The Man Who Was Thursday, The Club of Queer Trades & The Napoleon of Notting Hill

G. K. Chesterton: Three BBC Radio Mysteries

Three BBC Radio performances of works by the great G. K. Chesterton 
 
Best known as the creator of clerical detective Father Brown, G. K. Chesterton was a prolific and talented writer in virtually every area of literature: from novels, poetry and short stories to plays, biographies and essays. A noted thinker, controversialist, raconteur and wit, he has influenced authors from Neil Gaiman to Jorge Luis Borges. This collection comprises his two most famous novels, The Man Who Was Thursday and The Napoleon of Notting Hill, as well as half a dozen tales from his short story collection, The Club of Queer Trades. 
 
The Man Who Was Thursday - Poet turned Scotland Yard detective Gabriel Syme goes undercover in Edwardian London to investigate a secret society of anarchists - all of whom are named after days of the week... Read by Geoffrey Palmer. 
 
The Club of Queer Trades - In these six full-cast comedy crime dramas, retired KC Basil Grant, his brother Rupert and friend Charlie Swinburne explore the extraordinary stories of people who earn their living by some novel and unusual means. Starring David Warner as Basil, Martin Freeman as Rupert and Geoffrey McGivern as Charlie. 
 
The Napoleon of Notting Hill- Written in 1904, Chesterton's comic political satire is set in London 80 years on. The city is still full of horse-buses and hansom cabs, but democracy is dead, and the King is chosen by lottery. No one cares, because none of it matters - until the choice falls on Auberon Quin... This full-cast drama stars Roger Hammond as G. K. Chesterton and David Collings as Auberon Quin, with Kim Wall, Stuart Organ and Paul McGann. 
 
First published 1904 (The Napoleon of Notting Hill), 1905 (The Club of Queer Trades), 1908 (The Man Who Was Thursday) 
 
The Man Who Was Thursday 
Read by Geoffrey Palmer 
Directed by Lawrence Jackson 
First broadcast BBC Radio 7, 10-28 March 2005 
 
The Club of Queer Trades 
Basil Grant - David Warner 
Rupert Grant - Martin Freeman 
Charlie Swinburne - Geoffrey McGivern 
Major Brown/Lord Beaumont - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Lady - Vicki Pepperdine 
PG Northover/Gardener/Old Man/Constable/Dr Colman - Martin Hyder 
Drummond - Nicholas Farrell 
Wimpole/Burrows - Justin Edwards 
Sir Walter Chumley/Rev Shorter - Richard Griffiths 
Muriel - Alice Lowe 
James - Alexei Sayle 
Mowbray - Nell Edmond 
Brett - Matthew Holness 
Lieutenant Keith - Jeff Harding 
Montmorency - Simon Jones 
Christina - Amelia Bullmore 
Bingham - Chris Douglas 
Adeleide - Felicity Montagu 
Prof Chadd - John Nettleton 
Greenwood - James Rawlings 
Old Lady - Angela Thorne 
Dramatised by Simon Littlefield 
Produced by Simon Nicholls 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4 April-9 May 2005 
 
The Napoleon of Notting Hill 
G. K. Chesterton - Roger Hammond 
Auberon Quin - David Collings 
Wilfred Lambert - Kim Wall 
James Barker - Stephen Hattersley 
President del Fuego - Manning Wilson 
Policeman/Mr Wilson - Stuart Organ 
Boy Adam Wayne - Alexander Goodman 
Adam Wayne - Paul McGann 
Mr Buck - Aubrey Woods 
Mr Mead - Paul Gregory 
Mr Bowles - Brian Hewlett 
Mr Turnbull - Gordon Reid 
Dramatised by Peter Buckman 
Produced by Eric Stovell 
Directed by Richard Imison 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 22 December 1986 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

13 BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations

Father Brown: The Complete Series 1 and 2

Andrew Sachs stars as G.K. Chesterton's crime-solving cleric, whose unlikely methods make him one of the great heroes of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction 
 
With his black hat, huge umbrella, unworldly simplicity and 'beaming but breathless geniality', Father Brown is one of fiction's best-loved amateur detectives. Short and tatty, but with the wisdom and insight to unravel the most wayward of criminal minds, he has entertained generations. 
 
