Light Programme, Drama, 1957

Drama on the BBC Light Programme in 1958
(The Light Programme ran from 1945 to 1967)

In 1957 drama on the BBC Light program was changed to short light pieces and longer serials. There was often little to separate light drama and situation comedy.
The list below is somewhat loosely chosen to try to avoid series more in the sit-com line.

----------

5th January 1958
18.30-19.00
The Night-Watchman: Husbandry by W W Jacobs (1863-1943), adapted by Lionel Brown
Producer: David H Godfrey
   Bill: John Bryning
   The Woman: Ella Milne
   Tomkins: Philip Cunningham
   Captain Walsh: Richard George
   Joe: William Eedle
   Police Constable: Eric Anderson
   Mrs Bill: Marjorie Mars
   Mike Mulvey: T St John Barry
   The Other Bill: Hugh Manning
Repeated on Home, 17th December 1958.
   
   
8th January 1958
20.00-20.30
The Hungry Spider by Selwyn Jepson
1 of 6.
Producer: Patrick Dromgoole
   Eve Gill: Ann Walford
   Joe Hicks: Robert Sansom
   Boy: Kenneth Collins
   Alf: David March
   Mulligan: Patrick Magee
   George: Anthony Viccars
   Commodore Gill: Rupert Davies
   Laura Forsyth: June Tobin
   Edward Forsyth: Michael Bryant
   Gladys: Joan Sanderson
   Mrs Forsyth: Gladys Boot
Additional actors in part 2-6:
   Aunt Florence: Vivienne Chatterton
   Colonel Forsyth: Arthur Young
   Dr Thome: Ballard Berkeley
   Harris: Frank Partington
   Housekeeper: Hilda Barry
   Inspector Christopher Smith: Hugh Manning
   Joe: John Graham
   Mary: Sheila Manahan
   Mr Cromwell: Frank Windsor
   Policeman: John Graham
   Policeman: Lockwood West
   Policewoman: Ella Milne
   Sergeant Fenny: Will Leighton
   Shop Assistant: Beryl Calder
   Uncle George/Porter: Eric Anderson
   Vicar: Godfrey Kenton
Parts 2-6 followed weekly.


12th January 1958
18.30-19.00
The Night-Watchman: His Other Self by W W Jacobs (1863-1943), adapted by Lionel Brown
Producer: David H Godfrey
   Bill: John Bryning
   The Actor: Jeffrey Segal
   Tomkins: Philip Cunningham
   Mrs Tomkins: Kathleen Helme
   Gertie: June Tobin
   Cook: Patrick Connor
   Deckhand: Frank Partington
Repeated on Home, 24th December 1958.


19th January 1958
18.30-19.00
The Night-Watchman: The Bravo by W W Jacobs (1863-1943), adapted by Lionel Brown
Producer: David H Godfrey
   Bill: John Bryning
   Maud: June Tobin
   Charlie: Geoffrey Matthews
   Alf Stevens: Frederick Treves
   Sid Groom: Leon Peers
Repeated on Home on 31st December 1958


26th January 1958
18.30-19.00
The Night-Watchman: Love-Letters by W W Jacobs (1863-1943), adapted by Lionel Brown
Producer: David H Godfrey
   Bill: John Bryning
   Bargemaster: Trevor Martin
   His wife: Betty Baskcomb
   Slinker: Malcolm Hayes
   First man: John Graham
   Second man: David March
   Mrs Bill: Marjorie Mars
   Mrs Mott: Mairhi Russell
   Mrs Watts: Kathleen Helme
   Mrs O'Brien: Sheila Manahan
Repeated on Home on 7th January 1959


19th February 1958
20.00-20.30
You Have Been Warned adapted by J. Maclaren-Ross from "The Reader is Warned" (1939) by Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr, 1906-1977)
1 of 6: The Mind Reader
Produced by R. D. Smith
   Herman Pennik: Patrick Magee
   Sam Constable: Anthony Shaw
   Dr John Sanders: John Dearth
   Larry Chase: John Ruddock
   Hilary Keen: Nicolette Bernard
   Mina Constable: Gladys Young
Additional cast in parts 2-6:
Richard Humphrey, Ben Williams, Betty Baskcomb, Betty Linton, Douglas Storm, Duncan McIntyre, Edward Jewesbury, Emma Young, Frank Windsor, Harold Reese, James Thomason, Jeffrey Segal, John Bryning, John Cazabon, John Dearth, Marion Mathie, Merton Court, Peter Claughton, Ralph Truman, Beatrice Kane and James Ottaway
Pt2:26/2/58 Pt3:5/3/58 Pt4:12/3/58 Pt5:19/3/58 Pt6:26/3/58
[There were several novels featuring Henry Merrivale, the only other radio play was "He Wouldn't Kill Patience" broadcast 6th April 1959 on Home.]


