Radio Anthology Series (1943-96, BBC 4)
Saturday-Night Theatre was a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 4 that ran feature-length, standalone dramatizations on Saturday nights for over 50 years, dishing up plenty of crowd-pleasing thrillers, comedies and mysteries, with the usual Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes offerings. The plays—usually 90 minutes long–included stage plays, book adaptations and original dramatizations.
It’s abrupt cancellation in 1996 led to much speculation. The reasons for its removal are somewhat uncertain. One theory was that modern audiences didn’t have the patience to listen to anything more than an hour long.
Unfortunately, most of the plays, all the way up to the early 70s, are considered “lost or destroyed.”
Too bad, because it would be a hoot to listen to some of them. I’ve just started poking around, and I’ve already found a few shows I’d love to hear…
RADIO
- SATURDAY-NIGHT THEATRE
(1943-96, BBC 4)
90-minute episodes
Among the shows presented on Saturday Night Theatre, of interest to visitors to this site, are:-
“The Hound Of The Baskervilles” (August 5, 1961)
Based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle -
“A Study In Scarlet” (December 22, 1962)
Based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle -
“The Sign Of Four” (March 2, 1963)
Based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle -
“Blood Sport” (July 31, 1975)
Based on the novel by Dick Francis -
“The Man in the Dark” (November 6, 1976)
Based on the novel by John Ferguson
Starring Kenneth McClellan as FrancisMacNab - “The Godwulf Manuscript” (July 21, 1984)
Based on the novel by Robert B. Parker
Starring Gary Waldhorn as SPENSER -
“The Maltese Falcon” (December 12, 1984)
Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett - “Blue Moves” (November 15, 1986)
Written by Mark Brennan
Directed by Mark Cooper
Starring Christopher Ravenscroft as John Valentine
“A few days ago I met a girl. I was at a club. We spent the evening together. Then we spent the night together. When I woke up she was gone. I want to find her again.”
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Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