In this collection of 13 full-cast dramatisations, the High Priest of detection becomes involved in seven intriguing cases that will tax even his mental powers to the limit. The episodes are: 
 
The Blue Cross 
The Queer Feet 
The Eye of Apollo 
The Invisible Man 
The Honour of Israel Gow 
The Hammer of God 
The Sins of Prince Saradine 
The Perishing of the Pendragons 
The Arrow of Heaven 
The Mistake of the Machine 
The Curse of the Golden Cross 
Actor and Alibi 
The Absence of Mr Glass 
 
Also included in this collection is a bonus documentary programme, The Mystery of Father Brown, in which Ann Widdecombe explores the enduring impact of the shambolic priest, and looks into the life of his creator G.K. Chesterton. 
 
Dramatised by John Scotney and produced by Alec Reid.

G.K. Chesterton

A. E. W. Mason

Victor Whitechurch

Edgar Wallace

Marie Belloc Lowndes

Anna Katharine Green

Josephine Tey

Andrew Sachs

Richard Pasco

Olivier Pierre

Crawford Logan

Moir Leslie

Benedict Cumberbatch

Alexander John

David Davis

Brenda Bruce

Mary O'Farrell

Teresa Gallagher

Julia Foster

Joan Sims

Full Cast

Seven BBC Radio Adaptations of Classic Crime Mysteries

A collection of thrilling tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, including six full-cast dramas and a short story read by Benedict Cumberbatch 
 
In the first half of the 20th century, the detective story exploded in popularity. Innovative authors penned whodunits, whydunits and clue-puzzle stories, and introduced iconic sleuths, creating works that would later become classics. This Golden Age, which reached its height during the 1920s and ’30s, saw the crowning of the ‘Queens of Crime’, the formation of the Detection Club and the laying down of new rules of crime writing – and the fiction produced during this period has had lasting appeal and influence, fundamentally shaping the ‘cosy crime’ novels of today. 
 
This collection gathers together seven sensational stories from Golden Age authors – some well-known, others unjustly overlooked – beginning with three by founding members of the Detection Club. The Blue Cross by G.K. Chesterton features the first appearance of one of the best-loved detectives in fiction: Father Brown, as he pursues arch-villain and master of disguise Flambeau. Andrew Sachs stars as the insightful cleric, with Olivier Pierre as his wily nemesis. 
 
In The House of the Arrow by A.E.W. Mason, starring Richard Pasco and Moir Leslie, a young woman living in Dijon is accused of murder, leading her lawyer to call in the Sûreté’s best officer, Inspector Hanaud. 
 
Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, The Affair of the German Dispatch-Box by Victor Whitechurch sees daring Edwardian sleuth Thorpe Hazell using his locomotive expertise to solve an ingenious and audacious railway crime. 
 
A legendary assassin and vigilante returns from the dead in The Ringer by Edgar Wallace, and Scotland Yard must find him before he exacts his revenge. David Davis stars as the ‘Gaunt Stranger’, and Alexander John as the tenacious Inspector Wembury. 
 
In An Unrecorded Instance by Marie Belloc Lowndes, Hetty Mingle ignores her dying mother's advice about fortune hunters – but will she end up regretting it? Starring Mary O’Farrell and Brenda Bruce. 
 
The Golden Slipper by Anna Katharine Green finds New York debutante (and reluctant detective) Violet Strange tasked with investigating four rich young women suspected of multiple thefts. Teresa Gallagher stars as the socialite sleuth, with Crawford Logan as her client, Driscoll. 
 
Concluding this collection is Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey, which finds psychologist Lucy Pym investigating a death at a women’s physical education college. Starring Julia Foster as Miss Pym and Joan Sims as her friend, headmistress Henrietta Hodge, this dark, engrossing psychological thriller is a late Golden Age gem. 
 
First published 1910 (The Blue Cross), 1912 (The Affair of the German Dispatch-Box), 1915 (The Golden Slipper), 1924 (The House of the Arrow, An Unrecorded Instance), 1929 (The Ringer), 1946 (Miss Pym Disposes) 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

G.K. Chesterton

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