6th April 1958
16.30-17.00
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) adapted by Felix Felton.
Part 1 of 6: The Baskerville Curse.
No cast list for part one.
Cast details for part 2:
Producer: Patrick Dromgoole
   Dr Watson: Norman Shelley
   Sherlock Holmes: Carleton Hobbs
   Dr Mortimer: Paul Eddington
   Sir Henry Baskerville: Ronald Wilson
   Wilson: Paul Lorraine
   Cartwright: David Baron
   Hotel Clerk: Nicholas Selby
   Clayton: Frank Shelley
Additional cast in parts 3-6:
Constance Chapman, Ronald Wilson, Denis Raymond, Edgar Harrison, Hedley Goodall, June Barrie, June Barris, Lewis Gedge,Norman Kendall, Pamela Alan, Rolf Lefebvre
Pt2:13/4/58 Pt3:20/4/58 Pt4:27/4/58 Pt5:4/5/58 Pt6:11/5/58
Each part repeated two days later.
Series repeated on Home commencing 24th July 1958.
[A different production for Home in 1961, rpts 1965 and 1971, 1 x 90 minutes, by Robin Midgley also with Carleton Hobbs as Holmes, but with Kenneth Dight as Dr Mortimer.]
[Bert Coules also produced two versions for radio, both in 2 x 60 minutes, with Roger Rees as Holmes (1988 rptd 1989)(Rptd R7 & R4X) and with Clive Merrison as Holmes in 1998 rptd 1999 (also rptd R7 and R4X)]
[One third of the story's initial royalty was paid to B F Robinson who assisted with the legend of the hound]
   

7th April 1958
21.00-21.30
"It's a Crime!" - the first of two series by Eddie Maguire, comedy/pastiche thrillers. Main actors were Brian Reece, Denise Bryer, Gordon Davies. 1958 Producer was Vernon Harris.
Story 12 of 1958 was 23rd June 1958.
Series two (Producer Bill Gates) was from 18th June 1959 to story 10 on 20/9/59.
Little record of this almost forgotten series remains. Brian Reece, who died in 1962, found fame as "PC49" 1947-1953.


29th April 1958
20.30-21.00
Lady in A Fog by Lester Powell (1912-1993)
1 of 8.
A"Philip Odell" story.
Producer Martyn C Webster.
Weekly, part 8 was broadcast 17th June 1958
Cast for the series:
Ann Rye, Anthony Viccara, Beryl Calder, Betty Baskcomb, David March, Edward Jewesbury, Frank Partington, Harold Reese, Haydn Jones, Hilda Schroder, Hugh Manning, James Thomason, Jeffrey Segal, Joan Matheson, John Bennett, John Graham, June Tobin, Mary Wimbush, Robert Beatty, Ronald Baddiley, Sheila Manahan, Trevor Martin, Will Leighton
[Originally produced in 1947- also by Martyn C Webster- this was a new production of the first "Phillip Odell" play. Odell was played by Robert Beatty throughout until the last story in 1961.]
[Also broadcast on R4X 2022]
[The next Odell serial commenced 22nd December 1958]


12th May 1958
19.30-20.00
Both Sides of the Law by Henry Cecil.
Producer: Norman Wright
   The Judge: Ivan Samson
The first episode of the first -almost forgotten- series broadcast weekly for six weeks. This episode repeated 29/7/58 and on Home 5/9/61. A second series commenced 15/7/60. Two series each of 6 episodes. Papers related to this series are in the Henry Cecil archive: located in Box 47, McMaster University Library, Ontario, Canada.


