BBC Radio Collection - Edgar Wallace torrent

Category: Adults, Full Cast, Historical Fiction, Radio Productions
Language: EnglishKeywords: BBC Drama Radio
Written by Edgar Wallace
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Dramatization
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was a British writer of sensational detective, gangster, adventure, and sci-fi novels, plays and stories.
Born into poverty, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during the Second Boer War for Reuters and the Daily Mail. Struggling with debt, he left South Africa, returned to London and began writing thrillers to raise income, publishing books including The Four Just Men (1905). Drawing on his time as a reporter in the Congo, covering the Belgian atrocities, Wallace serialised short stories in magazines such as The Windsor Magazine and later published collections such as Sanders of the River (1911). He signed with Hodder and Stoughton in 1921 and became an internationally recognised author.
Wallace was such a prolific writer that one of his publishers claimed in 1929 that a quarter of all books in England were wɾitten by him. In 1931, Wallace moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a script writer for RKO. He died suddenly from undiagnosed diabetes, preparing the initial draft of King Kong (1933). Over his lifetime, Wallace wrote screenplays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of Wallace’s work.
This is a collection of BBC Radio productions of Wallace’s stories including full-cast dramas and readings.
The Calendar
The Racing Calendar is a popular newsletter for the horse racing/betting crowd, eagerly perused by our characters, and the social media of its day. The setting of this mystery/thriller is the horse-racing world. In an impulsive moment, a man agrees to throw a big race-and then is faced with all the consequences.
“There are only two calendars, old boy - the ‘Newgate Calendar’ and the ‘Racing Calendar’ - the losers of the past and the losers of the future. The ‘Calendar’ or the ‘Racing Calendar’ is a sober sheet, which few but racing men ever see.”
Lady Wenda Panniford ….. Sylvia Syms
Captain Garry Anson ….. Philip Bond
Hubert Hillcott ….. John Hollis
Peter Hipplewayne ….. John Rye
Sir William Panniford ….. Peter Jeffrey
Molly Panniford ….. Joanna Wake
Henry Lascarne ….. Nigel Lambert
Mr Wray ….. David Ryall
John Dory ….. Stephen Thorne
Andy Lynn ….. Peter Pacey
Ascot Steward ….. Roger Gartland
Lord Forlingham ….. Alan Lawrance
Lord Innsbrook ….. Peter Williams
Sir John Garth ….. Alan Rowe
Mr Rainby ….. Trader Faulkner
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Dramatised by Barry Campbell
Directed by Jane Graham
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1975
The Case of the Frightened Lady
The ancestral home of Lord Lebanon is the scene of two murders. Inspector Tanner goes down to investigate and is confronted by a very frightened young lady.
Chief Inspector Tanner ….. Simon Lack
Sergeant Totty ….. Lewis Stringer
Sergeant Ferraby ….. Michael Spice
Briggs ….. Will Leighton
Lord Lebanon ….. William Eedle
Gilder ….. Anthony Hall
Brooks ….. Warren Stanhope
Lady Lebanon ….. Valerie White
Kelver ….. James Thomason
Aisla Crane ….. Beryl Calder
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Adapted by Cynthia Pughe
Directed by Martyn C. Webster
First broadcast on BBC Home Service in January 1963
On the Spot
Edgar Wallace’s most famous play is set against a completely authentic background of gangland life in Chicago during Prohibition of 1920s and 30s USA: Tony Perelli is the Big Shot with his gunmen and his dames – running a drinks racket. Playing the organ in his fancy home, he loads “his women with jewels and the coffins of his enemies with orchids” - an appalling figure of polished criminality. But Detective-Commissioner John Kelly, Chief of Police is after Perelli - and if he catches him, he wants to watch him hang for murder…
Tony Perelli …. Peter Woodthorpe
DC John Kelly, Chief of Police …. Trevor Martin
Shaun O’Donnell …. Leslie Heritage
Minn Lee …. Denise Bryer
Angelo Verona …. Robert Rietty
Con O’Hara …. Michael Kilgarriff
Mike Feeney …. Malcolm Hayes
Maria Pouliski …. Sandra Clark
Jimmy McGarth …. John Forrest
Doctor …. Haydn Jones
Priest …. David Neal
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Dramatised by Raymond Raikes
Directed by Jean Bower
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1976
