The Buckingham Palace Connection
by Ted Willis
BBC Radio 4
This is an exciting and wonderfully imaginative story of how George V, King of England, tries to save his cousin Tsar Nicholas II from the Reds during the Russian Revolution in 1918. James Tremayne is secretly commissioned to mount a rescue expedition. In Vladivostok, Tremayne joins forces with a White Russian Colonel, Kasakov, and an American construction engineer, Tom Story, an expert on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Eastern Siberia was in the toils of civil war and revolution. Through the turbulent wasteland Tremayne and his companions make their way by armoured train toward Ekaterinburg, where the Imperial Russian family are being held captive. The White forces are closing in, and there is danger Tsar Nicholas II and his family will be summarily executed if the Reds are forced to withdraw.
It is a hazardous race against time and dangerous odds, and from beginning to end the pace never slackens. Based solidly on history, this story deals with one of the great unsolved mysteries of modern times -- what happened to the Tsar's family? It comes up with an answer that is utterly plausible and a the same time makes for a highly entertaining story.
Dramatised in five parts for radio by Ted Willis from his own 1978 novel, "The Buckingham Palace Connection".
Directed by Glyn Dearman
1) 'An Interview with the King' (Sunday 3rd May 1981)
The story begins in the Summer of 1976 as Ted Willis arrives a little late to the House of Lords that one day and Question Time was almost over by the time he enters the Chamber. He hears the Baroness Ward of North Tynside who asks the House if Her Majesty's government can tell the House whether there are any hitherto unpublished documents in the archives of the Foreign Office which relate to the murder of the Tsar and the Russian Imperial family by the Bolsheviks in 1918. And if so, whether they will make an up to date statement on this matter so that the full facts may be known.
When told that all files have been made available, the Baroness Ward tells them of a recent book that has been published called 'File Tsar' that challenges the official account of this tragic event and puts forward some interesting new facts. She asks the government to make some general statement as to these new facts that not Anastasia, but the other three daughters of the Tsar may have escaped their fate in Ekaterinburg, Siberia, on the 17th July 1918.
Later, Lord Willis is asked to visit a fellow Lord, Viscount Tremayne of Trevelick, near Zennor, Cornwall. There, Willis is told the story of how, back in 1918 when the Vicount was just a young Captain attached to the Foreign Office, he was asked by King George V to go on a secret mission to rescue the Tsar and his family.
With Ted Willis [Himself], Maurice Denham [Vicount Tremayne of Trevelick, near Zennor, Cornwall], Jeremy Clyde [Captain James Tremayne], Joyce Carey [Lady Maria Tremayne], Elizabeth Proud [Margaret 'Meg' Wellmeadow, an English Governess], Michael Aldridge [King George V], Victor Spinetti [Lloyd George, the Prime Minister], Miriam Margolyes [Maria Astakhov, the Second Secretary to the British High Commission in Vladivostok], Margaret Robertson [Baroness Ward of North Tynside], William Fox [Stanfordham, the Prime Minister's Private Secretary], Anthony Newlands [Lord George Whitby], Nicholas Courtney [Koyla, a Servant], Alan Dudley [Landlord of the Tinners Arms in Zennor], Malcolm Hayes [Percy, a Patron at the Tinners Arms], David McAlister [Verger at St. Senara's Church in Zennor], John Livesey [The Soldier], and Christopher Scott [The Sailor].
30 minutes
2) 'The Royal Flush' (Sunday 10th May 1981)
James Tremayne arrives in Vladivostok and visits the British High Commissioner to see if he can help in his rescue mission of the Tsar and his family. The Commissioner is very skeptical that it could be done as he tells Tremayne that first, he has to deal with Siberia, a country so big that it could swallow the United States and Europe as a main course and still have room for dessert. Second, it is a wilderness where dozens of armies are fighting each other and where no one could be sure who is holding what town in what territory. Third, it is a distance of 4,000 miles between Vladivostok and Ekaterinburg where the Tsar is imprisoned - a journey of at least 10 days and that's if he can get a train.
An armoured train and crew is what Tremayne needs to commandeer so the Commissioner sends him over to the Americans at the Marshalling Yards in Vladivostok to see Major Tom Story.
With Ted Willis [Himself], Maurice Denham [Vicount Tremayne of Trevelick, near Zennor, Cornwall], Jeremy Clyde [Captain James Tremayne], Miriam Margolyes [Maria Astakhov, the Second Secretary to the British High Commission in Vladivostok], Bob Sherman [Major Tom Story, an American Railroad Expert], Sean Barrett [Colonel Kasakov of the Imperial Chevalier Guards], Michael Aldridge [King George V], Elizabeth Seal [Lydia Elmann], Michael Spice [Ataman Simyonov, a Siberian Warlord], David Timson [Dukhonin, Simyonov's Subordinate], John Rye [Klauss, a German Engineer], Murray Cash [Admiral Austin Knight, Commander-in-Chief of the American Asiatic Fleet], Alan Dudley [British High Commissioner], James Windsor [Captain Paul Samarin, Colonel Kasakov's Personal Aid], Cyril Shaps [Victor Gromyko, the Local Chairman in Ekaterinburg], and Nicholas Courtney [Political Commissar Sergo Mogilov, a Special Emissary sent to Ekaterinburg by Lenin].
