Children's Hour: Beware the Hunter
by Howard Jones
BBC Home Service: Children's Hour, 1960
Dr. John Haddon begins a new adventure when he becomes drawn into stopping a British scientist from being kidnapped by a ruthless international criminal organisation led by a man called 'The Hunter'.
While looking into this criminal organisation, undercover agent Victor Valgrove has found out a lot. Three scientists had been kidnapped: Rolo Thompson (radar specialist), Brackenstead (brains behind infrared missile guidance), and Bjørnson (ballistics expert), all men with unique scientific knowledge and experience. All these men had vanished and were held to ransom for a million pounds a head. Only governments could afford to pay. They didn't for poor Rolo Thompson, who was found dead in the pass at Glencoe; suicide, they said, but it was murder. No one knows what happened to Brackenstead as he never turned up, alive or dead. Only Bjørnson was the lucky one as his government paid. But when Valgrove interviewed Bjørnson, he found him scared and not willing to talk about what happened.
Valgrove knows for certain there's another big scientist on the Hunter's list, that's why he's dangerous to the Hunter and his mob. At present, Valgrove's been trying to shake one of their agents off his tail while he's been on the Continent. They're a mad, ruthless group who will stop at nothing to silence him.
While boarding a flight from Salzburg to London and not sure if he's still being followed, Valgrove accosts a fellow traveller in hope that he can deliver the information he has, in case something happened to him. The man he accosted was Dr. John Haddon, who is just returning home after a vacation....
The radio version is an eight-part 1960 thriller serial starring Duncan Carse as Dr. John Haddon. Howard Jones wrote at least two other thriller serials featuring his Dr. John Haddon character called 'The Web of Caesar' and 'The Call of the Lapwing'.
Music composed and arranged by Alan Paul, played by Alan Paul (piano) and Harold Smart (organ). Produced by Claire Chovil.
Note: In 1961, Howard Jones turned his radio serial, "Beware the Hunter!", into a novel.
NOTES
1) 'The Talkative Traveller' (Saturday 16th January 1960 @ 5:25 p.m.)
After spending a holiday in Frankfurt, Dr. John Haddon is at the airport about to catch a flight back to London as he will be beginning a hospital appointment in Manchester the following month. As he's about to board the plane, he is accosted by a talkative fellow traveller, Victor Hiram Valgrove, who asks to sit next to John on their flight to London. While on board the plane, Valgrove recognises a man who has been following him. Now frightened, he tells Haddon that a life depends on what he's about to tell him, a life more valuable than his own....
With Duncan Carse [Dr. John Haddon], Ronald Baddiley [Security Officer at Airport], Frank Duncan [Victor Hiram Valgrove], Mary Steele [Mary Lodge, the Air Hostess], Peter Claughton [Herbert Crabtree], Francis De Wolff [Chief Detective-Inspector Buller of Special Branch], Roger Grainger [Detective-Sergeant Monk of Special Branch], and Alec Ross [Angus Cochrane, John's Old Friend, a Former Rugby Player]. Other parts played by members of the cast
2) 'The Shop by the River' (Saturday 23rd January 1960 @ 5:25 p.m.)
It was hard to believe, John knew, but facts are facts and two undeniable facts are these: first, that Valgrove vanished without a trace on the flight from Salzburg, and second, the police suspect John of killing him by throwing him out of the plane. Valgrove was a funny little man; very frightened, perhaps a little crazy, but that tale of his took a lot of swallowing about the "Hunter" and his gang who kidnap scientists and hold them up for ransom. Valgrove believed it implicitly and said he had proof. Then he asked John to deliver a message to a man in Watton and he hummed John a pretty little tune, the secret pass tune he called it. The message: If the pigeon comes home, rose is in danger.
John took it more seriously when his old friend, Angus Cochrane, discovered that the pigeon is a new missile and the man behind it is Professor Herman Rose. Angus discovered something else. Bundled into Haddon's suitcase was an automatic pistol, loaded, and a book of Shakespeare sonnets. Both belong to the missing Valgrove. From Angus's London flat, John decided to telephoned the man in Watton, but it wasn't a man who answered, it was a girl, a girl desperately calling for help....