The Four Just Men
For the public good, four mysterious men threaten the life of a UK Secretary of State unless proposed legislation is withdrawn.
Carter ….. Mark Straker
Manford ….. David March
Poicart ….. David King
Gonzales ….. Donald Gee
Derry ….. John Bull
Sir Philip Ramon ….. Geoffrey Whitehead
The Editor ….. Christopher Scott
Welby ….. Ken Cumberlidge
Detective Superintendent Falmouth ….. Ken Stamper
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Adapted by Colin Davis
Directed by David Hitchinson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1990
Educated Evans
Camden Town in London, 1920s. Can Evans, a self-styled but skint “sporting authority” tipster plot revenge on a local informant, help a friend in trouble and end up a winner too? Evans gets an unlikely helping hand from a self-righteous police inspector.
Narrated by Freddie Jones.
Evans ….. Roy Hudd
Inspector Pine ….. Andrew Sachs
The Miller ….. Michael Roberts
Mrs Rankin ….. Pat Coombs
Based upon Edgar Wallace’s 1924 novel
Dramatised by Richard Quick
Directed by Dirk Maggs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1996
The Ringer
The Ringer, a dangerous criminal believed to have died in Australia, turns up again in England, to the consternation of Scotland Yard. Maurice Meister, a crooked lawyer, has more reason than most to fear the master crook’s return, but who can be sure of the elusive Ringer’s real identity? This play was the turning point in Edgar Wallace ’s meteoric career from newspaper boy to dramatist and writer of best-selling fiction. Adapted from his novel of 1925. The Gaunt Stranger, the play scored an immediate success at Wyndham’s Theatre, London, in May 1926.
‘Gaunt Stranger’ ….. David Davis
Divisional Detective Inspector Wembury ….. Alexander John
Central Detective Inspector Bliss ….. Geoffrey Collins
Col Walford ….. Peter Williams
Samuel Hackitt ….. Bill Fraser
Maurice Meister ….. Alan Wheatley
Mary Lentey ….. Kate Binchy
Doctor Lomond ….. Fraser Kerr
Cora Ann Milton ….. Sandra Clark
John Lentey ….. John Forrest
Telephone Operator ….. June Hallam
Station Sergeant Carter ….. Vernon Joyner
Detective Sergeant Brown ….. Robin Browne
Detective Constable Field ….. John Samson
PC Atkins ….. Nigel Graham
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Directed by Raymond Raikes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1973
The Man with the Red Beard
‘As you are a man of considerable property and may wish to have time to make arrangements as to its disposal, I will give you a little grace. At the end of a reasonable period, I shall come to London and kill you.’ Notorious vigilante, The Ringer, sets out to exact his revenge.
Edwin Richfield reads Edgar Wallace’s short story
Directed by Nigel Bryant
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1989
PC Lee stories
In 1909 Edgar Wallace wrote a series of 24 short stories featuring a street-wise London police-constable, PC Lee. Wallace himself features in some, with PC Lee recounting his adventures as a bobby on the beat in and around the district of Notting Dale. Toby Jones brings this wonderful, little-known character to life for BBC Radio in 8 charming and witty tales, which were first broadcast in August 2016 on BBC Radio 4.
How He Lost His Moustache
When a notorious local criminal’s wife asks for help, PC Lee decides to take matters into his own hands.
Sergeant Run-A-Mile
‘The best friends policemen have are policemen. The worst enemies are policemen too’. A tale of comeuppance.
The Snatchers
When Mr Simmy’s electric thief-catcher fails to stop him losing his stock, PC Lee has an ingenious solution.
A Case for Angel Esquire
A cashier is attacked in an alleyway and £500 disappears without a trace, so Mr Angel is summoned from the Yard.
Mouldy the Scrivener
The story of a dubious character named Mouldy, as PC Lee charts his adventures as a literary criminal.
The General Practitioner
Swearing he has left the tale-pitching business, Toppy White aims to show PC Lee what ‘real genius can do’.
Pear Drops
PC Lee recalls a case from back in his Lambeth days involving anarchists, bombs and confectionery.
The Silence of PC Hirley
PC Lee investigates the mystery of the Ladbroke Gardens murder and discovers a distinct sting in the tale.
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was a British writer of sensational detective, gangster, adventure, and sci-fi novels, plays and stories.

