The Mystery Project

CBC Radio Anthology Series (1992-2002)

“Radio’s Outstanding Theatre of Thrills!”

Evidently, radio drama is harder to kill than anyone suspected.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, last I heard, still to this day cranks out more than 150 hours of original radio drama every year, produced in regional centres across the country and in the network studios in Toronto. Their mandate is to, hopefully “reflect the national fabric of Canada and beyond.”

But beyond the rhetoric, these are generally class productions, well-written and acted — and that includes mysteries.

In fact, throughout much of the nineties the CBC broadcast The Mystery Project on Saturday nights on CBC Radio One, and aired repeats on the following Mondays as part of Richardson’s Roundup, also on Radio One.

They covered all types of mystery and crime fiction, “with excursions into the classics of Sherlock Holmes and visits to the hard-boiled school of American radio from the 40s and 50s,” and generated plenty of new and original detective series as well, including a few worthwhile private investigators.

The series was created by the Bill Howell, who also served as executive producer. Barry Morgan was the co-ordinating producer

RADIO

• THE CBC MYSTERY PROJECT
  (1992-2002, CBC Radio One)
  Co-ordinating Producer: Barry Morgan
  Executive Producer: Bill Howell
  Host/Spokesman: Bob Boving
  • MIDNIGHT CAB
    (1992-96)
  • FLYNN
    (1994)
  • BECKER: HOUSE DETECTIVE
    (1996)
  • IN THE BLOOD
    (1997)
  • PEGGY DELANEY
    (1998-2002)
  • THE FLOWER CASE
    (2000)

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

• The CBC Mystery Project
  Geoff Loker’s log of all shows broadcast from Novermber 1992 to July 6, 2002.

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Geoff Loker for a well-deserved poke in the ribs.