18th May 1958
16.30-17.00
Children of the Archbishop (1951) by Norman Collins (1907-1982) dramatised by Howard Agg.
1 of 10 parts.
Produced by Martyn C. Webster
   Sweetie: Beryl Calder
Weekly, part ten broadcast 20th July 1958.
Series repeated commencing 8th August 1961
[Norman Collins was Controller of BBC TV 1947-1950 and then founded Associated Television]


23rd June 1958
19.30-20.00
Until the Day She Dies by J. Maclaren-Ross (1912-1964).
1 of 6
Producer: R. D. Smith
No cast given for episode one.
Cast in episodes 2 to 6:
   Mrs. Marrabel: Catherine Wilmer
   Flea-trainer: Brian O'Higgins
   Charles: Jeffrey Segal
   Jacob Sandys: John Dearth
   Frances Wilder: Margot van Der Burgh
   Padre: Hugh Manning
   Mrs. Bosanquet: Noel Hood
   Alexander Bosanquet: Actor name deliberately not given in Radio Times.
   Police Sergeant: Peter Claughton
   Hubert Minto: John Ruddock
   Professor Whythome: Geoffrey Wincott
   Maid: Betty Baskcomb
   Dawn Frederick: Corinne Langston
   Sibelle: Vanda Godsell
   Landlady: Betty Linton
   Dawn Frederick: Corinne Langston
Also with Joe Sterne
Weekly- episode 6 broadcast on 28th July 1958


11th July 1958
22.00-22.30
Paul Temple and the Spencer Affair by Francis Durbridge (1912-1998)
1 of 8
Producer: Martyn C Webster
   Paul Temple: Peter Coke
   Steve: Marjorie Westbury
   Sir Graham Forbes: Lester Mudditt
   Detective-Inspector Vosper: Hugh Manning
   Rupert Dreisler: Brewster Mason
   Charlie: James Beattie
   Peter Wallace: Frank Partington
   Clutch Brompton: Lockwood West
   Adrian Frost: Simon Lack
   Terry Gibson: Isabel Dean
   Judy Milton: June Tobin
   Eric Lansdale: John Graham
   Warren: James Thomason
   Pete Roberts: Thomas Heathcote
   A Police Sergeant: Frank Windsor
   Warren: James Thomason
   A Police Sergeant: Haydn Jones
   Ritchie: Hamilton Dyce
   Andre Reynaud: Denis Goacher
Weekly, omitting 25th July, part 8 broadcast 5th September 1958
Repeated from 13th November 1957
Series repeated commencing 29th October 1992
Also broadcast on R7 in 2008.
[There were 21 radio stories about Paul Temple, starting in 1938. Including revisions and new productions but not repeats, there were 27 radio stories, the last new story was 1965.


29th July 1958
21.00-21.30
Superintendent Pepper Remembers by Michael Hardwick (1924-1991)
1 of 6. Pensioned off.
Producer: Audrey Cameron.
   Mildred Pepper, Tom's wife: Ella Milne
   Barbara Pepper, his daughter: Sheila Manahan
   P C Len Pepper, his son: Cavan Malone
   Scotland Yard Sergeant: Jeffrey Segal
   Tom Pepper: Hamilton Dyce
   Detective - Superintendent Jock Wellman: Duncan McIntyre
   Sergeant Jackson: John Bennett
   William Marchmont: Ronald Baddiley
   Mrs Marchmont: Betty Baskcomb
   Flat Porter: Harold Reese
Additional cast in Ep2-6:
   Simon Truepenny: James Thomason
   Prison Governor: Edward Jewesbury
   Harcourt Llewellyn: Rolf Lefebvre
   Mrs Pringle, the Colonel's lady: Joan Matheson
   Johnnie Woodruff: Denise Bryer
   Mrs Walpole: Kathleen Helme
Ep2:5/8/58 Ep3:12/8/58 Ep4:19/8/58 Ep5:26/8/58 Ep6:2/9/58