Born into poverty, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during the Second Boer War for Reuters and the Daily Mail. Struggling with debt, he left South Africa, returned to London and began writing thrillers to raise income, publishing books including The Four Just Men (1905). Drawing on his time as a reporter in the Congo, covering the Belgian atrocities, Wallace serialised short stories in magazines such as The Windsor Magazine and later published collections such as Sanders of the River (1911). He signed with Hodder and Stoughton in 1921 and became an internationally recognised author.

Wallace was such a prolific writer that one of his publishers claimed in 1929 that a quarter of all books in England were wɾitten by him. In 1931, Wallace moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a script writer for RKO. He died suddenly from undiagnosed diabetes, preparing the initial draft of King Kong (1933). Over his lifetime, Wallace wrote screenplays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of Wallace’s work.

This is a collection of BBC Radio productions of Wallace’s stories including full-cast dramas and readings.

The Calendar
The Racing Calendar is a popular newsletter for the horse racing/betting crowd, eagerly perused by our characters, and the social media of its day. The setting of this mystery/thriller is the horse-racing world. In an impulsive moment, a man agrees to throw a big race-and then is faced with all the consequences.
“There are only two calendars, old boy - the ‘Newgate Calendar’ and the ‘Racing Calendar’ - the losers of the past and the losers of the future. The ‘Calendar’ or the ‘Racing Calendar’ is a sober sheet, which few but racing men ever see.”
Lady Wenda Panniford ….. Sylvia Syms
Captain Garry Anson ….. Philip Bond
Hubert Hillcott ….. John Hollis
Peter Hipplewayne ….. John Rye
Sir William Panniford ….. Peter Jeffrey
Molly Panniford ….. Joanna Wake
Henry Lascarne ….. Nigel Lambert
Mr Wray ….. David Ryall
John Dory ….. Stephen Thorne
Andy Lynn ….. Peter Pacey
Ascot Steward ….. Roger Gartland
Lord Forlingham ….. Alan Lawrance
Lord Innsbrook ….. Peter Williams
Sir John Garth ….. Alan Rowe
Mr Rainby ….. Trader Faulkner
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Dramatised by Barry Campbell
Directed by Jane Graham
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1975

The Case of the Frightened Lady
The ancestral home of Lord Lebanon is the scene of two murders. Inspector Tanner goes down to investigate and is confronted by a very frightened young lady.
Chief Inspector Tanner ….. Simon Lack
Sergeant Totty ….. Lewis Stringer
Sergeant Ferraby ….. Michael Spice
Briggs ….. Will Leighton
Lord Lebanon ….. William Eedle
Gilder ….. Anthony Hall
Brooks ….. Warren Stanhope
Lady Lebanon ….. Valerie White
Kelver ….. James Thomason
Aisla Crane ….. Beryl Calder
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Adapted by Cynthia Pughe
Directed by Martyn C. Webster
First broadcast on BBC Home Service in January 1963

On the Spot
Edgar Wallace’s most famous play is set against a completely authentic background of gangland life in Chicago during Prohibition of 1920s and 30s USA: Tony Perelli is the Big Shot with his gunmen and his dames – running a drinks racket. Playing the organ in his fancy home, he loads “his women with jewels and the coffins of his enemies with orchids” - an appalling figure of polished criminality. But Detective-Commissioner John Kelly, Chief of Police is after Perelli - and if he catches him, he wants to watch him hang for murder…
Tony Perelli …. Peter Woodthorpe
DC John Kelly, Chief of Police …. Trevor Martin
Shaun O’Donnell …. Leslie Heritage
Minn Lee …. Denise Bryer
Angelo Verona …. Robert Rietty
Con O’Hara …. Michael Kilgarriff
Mike Feeney …. Malcolm Hayes
Maria Pouliski …. Sandra Clark
Jimmy McGarth …. John Forrest
Doctor …. Haydn Jones
Priest …. David Neal
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Dramatised by Raymond Raikes
Directed by Jean Bower
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1976