With Duncan Carse [Dr. John Haddon], Alec Ross [Angus Cochrane, John's Old Friend], Frank Duncan [Victor Hiram Valgrove], Mary Steele [Mary Lodge, the Air Hostess], and Anthony Woodruff [William Rumbold].
3) 'Enter Mr. Quern' (Saturday 30th January 1960 @ 5:25 p.m.)
John is having difficulty seeing how the "Hunter", Valgrove, Rumbold, Mary Lodge, and himself tie up in this story... or perhaps they don't. What he knows is, first, Valgrove vanished on the homeward flight from Salzburg and the police suspect John of killing him. Then, at Valgrove's behest, John went along to a Limehouse junkshop to meet a man called Rumbold and there he found Mary Lodge, the Air Hostess from the Salzburg plane, being held prisoner. John got away and was almost shot for his pains by the man called Rumbold.
Later, Valgrove turned up at Angus's flat, as jumpy as a jack-in-the-box, still sticking to his story of Hunter and the gang. Valgrove swore he was being followed which was true and when three men came to Angus's front door, they dived out the back and drove off to Hammersmith in Angus's car. They were unable to shake them off as they turned and twisted through side streets. But as they neared Hammersmith, a lorry overtook them, travelling very fast, and hit them, all but flattened them against a wall...
With Duncan Carse [Dr. John Haddon], Alec Ross [Angus Cochrane, John's Old Friend], Roger Grainger [Detective-Sergeant Monk of Special Branch], Francis De Wolff [Chief Detective-Inspector Buller of Special Branch], Richard Goolden [Jeremy Quern, a Crime Writer], Mary Wimbush [Pearl Carew, a Cabaret Singer at the Slipper Club], and Frank Duncan [A Waiter at the Slipper Club].
4) 'Double, Double Cross' (Saturday 6th February 1960 @ 5:25 p.m.)
Jeremy Quern and Pearl Carew... How did they get into this story? Haddon wished he knew. He believes everything is centered on Victor Valgrove. The more he thinks about it, this story of the "Hunter" and his gang who kidnap scientists and hold them to ransom, fantastic enough in all counts, the more he feels that it's true.
A cabaret singer he's never heard of, Pearl Carew, asked him to meet her at the Silver Slipper Club. Valgrove, she said, had been seized by his enemies and they promised he's be released if Haddon gave her the book of Shakespeare's sonnets Valgrove had entrusted to him. So John phoned Angus and asked him to search the second-hand bookshops for another copy. That night, John and Angus went along to the Silver Slipper where they scarcely settled themselves at a table when a grey-haired little man with spectacles came up....
With Duncan Carse [Dr. John Haddon], Alec Ross [Angus Cochrane, John's Old Friend], Frank Duncan [Victor Hiram Valgrove], Mary Steele [Mary Lodge], Francis De Wolff [Chief Detective-Inspector Buller of Special Branch], Richard Goolden [Jeremy Quern, a Crime Writer], Mary Wimbush [Pearl Carew, a Cabaret Singer at the Slipper Club], Ronald Baddiley [Dr. O'Hara, Security Registrar at Hospital in Hamshot], and Anthony Woodruff [Dr. Forbes at Sunningbridge Cottage Hospital].
5) 'Breakaway' (Saturday 13th February 1960 @ 5:25 p.m.)
Inspector Buller had told Haddon that Valgrove had been found alive. It seems Valgrove was knocked about a bit, probably having been hit by a car, and found lying senseless by a passing van driver who took him to Sunningbridge Hospital. Valgrove was comfortable but very much wanted to see Haddon, but he couldn't, or wouldn't, make a statement. So Angus and John headed down to Sunningbridge, a Cottage Hospital.
Valgrove updated Haddon on what happened to him and asked for his help to escape after his transfer to hospital in Hamshot to get his ribs x-rayed. But somewhere on the road to Hamshot, Valgrove had been kidnapped from the ambulance. In his place, the kidnappers sent on to hospital a badly-injured William Rumbold (a secret agent like Valgrove) who, a few days earlier, had vanished from his East-end junkshop.