11th August 1958
19.30-20.00
A Knife in the Sun by Giles Cooper (1918-1966), based upon "Tour de Force" (1955) by Christiana Brand (1907-1988).
1 of 6.
Producer: Raymond Raikes
NO CAST for Part One.
Cast in parts 2-6.
   Boatman: Armand Guinle
   Camillo/Pacorro/Guard/Servant/Tout: Harold Young
   Shopkeeper/Vendor/Guard/Warder: Armand Guinle
   Lollita/Air Hostess/Girl/Tout: Eva Huszar
   El Exaltida: Trader Faulkner
   El Gerente: Philip Leaver
   Fernando Gomez: Howard Marion-Crawford
   Helen Rodd: Marjorie Mars
   Inspector Cockrill: Norman Wooland
   Louvaine Barker (Louli), a novelist: Denise Bryer
   Miss Trapp: Madeleine Christie
   Mr Cecil: Heron Carvic
   Superintendent Glazier of Scotland Yard: Philip Cunningham
   Vanda Lane: Delta Rachos
   The Storyteller: Gabriel Woolf
Pt2:18/8/58Pt3:25/8/58 Pt4:1/9/58 Pt5:8/9/58 Pt6:15/9/58
[Christian Brand was Mary Christianna Lewis who used a number of pseudonyms]
[Inspector Cockrill appeared in several books and short stories. The character was in the 1959 radio play "Green for Danger". ]


22nd September 1958
19.30-20.00
Eldorado by Baroness Orczy dramatised by Thea Holme.
1 of 7. No details for episode one.
Details from episodes 2-7:
Produced by Peter Watts.
   'Capet' the Dauphin: George Bond
   A boy: Seamus Grant
   Armand St Just: Frederick Treves
   Chauvelin: Richard Hurndall
   Cochefer: Ronald Sidney
   de Batz: Malcolm Graeme
   Heron: Trevor Martin
   Jeanne Lange: Cecile Chevreau
   Lady Blakeney: June Tobin
   Lady ffoulkes: Hilda Schroder
   Lord Anthony Dewhurst: Charles Hodgson
   Lord Hastings: Derek Aylward
   Mme Belhomme, Jeanne's aunt: Dorothy Green
   Mme Simon, of the Temple Prison: Gladys Spencer
   Sir Andrew ffoulkes: Godfrey Kenton
   Sir Percy Blakeney: William Fox
   Wardress: Ann Nabarro
with Jill Culpin.
Weekly, part 7: 3rd November 1958


3rd October 1958
22.00:
Thirty Minute Theatre: Lord Mountdrago (1939) by W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) adapted by Paul Dehn
Pianist: Arthur Dulay
A cabinet minister has difficulties.
Production by Archie Campbell
   Lord Mountdrago: Ralph Truman
   His Personal Assistant: John Cazabon
   Dr Audlin, a psycho-analyst: Michael Hitchman
   Nurse: Joan Matheson
   John Higgins, MP: James Thomason
Also with Leigh Crutchley, Catherine Salkeld, Harold Young and Sheila Grant
Repeated on Home on 4th October 1958, 16th March 1960


7th October 1958
21.30-22.00
Thirty-Minute Theatre: The Necklace (1884) by Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) adapted by Dorothy Black.
Producer: H B Fortuin.
   Mother: Dorothy Holmes-Gore
   Mathilde: Ernestine Costa
   Marie: Sheila Grant
   Loisel: Ian Lubbock
   Madame Forestier: Dorothy Black
   A guest: Cel Ia Hewitt
   Her partner: Anthony Viccars
   A bachelor: Harold Reese
   Jeweller: David March
Repeated on Home on 11th October 1958.
[Also produced by William Hughes in 1953 for Home]


10th October 1958
22.00-22.30
The Man who was a Horse by Joseph Schull (1906-1980)
Produced for CBC (Canada) by Rupert Caplan
   Obie Morgan: Norman Taviss
   Arthur Potts, store-keeper: Bud Knapp
   Doc Grayson: Albert Miller
   Sam Bowers, of the Apex Dairy: Gerald Rowan
   Jim Craig, feed-store owner: George Alexander
   Cora, Arthur's wife: Eleanor Stuart
   Melinda, Obie's wife: Susan Fletcher


14th October 1958
21.00-21.30:
Thirty-Minute Theatre: The Beetle Hunter (1898) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) adapted by Ronald Simpson
Production by Audrey Cameron
   Dr Hamilton: Frank Duncan
   Cabby: David March
   Lord Linchmere: James Thomason
   Lady Rossiter: Molly Rankin
   Sir Thomas Rossiter: Lockwood West
Also with John Bennett and Anthony Viccars
Repeated on Home 18th October 1958