The Four Just Men
For the public good, four mysterious men threaten the life of a UK Secretary of State unless proposed legislation is withdrawn.
Carter ….. Mark Straker
Manford ….. David March
Poicart ….. David King
Gonzales ….. Donald Gee
Derry ….. John Bull
Sir Philip Ramon ….. Geoffrey Whitehead
The Editor ….. Christopher Scott
Welby ….. Ken Cumberlidge
Detective Superintendent Falmouth ….. Ken Stamper
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Adapted by Colin Davis
Directed by David Hitchinson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1990

Educated Evans
Camden Town in London, 1920s. Can Evans, a self-styled but skint “sporting authority” tipster plot revenge on a local informant, help a friend in trouble and end up a winner too? Evans gets an unlikely helping hand from a self-righteous police inspector.
Narrated by Freddie Jones.
Evans ….. Roy Hudd
Inspector Pine ….. Andrew Sachs
The Miller ….. Michael Roberts
Mrs Rankin ….. Pat Coombs
Based upon Edgar Wallace’s 1924 novel
Dramatised by Richard Quick
Directed by Dirk Maggs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1996

The Ringer
The Ringer, a dangerous criminal believed to have died in Australia, turns up again in England, to the consternation of Scotland Yard. Maurice Meister, a crooked lawyer, has more reason than most to fear the master crook’s return, but who can be sure of the elusive Ringer’s real identity? This play was the turning point in Edgar Wallace ’s meteoric career from newspaper boy to dramatist and writer of best-selling fiction. Adapted from his novel of 1925. The Gaunt Stranger, the play scored an immediate success at Wyndham’s Theatre, London, in May 1926.
‘Gaunt Stranger’ ….. David Davis
Divisional Detective Inspector Wembury ….. Alexander John
Central Detective Inspector Bliss ….. Geoffrey Collins
Col Walford ….. Peter Williams
Samuel Hackitt ….. Bill Fraser
Maurice Meister ….. Alan Wheatley
Mary Lentey ….. Kate Binchy
Doctor Lomond ….. Fraser Kerr
Cora Ann Milton ….. Sandra Clark
John Lentey ….. John Forrest
Telephone Operator ….. June Hallam
Station Sergeant Carter ….. Vernon Joyner
Detective Sergeant Brown ….. Robin Browne
Detective Constable Field ….. John Samson
PC Atkins ….. Nigel Graham
Wɾitten by Edgar Wallace
Directed by Raymond Raikes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1973

The Man with the Red Beard
‘As you are a man of considerable property and may wish to have time to make arrangements as to its disposal, I will give you a little grace. At the end of a reasonable period, I shall come to London and kill you.’ Notorious vigilante, The Ringer, sets out to exact his revenge.
Edwin Richfield reads Edgar Wallace’s short story
Directed by Nigel Bryant
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1989

PC Lee stories
In 1909 Edgar Wallace wrote a series of 24 short stories featuring a street-wise London police-constable, PC Lee. Wallace himself features in some, with PC Lee recounting his adventures as a bobby on the beat in and around the district of Notting Dale. Toby Jones brings this wonderful, little-known character to life for BBC Radio in 8 charming and witty tales, which were first broadcast in August 2016 on BBC Radio 4.

How He Lost His Moustache
When a notorious local criminal’s wife asks for help, PC Lee decides to take matters into his own hands.

Sergeant Run-A-Mile
‘The best friends policemen have are policemen. The worst enemies are policemen too’. A tale of comeuppance.

The Snatchers
When Mr Simmy’s electric thief-catcher fails to stop him losing his stock, PC Lee has an ingenious solution.

A Case for Angel Esquire
A cashier is attacked in an alleyway and £500 disappears without a trace, so Mr Angel is summoned from the Yard.

Mouldy the Scrivener
The story of a dubious character named Mouldy, as PC Lee charts his adventures as a literary criminal.

The General Practitioner
Swearing he has left the tale-pitching business, Toppy White aims to show PC Lee what ‘real genius can do’.

Pear Drops
PC Lee recalls a case from back in his Lambeth days involving anarchists, bombs and confectionery.

The Silence of PC Hirley
PC Lee investigates the mystery of the Ladbroke Gardens murder and discovers a distinct sting in the tale.