30 minutes
3) 'Across the Siberian Plains' (Sunday 17th May 1981)
The year is 1918. Captain James Tremayne has been sent to Siberia to attempt to rescue the Russian Royal family who are being held by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg. He has landed in Vladivostok and with the help of the Americans he obtains the use of an armoured train, 'The Royal Flush'. Tom Story, an American Railroad expert, joins up with Tremayne and he gains the support also of Colonel Kasakov, a fanatical, young Tsarist officer. With 50 of Kasakov's troops aboard and 24 American marines, Tremayne starts the 4,000 mile journey to Ekaterinburg.
With Ted Willis [Himself], Maurice Denham [Vicount Tremayne of Trevelick, near Zennor, Cornwall], Jeremy Clyde [Captain James Tremayne], Joyce Carey [Lady Maria Tremayne], Elizabeth Proud [Margaret 'Meg' Wellmeadow, an English Governess], Bob Sherman [Major Tom Story, an American Railroad Expert], Sean Barrett [Colonel Kasakov of the Imperial Chevalier Guards], Haydn Wood [Nikolai Dukhov, Deputy Commander of the Second Battalion of the Ekaterinburg Red Guard], David Timson [Dukhonin, Simyonov's Subordinate], John Rye [Klauss, a German Engineer], James Windsor [Captain Paul Samarin, Colonel Kasakov's Personal Aide], John Livesey [British Counsel in Ekaterinburg], Lisa Hayden [Natasha, an Orphaned Child in Meg's Care], John Webb [Red Guard], Spencer Banks [Red Leader], Malcolm Hayes [Prisoner], Alan Dudley [The Man], and Diana Bishop [The Woman].
30 minutes
4) 'The House of Special Purpose' (Sunday 24th May 1981)
Captain James Tremayne and members of the Imperial Chevalier Guards disguise themselves as Soviet partisans and disembark from 'The Royal Flush', 12 miles from Ekaterinburg where the Tsar and his family are imprisoned. After droppng the men off, Major Tom Story continues on to Ekaterinburg where he convinces the Deputy Commander of the Red Guard to remove the barricades and allow 'The Royal Flush' into town so they can replenish their supplies.
Meanwhile, Captain Paul Samarin takes Tremayne into Ekaterinburg to meet with Mikhail Tambov, a spy for the White Guards, who has all the identity papers and passes that they'll need to rescue the Royal Family. At Tambov's home they meet an unlikely visitor who, it seems, is on their side. But time is getting short...
With Ted Willis [Himself], Maurice Denham [Vicount Tremayne of Trevelick, near Zennor, Cornwall], Jeremy Clyde [Captain James Tremayne], Joyce Carey [Lady Maria Tremayne], Elizabeth Proud [Margaret 'Meg' Wellmeadow, an English Governess], Bob Sherman [Major Tom Story, an American Railroad Expert], Sean Barrett [Colonel Kasakov of the Imperial Chevalier Guards], Haydn Wood [Nikolai Dukhov, Deputy Commander of the Second Battalion of the Ekaterinburg Red Guard], James Windsor [Captain Paul Samarin, Colonel Kasakov's Personal Aide], David McAlister [Voytek, member of the Imperial Chevalier Guards], John Rye [Klauss, a German Engineer], Lisa Hayden [Natasha, an Orphaned Child in Meg's Care], William Booker [Misha, an Orphaned Child in Meg's Care], Alan Dudley [Mikhail Tambov, a Spy for the White Guards in Ekaterinburg], Nicholas Courtney [Political Commissar Sergo Mogilov, a Special Emissary sent to Ekaterinburg by Lenin], Cyril Shaps [Victor Gromyko, the Local Chairman in Ekaterinburg], John Livesey [Sergeant Kelly, a U.S. Marine], Spencer Banks [Red Guard], and Christine Absolom [The Woman].
30 minutes
5) 'The Secret of the Forest' (Sunday 31st May 1981)
When Tremayne finds out that there is a plan to kill the Royal Family the following day after their arrival, he moves his plan forward and re-enlists the help of Major Tom Story and 'The Royal Flush'.
With Ted Willis [Himself], Maurice Denham [Vicount Tremayne of Trevelick, near Zennor, Cornwall], Jeremy Clyde [Captain James Tremayne], Joyce Carey [Lady Maria Tremayne], Elizabeth Proud [Margaret 'Meg' Wellmeadow, an English Governess], Bob Sherman [Major Tom Story, an American Railroad Expert], Sean Barrett [Colonel Kasakov of the Imperial Chevalier Guards], Haydn Wood [Nikolai Dukhov, Deputy Commander of the Second Battalion of the Ekaterinburg Red Guard], Nicholas Courtney [Political Commissar Sergo Mogilov, a Special Emissary sent to Ekaterinburg by Lenin], Cyril Shaps [Victor Gromyko, the Local Chairman in Ekaterinburg], John Rye [Klauss, a German Engineer], John Livesey [Sergeant Kelly, a U.S. Marine], James Windsor [Captain Paul Samarin, Colonel Kasakov's Personal Aide], Pauline Letts [Sister Ludmila], Jane Knowles [Sister Yelizaveta], David McAlister [Voytek, member of the Imperial Chevalier Guards], and John Webb [The Corporal].
30 minutes
Jim