21st October 1958
21.00-21.30
Thirty-Minute Theatre: The Fall by Stacy Aumonier, adapted by Felix Felton
Produced by Charles Lefeaux
   The Storyteller: Howieson Culff
   Jules: John Bennett
   Inspector Tolozan: Alec Mango
   La Tonnerre: John Phillips
   Uncle Sem: Malcolm Hayes
   Mossel: Frederick Treves
   Dutchman: Rolf Lefebvre
   Lancret: Jeffrey Segal
Repeated on Home on 25th October 1958
[Also produced in 1950 by Charles Lefeaux with Julian Somers as Tolozan.]
[Also produced by Derek Hoddinott in 1976 with Clive Swift as Tolozan]


28th October 1958
21.00-21.30
Thirty-Minute Theatre: A Deal In Ostriches (1894) by H G Wells adapted by Lance Sieveking
Production by H. B. Fortuin
   Isaac Lewis: Jeffrey Segal
   Sir Mohini Padishah: Manning Wilson
   John Pinner: Anthony Viccars
   Ship's Captain: Harold Young
   Colonel Cheeseman: Michael Shepley
   Ada Cheeseman: Dorothy Holmes-Gore
   Potter: Leigh Crutchley
Repeated on Home 1st November 1958
[Also produced by Martyn C Webster in 1951]


2nd November 1958
16.30-17.00
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886) by Fergus Hume (1859-1932) adapted by Michael Hardwick.
1 of 6.
Cast in parts 1-6:
Producer: Audrey Cameron.
   Allan McClelland, Brenda Dunrich, Bruce Stewart, Frank Duncan, Frederick Treves, Gabriel Woolf, Gwen Day Burroughs, Gwenda Wilson, Harold Young, John Bennett, John Cazabon, John Graham, John Hollis, John Scott, Joseph Shaw, Leigh Crutchley, Leon Peers, Paddy Turner, Russell Napier, S Grant, Shirley Cameron
Weekly, part 6 broadcast 7th December 1958
Repeated on Home commencing 9th February 1960


4th November 1958
21.00-21.30:
Thirty-Minute Theatre: The Time and the Place by Philip Levene (1926-1973)
Produced by Robin Midgley
   Arthur: Frank Partington
   Jennie: Clare Austin
   Mrs Green: Dorothy Holmes-Gore
   Mrs Devereux: Joan Sanderson
   Joe: Andrew Sachs
   Customer and the Barman: Robin Chapman
   Girl and a Passenger: Sonia Graham
   Woman in the street/Landlady: Patricia Routledge
Repeated on Home 8th November 1958


10th November 1958
19.30-20.00
Uncanny Stories: The Fascinating Hobby of Mr. Cranberry Parfitt by Edward J Mason (1912-1971).
No production details given.
[Almost forgotten series, referenced in a 2014 book "Listen in terror: British horror radio from the advent of broadcasting to the digital age" by Richard J. Hand]


11th November 1958
21.00:
Thirty-Minute Theatre: They by Rudyard Kipling, adapted by Giles Cooper
Production by Mary Hope Allen
   Driver: Richard Hurndall
   Miss Florence: Hester Paton Brown
   Madden: Richard George
   Mrs Madehurst: Dorothy Holmes-Gore
   The Doctor: John Boddington
   Jenny: June Tobin
   Betsy: Hilda Schroder
   Turpin: Ronald Baddiley
Repeated on Home on 15th November 1958.
[Also produced in 1952 by Hugh Stewart for Home]


17th November 1958
19.30-20.00
Uncanny Stories: Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On by Edward J Mason (1912-1971)
Producer: Archie Campbell
   Mr Levine, Editor: Allan Jeayes
   Miss Carter, his secretary: Olive Kirby
   Paul Drage: Robert Ornbo
   William Smith: Gabriel Woolf
   Clarkson: George Merritt
   Taxi-driver: George Merritt
   Commissionaire: Reginald Smith
   Mrs Porter: Una Venning
   Passenger in taxi: Catherine Salkeld
   Detective-Inspector Rowley: Ian Sadler
   Detective-Sergeant Peters: Anthony Viccars
[The title is from Shakespeare's Tempest]


18th November 1958
21.00:
Thirty-Minute Theatre: Virtue (1931) by W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), adapted by John Gouldsmith
Production by Audrey Cameron
   Noel Carey: Malcolm Keen
   Gerry Morton: Derek Nimmo
   Margery Bishop: Joan Matheson
   Charlie Bishop, her husband: Leigh Crutchley
   Bill Marsh: Duncan McLntyre
   Janet Marsh, his wife: Sylvia Coleridge
   A waiter: Rolf Lefebure
Repeated on Home 22nd November 1958
[Not to be confused with Maugham's 1941 "Virtue"- WW2 propaganda.]
[Also produced for Home in 1956 by H B Fortuin with Simon Lack as Gerald. The 1956 production has a character William Ashenden instead of Noel Carey.]


