Careering and Cocktails.
|
This is the case of the missing girl enrolled at a "finishing school" in Bavaria. Thanks to Francis Durbridge's tight plotting and the magic of BBC radio, after the disappearance has been explained to Paul Temple and his wife Steve, within 5 minutes we are sharing cocktails with them on the terrace of a country hotel, then 5 minutes later we are with them when they stumble on a body in a deserted house, and after another 5 minutes we have flown with them to Munich and are approaching the prestigious "finishing school" in a hired car.
The pace is even hotter when they return to London six episodes later. Steve barely has time to utter, "Oh, Paul, I'm exhausted. I've never known such..." before the chase continues through hotels, nightclubs and cars with time bombs in them.
A meticulous production and highly-skilled actors ensure that this piece of 1950s escapism can still entertain and enthrall. It can bewilder, too. After repeated hearings I still cannot always understand who caused what to happen where. Is that the way of good mysteries?
|
|
Paul Temple reviewed!
|
|
Listening to Paul Temple reminds us just how much broadcasting has changed in the last 50 years. The out dated accents and class structure are almost comic in this day and age but the formality and politeness are almost reassuring. The murders seem almost gentile and the suspence relaxing rather than hair raising. However these stories are still a pleasent way to pass a few hours and hear the BBC produce popular fiction.
|
|
|
What radio drama was all about.
|
|
Absolutely brilliant. This is what radio drama was all about. Paul Temple is the assuredly smooth novelist/detective ably assisted by his wife Steve as they investigate the disappearance of Betty Conrad, a young girl who has mysteriously disappeared from a Bavarian finishing shool. Paul is asked to help, but should really work on his next novel. As he learns more about the case he becomes intrigued and the search for the truth begins. But who, if anyone, can be trusted? There's over three hours worth of 'edge of the seat' entertainment that goes by at a gallop. With dead-ends and double-crosses you'll be kept guessing until the final tension-filled episode. And just what is the significance of the cocktail stirrers?
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada