Time for this weekend’s Hammer movie – Dick Barton Special Agent.
Dick Barton may not be a name familiar to you, but between 1946 and 1951, he was as well known in British popular culture as, well, Doctor Who is now. Every weekday evening on BBC Radio’s Light Programme, for 15 minutes at a time, Captain Richard Barton, a former marine commando, together with his bestest pals Jock Anderson and Snowey White solved all sorts of crimes, escaped from dangerous situations and saved the nation from disaster. And the nation loved him: at its peak, 15 million people listened to Dick’s adventures every day.
Even if you haven’t heard of Dick Barton, you’ll have heard his theme tune, possibly on That Mitchell and Webb Look: ‘The Devil’s Gallop’. That’s how ingrained he became in popular culture.
To say the plots were slightly implausible, hackneyed and even cliched would be understate the case. There was literally no cliffhanger, no situation so dangerous, that Dick Barton couldn’t get out of it in a trice, prompting the national catchphrase “With one bound, Dick was free!”
Dick did die a death eventually – at the hands of BBC politics. When The Archers came along in 1951, the establishment breathed a sigh of relief since they could finally get rid of the very un-BBC sensationalism of Barton and his friends. Dick lost his time slot and that was that.
Nevertheless, he was much loved and for the BBC’s golden jubilee in 1972, it broadcast a new, abridged 10-episode version of the very first Barton serial, which featured many members of the original cast: Noel Johnson as Dick Barton, John Mann as Snowey, William Fox as Colonel Gardiner, Alex McCrindle as Jock and Margaret Robertson as Jean Hunter.
ITV eventually picked up Barton’s baton, and in 1979 made a series called Dick Barton – Special Agent, which aired in an early evening slot at the weekends. Available again in 15-minute chunks, the four stories broken down into 32 episodes starred Tony Vogel as Dick Barton, Anthony Heaton as Snowey, James Cosmo as Jock and John Gantrel as Sir Richard Marley. It’s now available on DVD, in case you’re interested, and here’s the title sequence.
Dick and his chums have also been revived yearly in a series of musicals that have toured Britain and lasted an impressive 11 years – last year was the first year that there wasn’t a new Barton musical.
But back when Dick was at the peak of his popularity, Hammer Films obtained the rights to make a movie featuring Dick called Dick Barton Special Agent. So successful was this movie that Hammer went on to make two more movies, Dick Barton: Strikes Back (1949) and Dick Barton at Bay (1950), and had it not been for untimely death of the star Don Stannard, there would have been a fourth, Dick Barton in Africa. Nevertheless, it was the popularity of the movies that encouraged Hammer to look at other BBC properties, including The Quatermass Experiment.
It’s only an hour or so long, it’s deeply, spiffingly thrilling, so enjoy Dick Barton: Special Agent in glorious HD below or all three movies on DVD! It’s preceded by an introduction from Robert JE Simpson.
This one looks interesting – good cast, great writer, interesting set-up. It’s going to be on Radio 4:
The Golden Age The Golden Age is a brand new sitcom written by Arthur Mathews (Father Ted, Big Train) and set in the rarefied world of BBC Broadcasting House in the 1930s.
Featuring an all-star cast including Robert Bathurst (Downton Abbey, Hut 33) and Vicky McClure (This Is England, BAFTA Best Actress 2011). Also starring Ford Kiernan, Kevin Bishop, Malcolm Tierney and Pippa Evans.
The Golden Age documents the various challenges faced by the BBC’s Director of Programmes, John Tharb (Robert Bathurst) and his strong-willed young assistant Mabel (Vicky McClure), as they struggle with the day to day problems of dealing with the foibles and fragile egos of radio’s biggest stars. This includes managing the sexual ambitions of Ronaldo, the flamboyant band-leader and keeping up the spirits of Roger Eves, the most depressed newsreader in history. And all this is done whilst trying to politely navigate increasingly bizarre orders from the irascible Lord Reith (Ford Keirnan).
Tharb and Mabel face many problems, such as when the police visit Broadcasting House, concerned by the discovery of people dying in front of their wireless sets – what or who could be behind the mystery? Likewise, how does Tharb negotiate his way out of broadcasting Lord Reith’s controversial new pastime: grouse-hunting with artillery guns? And what about that real hot-button topic – how does the 1930s BBC go about making programmes for women?!
To hear the answers to these silly questions and much more, please join us at the BBC Radio Theatre on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 July. Doors open at 7.15pm.
Few unscrupulous lawyers have been loved as much as Horace Rumpole. While the airwaves have been littered for years with lawyers fighting the good fight – whether in the US in the guise of Perry Mason or Ben Matlock or in the UK as Kavanagh QC or Peter Kingdom – lawyers who fundamentally don’t care whether their client is guilty or not and will defend villains as well as they defend the innocent have been fundamentally scarce.