24th November 1958
19.30-20.00
Uncanny Stories: The Wise Man from the East by Edward J . Mason (1912-1971)
Produced By: Archie Campbell
   Mr Levine: Allan Jeayes
   Miss Carter, his secretary: Olive Kirby
   Brandon Lesseps: Leigh Crutchley
   Mary Scott: Beryl Calder
   Joan Turrell: Eva Huszar
   Bill Lancaster: Bernard Brown
   Jill Baker: Hilda Schroder
   Stewart Baker: Rolf Lefebvre
   Charles Craddock: James Thomason
   Emil Scala: Roger Delgado


25th November 1958
21.00:
Thirty-Minute Theatre: The New Catacomb by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adapted by R. J. B. Sellar
Produced by R. D. Smith
   Kennedy: Howard Marion-Crawford
   Benchley: Brian Wilde
   Mary: Pauline Yates
Repeated on Home 29th November 1958.
[Also produced by Ayton Whitaker in 1952, rptd 1955 with John Slater as Kennedy]


1st December 1958
19.30-20.00
Uncanny Stories: An Ear for Music by Edward J. Mason (1912-1971)
Produced By: Archie Campbell
   Mr Levine: Allan Jeayes
   Miss Carter, his secretary: Olive Kirby
   Charles Mornay -a famous pianist: Rolf Lefebvre
   Lady Bodrington: Sylvia Coleridge
   Sari, an Indian girl: June Tobin
   Ramset Sawardi, her father: Arthur Gomez
   Bhaun Flynn, an author: Ronald Baddiley
   Man: Malcolm Knight


2nd December 1958
21.00:
Thirty-Minute Theatre: The Great Unimpressionable by Stacy Aumonier (1877-1928) adapted by Leonard Cottrell
Produced by Archie Campbell
Period: 1914-1918
   Narrator: Derek Prentice
   Mrs Butters: Dorothy Holmes-Gore
   Ned Pickelkin a young postman: John Crocker
   Mrs Pickelkin, his mother: Elsa Palmer
   Ettie, his young lady: Beryl Calder
   Mr Pennyfeather: George Merritt
   Mrs Pennyfeather: Sylvia Coleridge
   Cockney soldier: John Cazabon
   Scots soldier: Fraser Kerr
   War correspondent: David March
   German Officer: John G Heller
Also with Rolf Lefebvre , William Eedle and Ronald Baddiley
Repeated on BBC Home, 6th December 1958


8th December 1958
19.30-20.00:
Uncanny Stories: Things that go Bump in the Night by Edward J. Mason (1912-1971)
Produced By: Archie Campbell
   Mr Levine, Editor: Allan Jeayes
   Miss Carter, his secretary: Olive Kirby
   Bob Chantry, a convict: Arthur Lovegrove
   Mailing, another convict: Frank Atkinson
   Ada Chantry, Bob's wife: Hilda Schroder
   Solicitor: Hugh Manning
   Mr Molesworth: Rolf Lefebvre
   Mrs Molesworth: Nora Nicholson
   Police Sergeant: Arthur Lawrence


9th December 1958
21.00-21.30
Thirty-Minute Theatre: Point Of Return by M. B. Kingsland
Produced by Charles Lefeaux
1958: Air Traffic Control Room
   Sergeant Shaw: Deryck Guyler
   Flight-Lieutenant Upwood: Gordon Jackson
   The Station Commander: Howard Marion-Crawford
Also with Arthur White
Repeated on Home 13th December 1958