When they returned to Angus's flat, they found Mary Lodge there. She picked the front door lock like a practiced housebreaker. In some way or other, she was also involved in Valgrove's affairs, whether by chance or on purpose, Haddon didn't know. It was then that he decided that he must go to Yorkshire to warn the scientist, Herman Rose, the danger he was in. But just as the night train was pulling out, a middle-aged woman scrambled into Haddon's compartment. She was a restless type, said she couldn't sleep. Then she asked if he minded if she smoked a cigarette...
With Duncan Carse [Dr. John Haddon], Francis De Wolff [Chief Detective-Inspector Buller of Special Branch], Peter Claughton [Herbert Crabtree], Roger Grainger [Detective-Sergeant Monk of Special Branch], Mary Wimbush [Pearl Carew, a Cabaret Singer at the Slipper Club], Vivienne Chatterton [Polly, Cafe Proprietor], Bill Horsley [Professor Herman Rose], and Stephen Jack [Sylvestri, a Pianist].
6) 'At the "Blind Fiddler"' (Saturday 20th February 1960 @ 5:25 p.m.)
John's journey north to see professor Rose proved to be a waste of time. It had been the only practical thing left for him to do. He remembered how on the Night Express he had met Crabtree and his henchmen and escaped by pulling the communication cord and jumping off the train. Then he borrowed a motor bike from one of the locals at Stannington and made his way to Broadgate and warned Herman Rose of the danger he was in, but he just wouldn't believe it.
There was nothing more John could do - nothing. So he went back to London and then, outside the flat, he ran into Sergeant Monk who told him that he and Inspector Buller were investigating the disappearance of a certain Mr. Jenkins from next door. John went into the flat and wondered where Angus got to when the telephone rang and a stranger spoke....
With Duncan Carse [Dr. John Haddon], Alec Ross [Angus Cochrane, John's Old Friend], Francis De Wolff [Chief Detective-Inspector Buller of Special Branch], Mary Steele [Mary Lodge], Roger Grainger [Detective-Sergeant Monk of Special Branch], Richard Goolden [Jeremy Quern, a Crime Writer], Stephen Jack [Sylvestri, a Pianist], and Gretel Davies [Gladys Bodger of the 'Blind Fiddler'].
7) 'Into the Heather' (Saturday 27th February 1960 @ 5:25 p.m.)
Goose Island, off the Norfolk coast, was encrusted rocks with a tiny level beach and an ancient Norman watchtower. There was no more to Goose Island than that. Sylvestri, the pianist, directed John there. It is where he found Angus, little the worse for his kidnapping except that he was hungry. Getting back to the beach, Angus and John found the local boatman, whose boat he commandeered, had pulled over in another and taken their boat in tow. He must have been a stooge of the 'Hunter'. And then, hovering over the mainland they saw a helicopter, obviously looking for them. Their only way off the island was to swim, so they took off their shoes, slung them around their necks, and took to the water. It was a long swim....
With Duncan Carse [Dr. John Haddon], Alec Ross [Angus Cochrane, John's Old Friend], Francis De Wolff [Chief Detective-Inspector Buller of Special Branch], Peter Claughton [Herbert Crabtree], Roger Grainger [Detective-Sergeant Monk of Special Branch], Bill Horsley [Professor Herman Rose], Humphrey Merton [The Magistrate], and Joan Clement Scott [Mrs. Dinwitty at the Cottage].
Other parts played by members of the cast.
8) 'The Trap is Sprung' (Saturday 5th March 1960 @ 5:25 p.m.)
On the moors, John had almost lost hope when Angus twisted his ankle. After all, their pursuers were only a half-mile away and had a rifle and a tracker dog. With the precious book in his pocket, they just couldn't give up. So they came to Mrs. Dinwitty's cottage who offered them some tea and went to put the kettle on. Then they overheard her telephoning the police. There was nothing for it but to take to the moors again....
With Duncan Carse [Dr. John Haddon], Alec Ross [Angus Cochrane, John's Old Friend], Frank Duncan [Victor Hiram Valgrove], Mary Steele [Mary Lodge], Francis De Wolff [Chief Detective-Inspector Buller of Special Branch], Peter Claughton [Herbert Crabtree], Roger Grainger [Detective-Sergeant Monk of Special Branch], Richard Goolden [Jeremy Quern, a Crime Writer], and Jeffrey Segal [Superintendent Treves].
...all notes above by Jim; many thanks.
