his work with antiques, he became interested in shell art, and started to produce his own pieces. He had his own personal gallery next to his home at Sharrington Hall in Sharrington, Norfolk, where he worked daily producing pieces. In April 2006, he opened the Peter Coke Shell Gallery in part of the recently restored fishing sheds on West Cliff at Sheringham in north Norfolk. [11] Directors: Douglas Camfield, Cyril Abrahams, Paul Ciappessoni, Eric Hills, David Chantler Ken Hannam, Christopher Barry, Michael Ferguson, John Matthews, Frank Cox, George Spenton-Foster, Michael Fergusona b Durbridge, Francis (5 October 2017). Beware of Johnny Washington: Based on 'Send for Paul Temple' (Detective Club Crime Classics). HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 9780008242046– via Google Books. The investigation into the activities of the mysterious Dr. Belasco lead him to a murder scene in a flat above a London dry-cleaning business; but then the clues begin to point far away from the great city, to a lonely country house on Romney Marsh. Coke graduated from RADA aged 24, and was named one of the Daily Mail 's 'Stars of the Future'. He was also reportedly offered a seven-year contract in Hollywood, though declined as he "will be a better actor in a few years, and Hollywood will still want him. If he goes now, he will be forgotten." [4] He starred in Dodie Smith's 1937 play Bonnet Over the Windmill. Coke made his film debut in the comedy Missing, Believed Married (1937) and later starred in The Return of Carol Deane and Keep Smiling (both 1938). [5]

Between 1958 and 1988, he wrote eleven plays, including his best-known, Breath of Spring, which was successful both in the West End and on Broadway. [9] Coke continued to take film roles and television parts until the late 1950s, including a minor role as Lt. Lashwood in Carry on Admiral (US: The Ship Was Loaded, 1957). [10]

From 1938 to 1968, Francis Durbridge's incomparably suave amateur detective Paul Temple and his glamorous wife Steve solved case after baffling case in one of BBC radio's most popular series. Sadly, only half of Temple's adventures survive in the archives. The hunt for the elusive Dr. Belasco leads Paul and Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard to a surprising discovery in a remote cottage. But it doesn't seem to take them any nearer finding Dr. Belasco - perhaps the two men should listen more attentively to Paul's wife Steve. The first of the re-recorded versions of this century, utilizing — when possible– the original theme music and sound effects.