Agatha Christie: Three Missing Dramas [files not found]

NOTE: The MP3 files used by this podcast appear to be missing. They may have been removed permanently from their source location. It was assumed that  recordings, commissioned by the BBC between 1947 and 1954, had succumbed to the fate of post-war drama, destroyed after broadcast.  Three however were uncovered in near-perfect condition.1 Butter in a Lordly Dish OTX 1948, OTX 1956, centrs around the adulterous Sir Luke Enderby KC, whose latest rendezvous leads him into dangerous territory.  Sir Luke Enderby, eminent prosecution barrister and seasoned womaniser, bites off more than he can chew, when the case of a serial killer comes back to haunt him. A tense one act thriller that’s contains one of Christie’s most gruesome murders.  “The bloodcurdling scream of a dying man in one of Agatha Christie’s most gruesome murder plots.” - Jack Malvern, The TimesMvstery Playhouse presents 'THE DETECTION CLUB' *Light Programme, 13 January 1948 21.30 A series of plays specially written by its members1-' Butter in a Lordly Dish ' by Agatha Christie Produced by Martyn C. Webster Sir Luke Enderby K C: Richard WilliamsLady Enderby: Lydia SherwoodJulia Keene: Rita ValeSusan Warren: Thea WellsMrs Petter: Dora GregoryFlorrie: Jill NyasaHayward: Janet MorrisonPorter: David KossoffTHE DETECTION CLUBBBC Home Service Basic, 8 July 1948 16.00 A series of plays specially written by its members 1 — 'Butter in a Lordly Dish' by Agatha Christie Produced by Martyn C.Webster Sir Luke Enderby, K.C.: Richard WilliamsLady Enderby: Lydia SherwoodJulia Keene: Rita ValeSusan Warren: Thea WellsMrs Petter: Vivienne ChattertonFlorrie: Jill NyasaHay ward: Janet MorrisonPorter: David KossoffAgatha Christie SeasonThirty Minute TheatreLight Programme, 11 March 1956 17.30 Richard Williams and Cecile Chevreau in - BUTTER IN A LORDLY DISH" An original radio play by Agatha Christie Produced by Martyn C. Webster Florrie: Beryl CalderMrs Petter: Elisabeth MaudeJulia Keene: Cecile ChevreauHayward: Janet MorrisonSusan Warren: Barbara LottSir Luke Enderby, K C: Richard WilliamLady Enderby (Marion): Molly RankinA railway porter: Michael Turner2 Murder in the Mews, 1955, a Poirot short story in which a woman’s body is found dead in cloudy circumstances in the aftermath of Guy Fawkes night. Did she die by her own hand or someone else's? Inspector Japp calls for the assistance of Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot/ First published in the UK in Woman's Journal in 1936, it later appeared as a book collection in 1937.  Published as Dead Man's Mirror in the United State.Radio Theatre: Murder in the MewsLight Programme, 20 March 1955 15.30 Dramatised for radio by Anthony Aspinall from the story by Agatha Christie.Produced by David H. Godfrey Freddie Hogg: Ian WhittakerChief Inspector Japp: Jack MelfordHercule Poirot: Richard WilliamsDetective-Sergeant Jameson: Ronald SidneyDoctor Brett: Duncan McIntyreJane Plenderleith: Monica GreyMrs Hogg: Ella MilneCharles Laverton-West: Allan CuthbertsonMajor Henry Eustace: William Fox3 Personal Call 1960. First performed on the BBC Radio Light Programme on Monday, 31 May 1954. A couple’s lives are heavily impacted when they receive a telephone call from a woman named Fay. James Brent receives a chilling telephone call seemingly from beyond the grave. His dead wife, Fay, is waiting for him at the very place she met her grisly end. At his new wife’s insistence, they go to meet her as requested and in the process discover a terrifying and disturbing truth.PERSONAL CALLLight Programme, 31 May 1954 20.30 Was it a voice from the dead? A ' Detection. Club ' play written by Agatha Christie with Sulwen Morgan - Cyril Shaps - Peter Claughton - Dorothy Clement Alaa Reid - Hugh David and Ruth Cracknell Produced by Ayton Whitaker Fay: Jessie EvansJames Brent: James McKechniePam Brent: Mary WimbushMrs Lamb: Joan SandersonEvan Curtis: Hamilton Dyce' Mary Curtis: Janet BurnellMr Enderby: Norman ChidgeyInspeotor Narracott: Edgar NorfolkPERSONAL CALLLight Programme, 24 May 1955 21.00 It is a personal call for James Brent-from Newton Abbot-from Fay. But that cannot be, for Fay is dead, as James should know. And yet it sounds like Fay-that is the mystery. Produced by Ayton Whitaker Fay: Jessie EvansJames Brent: James McKechniePam Brent: Mary WimbushMrs Lamb: Joan SandersonEvan Curtis: Hamilton DyceMary Curtis: Janet BurnellMr Enderby: Norman ChidgeyInspector Narracott: Edgar NorfolkOthers taking part: Sulwen Morgan Cyril Shaps. Peter Claughton Dorothy Clement, Alan Reid Hugh David, and Ruth Cracknell THIRTY-MINUTE THEATRELight Programme, 29 November 1960 21.00Personal Call A play for radio by AGATHA CHRISTIE During a cocktail party a personal call comes through for James Brent which proves to have alarming consequences. Produced by David H. Godfrey Mrs Lamb: Vivienne ChattertonJames Brent: Ivan BrandtFay Beat: Rice BevanPamela Brent: Barbara LottEvan: Michael TurnerMary: Eva StuartMr Enderby: James ThomasonInspector Narracott: George HaganOther parts played by members of the BBC Drama Repertory CompanyWritten after a return from the Mallowans' annual archaeological trip, Agatha Christie was praised by the producer as having included all modern radio techniques in her new playOf the plays identification, Mathew Prichard, Christie’s grandson and Chairman of her estate, said they were ‘a magnificent discovery’. Fans who have exhausted the authors extensive oeuvre can rest assured that the works are ‘vintage Christie and are a hugely important addition to the canon.’ * The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, Hugh Walpole, John Rhode, Jessie Rickard, Baroness Emma Orczy, R. Austin Freeman, G. D. H. Cole, Margaret Cole, E. C. Bentley, Henry Wade, and H. C. Bailey. Anthony Berkeley was instrumental in setting up the club, and the first president was G. K. Chesterton. There was a fanciful initiation ritual with an oath probably written by either Chesterton or Sayers, and the club held regular dinner meetings in London.https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/the-golden-age-of-murder-agatha-christie-and-the-detection-club/http://www.cs.appstate.edu/~sjg/detectionclub.html