Paul Temple and the Vandyke Affair
by Francis Durbridge
BBC Light Programme
The famous Paul Temple was born in Ontario, Canada, son of the late Lt.-General Ian Temple, and went to England at an early age. He
was educated at Rugby and Magdalen College, Oxford, and from age of 22 earned his living as a writer of detective novels. While on
holiday in Cornwall he became accidentally involved in the notorious Tenworthy case. Sir Graham Forbes, of Scotland Yard, was so
impressed with his handling of it that he invited him to intervene in the mysterious affair of the Knave of Diamonds. Temple has been in the
detection business ever since.
Outside his work, Temple is alleged to like fishing and collecting first editions; the music of Beethoven, Debussy and Jerome Kern; the plays
of Noël Coward; the lyrics of Cole Porter; and, of course, dry martinis. He dislikes people who always have "ideas" for plots; women who
ask him if he writes under his own name; "hot" music; and oysters.
In this adventure, Paul Temple is called in to investigate the disappearance of the Desmond baby and the 'Sitter-In', Miss Millicent. When
they visit Mary Desmond, she is, understandably, very upset - it's already been a week since her eighteenth-month-old daughter vanished.
The only clue is a telephone message left in Miss Millicent's handwriting: 'A Mr. Vandyke telephoned, he left no message'. However, no-one
knows who this mysterious Mr. Vandyke is...
Produced by Martyn C. Webster
Note: Three of the cast members in this 1950 serial reprised their roles in the 1959 re-make of 'Paul Temple and the Vandyke Affair'. They
were Marjorie Westbury as Steve; Richard Hurndall as Roger Shelly; and Grizelda Hervey as Vanessa Droste. Also returning was Peter
Coke, but his role changed from Terry Palmer in the 1950 serial to Paul Temple in the 1959 serial
1) 'The Sitter-In' (Monday 30th October 1950 @ 8:45 p.m.)
Paul Temple has been called in by Terry Palmer, a freelance journalist who is a close friend of Mrs. Mary Desmond, to investigate the
disappearance of her baby, and the "Sitter-In", Miss Millicent. The facts of the case are as follows:
A young widow called Mrs. Mary Desmond has a flat in Winchester House, part of a large block of flats on the Edgware Road. One
evening, Mrs. Desmond had a dinner date in town. She had been invited out to dinner by a young man called Terry Palmer, a long-time
friend with whom she goes out with a lot. Since the death of her husband just over two years earlier, Mrs. Desmond and her 18-month-old
baby, Susan, lived at Winchester House. When she has a date in town or want to pop down to the local cinema, she employs a 'sitter-in'.
It's always the same 'sitter-in', Miss Millicent, an elderly spinister who has been acting as a 'sitter-in' for Mrs. Desmond for almost a year.
Last Tuesday week, Millicent agreed to sit in as usual, turning up at the flat at about 6:30 pm which allowed Mrs. Desmond to meet Terry
Palmer at the Commodore Club in Brook Street just after 7:15 pm. They stayed at the Commodore until 10:45 pm but when Mrs.
Desmond arrived back in the flat at around 11:15 pm, there was no sign of Miss Millicent or the baby. They had completely disappeared.
The only clue is a telephone message left in Miss Millicent's handwriting: 'A Mr. Vandyke telephoned, he left no message'. However, no-one
knows who this mysterious Mr. Vandyke is...
With Kim Peacock [Paul Temple], Marjorie Westbury [Steve], Lester Mudditt [Sir Graham Forbes], Peter Coke [Terry Palmer], Joan
Hart [Mrs. Mary Desmond], Daphne Maddox [Miss Queenie Edwards], Michael Harding [Charlie], Donald Gray [Inspector Eden],
Gladys Spencer [Madame Frobert, Shop Owner], and Stanley Groome [Burt Walters, Cloakroom Attendant at the Commodore].
Re-broadcast on Friday 3rd November 1950 @ 5:00 p.m.
30 minutes
2) 'The Marlow Incident' (Monday 6th November 1950 @ 8:45 p.m.)
A distressed Queenie Edwards (friend of Miss Millicent) had telephoned Paul from Marlow (on the Thames near Maidenhead) asking him
to meet her as she had some terribly important information to tell him. They arranged to meet at Paddingtion Station on Platform 6 at
10:45 p.m. but before she rang off, she told him that in case they don't meet, she's posted him a letter. When Paul and Steve arrived, they
found Queenie badly beaten with her face slashed - she would later die.
