Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Traditional Detectives

In these eight intriguing tales, Holmes and Watson solve cases that range from the suspicious to the downright strange. They encounter mysteries as diverse as vanishing staff, secret plans and eccentric lodgers as Holmes is struck down by a rare tropical disease and, later, lured away from retirement to help his country on the eve of war.

The Curzon Case is a gripping story of kidnapping, intrigue and sudden death. Boys disappear from a public school, an aeroplane crashes nearby, and a murder occurs. Paul Temple has his work cut out trying to find out if all the events are connected and tracking down the mysterious Curzon.

It is the 1980s, and Stamford Holmes is still living in the shadow of his famous grandfather. Languidly living on Sherlock's fortune, he reluctantly agrees to do some work as a consulting detective - if only to provide 'Doctor' Watson with material for the Sunday papers. Watson, on the other hand, brings all the bumbling enthusiasm he can muster to their new cases, forever aping and quoting both their grandfathers - and wielding a magnifying glass.

Ariadne Oliver, Queen of Crime Fiction, has been asked to devise a Murder Hunt for a fête at Nasse House, the home of Sir George Stubbs. But she begins to suspect that someone is manipulating the scenario of her game and fears that something very sinister is being planned. She sends for her old friend Hercule Poirot. At first, he is not inclined to take her very seriously, but soon a series of events propels him to change his mind.

Here are six extraordinary adventures, never revealed before, starring Simon Callow as Sherlock Holmes and Nicky Henson as Dr Watson, written by John Taylor.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring Peter Sallis as the great Belgian detective. Tyrannical millionaire Simeon Lee has been estranged from most of his family for years. But now, on Christmas Eve, the old man calls them all together once more. Unable to disobey, the children gather uneasily and wonder what their father’s intentions are. Does he want to clear up past misunderstandings or cause fresh mischief? Before they can find out, a deafening crash is heard overhead.

With his devoted Dr Watson, Holmes emerges from his smoke-filled rooms in Baker Street to grapple with the forces of treachery, intrigue and evil, including the diabolical Professor Moriarty.

Father Gorman is called to a dingy rooming house to see a woman who, before she dies, confesses a bizarre tale to him. Leaving the house he is followed but, in the fog, a fatal blow is struck. Nine names on a piece of paper found in the dead priest's shoe is recovered. The clue leads Mark Easterbrook, a historian, to The Pale Horse Inn, home of three women: a psychic, a medium and a witch.

Wimsey’s mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, rings her son with news of ‘such a quaint thing’. She has heard through a friend that Mr Thipps, a respectable Battersea architect, found a dead man in his bath – wearing nothing but a gold prince-nez. Lord Wimsey makes his way straight over to Mr Thipps, and a good look at the body raises a number of interesting questions. Why would such an apparantly well-groomed man have filthy black toenails, flea bites and the scent of carbolic soap lingering on his corpse?

Lester Powell's Chandleresque detective Philip Odell was a huge hit on the BBC Light Programme between 1947 and 1961, thrilling audiences with his crime-solving adventures in post-war London. This gripping collection brings together the only two surviving radio serials featuring the tough-guy investigator—one of which, Test Room Eight, is published here for the very first time.

John Moffatt stars as the great Belgian detective in a BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation. Famous crime novelist Ariadne Oliver, visiting her friend Judith Butler in the little town of Woodleigh Common, is invited to a Hallowe'en Party put on by society hostess Mrs Rowena Drake for the local teenagers. During her preparations for the party, the conversation turns to Ariadne's grisly novels....

In 2004, a remarkable archive was unearthed at Agatha Christie’s family home, Greenway - 73 of her private notebooks, filled with pencilled jottings and ideas.

Julian Rhind-Tutt reads Sapper's thrilling adventures of private detective Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond, as heard on BBC Radio. In these six episodes, the demobbed officer offers his services to any client offering adventure. This leads him into danger and dashing escapades, as he finds himself grappling a gorilla, trying to save the realm from dreadful peril, protecting a Duchess's pearls and battling to foil the evil Peterson, who is planning to overthrow the Government.

A group of adventurers set out from Damascus to visit the legendary Gate of Baghdad, also known as the Gate of Death. When one of the party is found dead, the others look to the seemingly unimpeachable Mr Parker Pyne.

Down-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to his only friend in the world: Philip Marlowe, Private Investigator. He’s willing to help a man down on his luck, but later, Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe finds himself drawn into a sordid crowd of adulterers and alcoholics in LA’s Idle Valley, where the rich are suffering one big suntanned hangover. Marlowe is sure Lennox didn’t kill his wife, but how many more stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth?

Where has scientist George Cameron disappeared to? What deadly formula has he discovered? Why is his daughter Lucy in such terrible danger? And why was the meek chemist Tibbs so ruthlessly killed? The fate of the country lies in the hands of one man - Dick Barton - Special Agent! An abridged reading of a classic Dick Barton adventure, written by Mike Dorrell and read by Toby Stephens.

A middle-aged man in search of adventure, Bobby Roberts answers an advert in The Times and is dispatched to Milan, to collect a harmless package from a scientist. However, he very soon gets caught up in a terrifying murder.

A thrilling saga of criminal masterminds, espionage and adventure, Edward J. Mason's Dick Barton: Special Agent was a huge hit on the BBC Light Programme between 1946 and 1951. Together with his mates Jock Anderson and Snowy White, ex-Commando Dick faced dastardly villains and deadly peril—but always triumphed ('With one bound, Dick was free!') Half a century later, Edward J's son Lol paid affectionate tribute to the much-loved radio hero with this sparkling pastiche, featuring the joint escapades of father-and-son duo Dick and Richard Barton.

Thorndyke is arguably the first true forensic detective, for while we remember Sherlock Holmes for his genius in unearthing significant detail, only Thorndyke's methods pass the test of real-world authenticity. It might be maintained that while Holmes perhaps did it with style, Thorndyke does it with science.

Theo is determined to seek happiness with her husband's business rival, Vincent. Having fled London for Paris, however, she soon learns of Richard's financial collapse - and discovers that rather more than just his job is at stake.