Maybe it took a real lawyer, John Mortimore, to expose that truer side of the legal profession. Mortimer began his Rumpole journey by writing a Wednesday Play, Infidelity Took Place, for the BBC in 1968. This satirical play – a comment on newly enacted English divorce laws – told the story of a happily married couple who decide to get divorced to take advantage of the more beneficial tax situation they would enjoy were they legally separated. The play features a character, Leonard Hoskins (played by John Nettleton of Yes, Minister fame), a divorce lawyer with a domineering mother, who can be seen as an early prototype of Horace Rumpole
In the early 1970s, Mortimer was appearing for some football hooligans when James Burge, with whom he was sharing the defence, told him: “I’m really an anarchist at heart, but I don’t think even my darling old Prince Peter Kropotkin would have approved of this lot.”
“And there,” Mortimer realised, “I had Rumpole.”
Mortimer approached Play for Today producer Irene Shubik, who had overseen Infidelity Took Place, with a new idea for a play entitled My Darling Prince, Peter Kropotkin that centred around a barrister called Horace Rumbold. Rumbold would have a particular interest in 19th-century anarchists, especially the Russian Peter Kropotkin from whom the title of the play was drawn. The character’s name was later changed to Horace Rumpole when it was discovered that there was a real barrister called Horace Rumbold. The title of the play was briefly changed to Jolly Old Jean Jacques Rousseau before settling on the less esoteric Rumpole of the Bailey.
Finding Rumpole
Mortimer was keen on Michael Hordern for the role of Rumpole. When Hordern proved unavailable, the part went to Australian-born actor Leo McKern. Mortimer was initially unenthusiastic about McKern’s casting but changed his opinion upon seeing him at rehearsal. Rumpole, a barrister with a strict code – if there’s any doubt whatsoever about whether someone committed a crime, they’re entitled to the presumption of innocence and as strong a defence as possible – is as cynical about the justice system (“Crime doesn’t pay, but it’s a living”) as he is passionate about defending his clients; in this case, a sullen black youth accused of stabbing a stranger at a bus stop. Though his wife (“she who must be obeyed”) needles him as “an old Bailey hack”, he rises to the occasion after determining that there is more to this “20-minute case” than simply “just another boy with a dagger”, and Rumpole spends the play getting the best of scowling judges and corrupt policemen in a perfect performance by McKern.
Aware of the potential for further stories centred on Rumpole, Irene Shubik approached the BBC’s Head of Plays, Christopher Morahan, and obtained permission from him to commission a further six Rumpole of the Bailey scripts from John Mortimer. However, Morahan left his post at the BBC a short time later and his successor was not interested in turning Rumpole of the Bailey into a series. At around this time, Shubik was contacted by Verity Lambert (one of this blog’s ‘blog goddesses‘, the then head of drama at Thames Television, who was looking for ideas for an up-market drama series. Impressed with Rumpole of the Bailey, Lambert offered Shubik the opportunity to bring the series to Thames. John Mortimer readily agreed, since it would mean more money, and Shubik (and Rumpole) duly left the BBC in late 1976.
Rumpole was to appear in seven series on ITV, as well as a TV movie, radio programmes and books. But thanks to the power of YouTube, you can watch that very first Rumpole Play for Today after the jump, since it’s this week’s Wednesday Play. If you like it, don’t forget to buy it from Amazon!
Looks interesting – good pedigree. Do you think it’ll make series?
The Resistance (pilot) The Resistance is a sitcom about Katrina Lyons, who pops back to her parents’ for the weekend to borrow some money and finds herself in the middle of an alien invasion.
The Geonin are not your typical alien invaders. Instead of the usual all-at-once approach to global domination (which usually fails, they’ve noticed) they’ve decided to start small. They’ve encircled a small English village with an impenetrable heat wave, preventing anything coming in or out. With Cresdon Green as their base, they will learn about humankind, using their knowledge to effectively and efficiently spread their domination over the rest of the world, bit by bit.
Katrina just wanted to borrow the money for a deposit on a flat. And, having been turned down, she’s really in no mood to stick around but the Geonin are not letting anyone in or out, and she has tickets to the theatre in London. So what choice does she have but to start The Resistance?
The Resistance is written by Eddie Robson (That Mitchell and Webb Sound), and stars Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff), Alison Steadman (Gavin and Stacey, Hamish and Dougal) and Peter Davison (A Very Peculiar Practice, The Complete Guide to Parenting).
Date: Wednesday 13 June
Venue: BBC Radio Theatre, London
Doors open: 7.15pm