Paul received the letter the following day but all that was inside was a cloakroom ticket from the Commodore Club. That evening, they visit
the Commodore Club and find that the ticket was for an attache case that had been left by a Mr. Palmer. They open the case and find all it
contains is the favourite doll of Mary Desmond's baby - the only item that was missing when baby Susan and Miss Millicent disappeared.
Will Queenie's clue help Paul and Steve find the missing baby?
With Kim Peacock [Paul Temple], Marjorie Westbury [Steve], Lester Mudditt [Sir Graham Forbes], Michael Harding [Charlie], Joan Hart
[Mrs. Mary Desmond], Peter Coke [Terry Palmer], James E. Thompson [Sergeant Digby], Tommy Duggan [Bill McCall, Wordsworth
Hotel Manager], Donald Gray [Inspector Eden], and Richard Hurndall [Roger Shelly of 'Shelly's Services', a Mother's Health Bureau].
Other parts were played by David Peel, Duncan McIntyre, and Denise Bryer
Re-broadcast on Friday 10th November 1950 @ 5:00 p.m.
30 minutes
3) 'Introducing Mr. Droste' (Monday 13th November 1950 @ 8:45 p.m.)
While staying at the Wordsworth Hotel in Marlow, Paul and Steve run into another murder in the same manner as that of Queenie Edwards.
It was of a Mr. Baker who was posing as Sergeant Digby. All that was found on the body was a receipt for a pair of gloves from a shop in
Paris.
After the Temples arrive home, Mary Desmond and Terry arrive with Susan, her baby. She tells them that she and Terry went for a drive in
the morning and when they returned, they found Susan, unharmed, in her flat, but no sign of Miss Millicent. After they leave, Paul picks up a
glove off the ground thinking it belongs to Steve. It doesn't, so they guess it probably belongs to Mrs. Desmond. When they look at the tab
in the glove they are surprised to find that it came from the same glove shop, Charles Maret's, in Paris, as was on the receipt found on the
dead man.
Meanwhile, Paul receives a call from Philip Droste, the millionaire owner of the Commodore Club who want to talk to Paul about Burt
Walters, his cloakroom attendant at the Commodore, and the attache case he gave Paul. While at Mr. Droste, Paul is surprised to find
another connection to Mrs. Desmond's gloves.
With Kim Peacock [Paul Temple], Marjorie Westbury [Steve], Lester Mudditt [Sir Graham Forbes], Michael Harding [Charlie], Roger
Delgado [Philip Droste, a Millionaire], Peter Coke [Terry Palmer], Tommy Duggan [Bill McCall, Wordsworth Hotel Manager], Grizelda
Hervey [Vanessa Droste, Philip's Wife], Richard Hurndall [Roger Shelly of 'Shelly's Services', a Mother's Health Bureau], and Raf de la
Torre [Charles Maret].
Other parts were played by David Peel, Pat Jamblin (sp?), and Alan Owen
Re-broadcast on Friday 17th November 1950 @ 5:00 p.m.
30 minutes
4) 'Boulevard Seminaire' (Monday 20th November 1950 @ 8:45 p.m.)
On the trail of the mystery glove, Paul and Steve plan a secret trip to Charles Maret's shop in Paris. Before they start off, they receive a
visit from Roger Shelly who runs a Mother's Health Bureau in Hampstead that Miss Millicent worked for. He shows them a letter he's just
received from Miss Millicent warning him off. But warning him off what? Paul send him off to see Inspector Eden.
They meet Charles Maret in his Paris shop and ask him if they can buy a glove like Mary Desmond's, which they show him. Maret's attitude
changes and he tells them for that type of glove, they will have to go to the Boulevard Seminaire, number 29. It's not a shop but an
apartment and the flat is located on the second floor. They are to have a meeting with a Mr. Palmer at 11:00 pm that evening....
With Kim Peacock [Paul Temple], Marjorie Westbury [Steve], Lester Mudditt [Sir Graham Forbes], Raf de la Torre [Charles Maret],
Roger Delgado [Philip Droste, a Millionaire], Tommy Duggan [Bill McCall, Wordsworth Hotel Manager], Grizelda Hervey [Vanessa
Droste, Philip's Wife], and Charles Richardson [Luke, an American Driving a Cab in Paris].
Other parts by Betty Baskcomb, Olaf Olsen, and David Peel
Re-broadcast on Friday 24th November 1950 @ 5:00 p.m.
30 minutes
5) 'Roger Shelly Makes a Suggestion' (Monday 27th November 1950 @ 8:45 p.m.)