14th December 1958
16.30-17.00
The Firm of Girdlestone (1890) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), adapted by Norman Edwards.
Dark and dirty deeds and diamonds.
Part 1 of 6.
Producer: Wilfrid Grantham
No production details or cast for part 1.
Cast in parts 2-6:
   Arthur Ridley, Baliol Holloway, Bernard Rebel, Catherine Salkeld, Ella Milne, Eric Anderson, Frank Windsor, Frederick Schiller, Hester Paton Brown, John Boddington, Leslie Perrins, Michael Newell, Norman Shelley, Peggy Cameron, Peter Claughton, Peter Halliday, Philip Cunningham, Sulwen Morgan, Susan Richards, Trevor Martin,
Weekly- Part 6 was broadcast 18th January 1959.
[Also produced for BBC Childrens TV by Naomi Capon commencing 24th June 1958, with a different cast to the radio production. (Surely much too dark for children??)]


15th December 1958
19.30-20.00:
Uncanny Stories: A Still Small Voice by Edward J. Mason (1912-1971)
Produced By: Archie Campbell
   Mr Levine, Editor: Allan Jeayes
   Miss Carter, his secretary: Olive Kirby
   Eli Tring: Jack Shaw
   Harry Tring, his son: Kenneth Fortescue
   Kay Turner: Monica Grey
   John Snow: John Boddington
   Flight Information Officer: Judy Bailey
   Still small voice: John Cazabon


16th December 1958
21.00:
Thirty-Minute Theatre: The Monkey's Paw (1902) by W. W. Jacobs (1863-1943) adapted (1907) by Louis N. Parker (1852-1944)
Produced by Wilfrid Grantham
   Mr White: Carleton Hobbs
   Mrs White: Gladys Young
   Herbert: John Hollis
   Sergeant-Major Morris: Hamilton Dyce
   Mr Sampson: Harold Reese
Repeated on Home 20th December 1958.
[Also produced by Jeremy Howe in 1991 with Trudy Kelly as Mother (adaption by Patrick Galvin)- rptd R7 and R4X]
[The first UK broadcast of this work (and this Parker adaption) was 16/11/1925]


22nd December 1958
19.30-20.00
Test Room Eight by Lester Powell (1912-1993)
1 of 6.
Producer David H Godfrey.
A "Philip Odell" story.
Weekly, part 6 was broadcast 26th January 1959
Cast for the series: Beryl Calder, David March, David Spenser, Duncan McIntyre, Edward Jewesbury, Frank Windsor, Frederick Treves, Hamilton Dyce, Hilda Schroder, James Thomason, Jeffrey Segal, John Cazabon, John Hollis, Richard Williams, Robert Beatty, Rolf Lefebvre, Sheila Manahan, Stella Textor, Will Leighton
[Series repeated commencing 28th July 1959]
[Also repeated on R4X 2024]


23rd December 1958
21.00:
Thirty-Minute Theatre: Christmas Tour by Philip Levene (1926-1973)
Produced by Robin Midgley
   Arthur Felton, an actor-manager: Maurice Denham
   Mollie, the wardrobemistress: Patricia Lawrence
   Richard Harvey, the juvenile lead: John King
   Freddie Lowe the character actor: Norman Bird
   Dorothy Dean, the leading lady: Betty Baskcomb
   Sheila, the stage manager: Audrey Craig-Brown
   Harry Melvin,an agent: Alexander Dore
   Joe Salter, an old actor: Blaise Wyndham
   Sandy Mason: Jon Curle
   Emily, Arthur's sister: Joan Sanderson
   Albert, a nightwatchman: Baliol Holloway
   Mrs Judd/Barmaid: Gillian Webb
   Repeated on Home 27th December 1958

=========

Compiled by Stephen Shaw July 2024.

===end====

Note regarding how few entries there are for 1958:

1957 marked the BBC policy statement "The Future of Sound Broadcasting" ("Ariel" v2 N4 - April 1957 - Sir Ian Jacob) under which the Light Programme must compete not only against both Continental radio and domestic television but also against increased leisure opportunities beyond these.
The Light would exist only to entertain (with only the lightest forms of drama), while the Home would carry news and current events, talks, features and drama (both serious and light), with some variety sprinkled in.
The 1957 Light programme also saw the introduction of a lengthy mixed programme with little indication of what it was: "three hours of words and music with interviews and features" - the long undetailed programme block (eg unprogrammed broadcasting) grew in broadcasters' popularity later on.
Hour long drama returned to Light in due course but not for long.



(....thanks again, Stephen ...-ND)

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