Four Full-cast Dramatisations

Edgar Wallace: A Classic BBC Radio Crime Collection

A collection of the surviving radio crime dramas from ‘The King of Thrillers’ 
 
Edgar Wallace was a bestselling author, journalist, playwright and film director, and the creator of King Kong. A prolific writer and celebrity superstar, he was thought to be responsible for a quarter of all new books read in Britain by the late 1920s. Presented here are full-cast adaptations of four of his classic crime novels, readings of four short detective stories, and a vintage recording of Wallace reading one of his own stories. Tying them all together is linking commentary from Edgar Wallace: The Man Who Wrote Too Much?, a documentary celebration of his life and work presented by crime writer Mark Billingham. 
 
The Ringer – Seeking revenge for his sister’s death, vigilante and master of disguise ‘The Ringer’ returns from the dead to target shady lawyer Herbert Meister. Can Scotland Yard catch the legendary assassin before he exacts his vengeance? David Davis and Alexander John star in this tense thriller. 
 
The Mind of Mr JG Reeder – Unassuming civil servant Mr JG Reeder has the mind of a criminal, which he uses to solve four baffling mysteries in 1920s London. ‘The Poetical Policeman’ sees him tackling a bank robbery and a nightwatchman's death; ‘The Troupe’ finds him probing a jewellery fraud with a theatrical link; in ‘The Green Mamba’ he thwarts a notorious villain, and in ‘The Strange Case’, he sets out to uncover the truth behind the death of a government minister. Read by David Horovitch. 
 
On the Spot – Set in 1920s Chicago during Prohibition, Edgar Wallace’s most famous play centres around Tony Perelli, a gangland boss who loads ‘his women with jewels and the coffins of his enemies with orchids’. But Chief of Police John Kelly is after him, determined to see him hang for murder… Starring Peter Woodthorpe as Perelli and Trevor Martin as Kelly. 
 
The Man in the Ditch – A vintage recording from 1928 of Edgar Wallace reading his own short story of murder, intrigue and gangland vengeance. 
 
The Case of the Frightened Lady – The ancestral home of Lord Lebanon, Mark’s Priory, is the scene of two murders. Inspector Tanner goes down to investigate and is confronted by a terrified young woman… Starring Simon Lack, Lewis Stringer, William Eedle and Valerie White. 
 
The Green Pack – West Africa, 1931. When wealthy investor Louis Creet cheats three young explorers out of their rightful share in the goldmine they discovered, they make a deadly pact. Soon after, he is found shot – but did one of them really murder him? David Timson, Paul Gaymon, Peter Egan and Francis de Wolff star. 
 
NB: These stories are set in the 1920s and 1930s, and contain some discriminatory language and attitudes that were perhaps typical of the time. Due to the age and off-air nature of the recordings, the sound quality may vary. 
 
Copyright © Edgar Wallace 1925 (The Mind of Mr JG Reeder), 1929 (The Ringer), 1930 (On the Spot), 1931 (The Case of the Frightened Lady), 1933 (The Green Pack) 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) © 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

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

The Golden Age: Mystery and Murder

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