After arriving at 29 Boulevard Seminaire, Paris, at 11:00 p.m. to met Mr. Palmer, Paul and Steve find no one there... alive. They do find a
body, though. It is that of Charles Maret, the man from the glove shop who sent them there and he's been killed in the same manner as
Vandyke killed the others. While in the flat, the telephone rings with a long distance call. Paul answers and is shocked to hear it is a personal
call from London for him - from a Mr. Vandyke. While waiting for the connection, an attempt is made on Paul's life....
With Kim Peacock [Paul Temple], Marjorie Westbury [Steve], Lester Mudditt [Sir Graham Forbes], Robert Alban [Dr. Foye], Roger
Delgado [Philip Droste, a Millionaire], Tommy Duggan [Bill McCall, Wordsworth Hotel Manager], Michael Harding [Charlie], Donald
Gray [Inspector Eden], Peter Coke [Terry Palmer], Joan Hart [Mrs. Mary Desmond], Richard Hurndall [Roger Shelly of 'Shelly's
Services', a Mother's Health Bureau], Olaf Olsen [Louis France], and Betty Baskcomb [Telephone Operator].
Re-broadcast on Friday 1st December 1950 @ 5:00 p.m.
30 minutes
6) 'Suspect No. 1' (Monday 4th December 1950 @ 8:45 p.m.)
Marian Faber denies to Paul that she knows anyone by the name of Vandyke nor why anyone would pretend to be her chauffeur and try to
kidnap Steve. Paul does get her to admit she sent a threatening note to Roger Shelly, apparently written by Miss Millicent, as a practical
joke as Roger would never stop talking about the Millicent case. But the idea wasn't hers alone. A friend told her exactly what to write and
gave her a letter of Millicent's so that she could copy the handwriting. Though she won't tell Paul who this 'friend' is, Paul notices a picture of
Terry Palmer on her hall table - suspect number one.
With Kim Peacock [Paul Temple], Marjorie Westbury [Steve], Olaf Olsen [Louis France], Roger Delgado [Philip Droste, a Millionaire],
Tommy Duggan [Bill McCall, Wordsworth Hotel Manager], Susan Burette [Marian Faber, a Famous Portrait Painter], Peter Coke [Terry
Palmer], Richard Hurndall [Roger Shelly of 'Shelly's Services', a Mother's Health Bureau], and Michael Harding [Charlie].
Re-broadcast on Friday 8th December 1950 @ 5:00 p.m.
30 minutes
7) 'Steve Entertains' (Monday 11th December 1950 @ 8:45 p.m.)
Paul had received an urgent call from Mary Desmond to meet her at the Commodore Club, but when the Temples arrive, they find her just
outside the club, badly beaten by Vandyke. Before she passes out, Mary tells them what really happened to Miss Millicent and Queenie
Edwards, but Temple could not find out the real identity of Vandyke. With things coming to a conclusion, Paul asks Steve to go away for a
few days, for fear that reprisals are on their way.
With Kim Peacock [Paul Temple], Marjorie Westbury [Steve], Lester Mudditt [Sir Graham Forbes], Tommy Duggan [Bill McCall,
Manager of the Commodore Club], Donald Gray [Inspector Eden], Joan Hart [Mrs. Mary Desmond], Michael Harding [Charlie], Richard
Hurndall [Roger Shelly of 'Shelly's Services', a Mother's Health Bureau], Peter Coke [Terry Palmer], and Susan Burette [Marian Faber,
a Famous Portrait Painter].
Other parts were played by Janet Morrison and Lewis Ward
Re-broadcast on Friday 15th December 1950 @ 5:00 p.m.
30 minutes
8) 'Presenting Mr. Vandyke' (Monday 18th December 1950 @ 8:45 p.m.)
After turning the tables on Marian Faber, Paul has her to write a letter and in return, sets her free. Paul then calls in Philip Droste and asks
him to throw a party the following evening at his flat, even though it's been only a couple of days since his wife, Vanessa, died. Telling Philip
it's important, he has him invite all the suspects, so that he can finally unmask the culprit.
With Kim Peacock [Paul Temple], Marjorie Westbury [Steve], Lester Mudditt [Sir Graham Forbes], Peter Coke [Terry Palmer], Roger
Delgado [Philip Droste, a Millionaire], Susan Burette [Marian Faber, a Famous Portrait Painter], Tommy Duggan [Bill McCall, Philip
Droste's Right-Hand Man], Michael Harding [Charlie], and Richard Hurndall [Roger Shelly of 'Shelly's Services', a Mother's Health
Bureau].
Re-broadcast on Friday 22nd December 1950 @ 5:00 p.m.
30 minutes
Jim
