Dick Barton

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Dick Barton - Special Agent was a popular radio programme on the BBC Light Programme from 1946 to 1951.

Dick Barton was the BBC’s first daily serial, airing at 6.45 each weekday evening. It featured ex-Commando Captain Richard Barton (Noel Johnson, later Duncan Carse and Gordon Davies) who, with his mates Jock Anderson (Alex McCrindle) and Snowy White (John Mann) solved all sorts of crimes, escaped from dangerous situations and saved the nation from disaster time and again. At its peak it had an audience of 15 million.

1 Theme music
2 History
3 Further reading

[edit] Theme music

Its memorable signature tune is called Devil's Gallop by Charles Williams.

[edit] History

[edit] Writing

The series was devised by producer Norman Collins. The scripts were written by Edward J. Mason and Geoffrey Webb and, listened to today in the 21st century can seem very hackneyed and cliched, almost to the point of parody. It gave rise to a popular catchphrase of the late forties "With one bound Dick was free!" which made light of the fact that no matter how dangerous the cliffhanging situation Dick found himself in every evening, he would always escape by the easiest - and usually most contrived - method.

The BBC, conscious that the biggest audience for the programme was schoolboys, wrote a strict code of what Dick and chums could and couldn't do, one clause famously stating "Sex plays no part in his adventures."

[edit] End of radio series

However, in 1951 The Archers was first broadcast at 11.45 am on the Light Programme (later reconstituted into the still extant BBC Radio 2). The Archers proved so popular that Dick was killed off, in order to make way for this "Every day story of country folk" which took over his slot at Easter 1951.

When Jock Gallagher became head of the Midland Region of BBC Radio in the early 1970's, he said that he had always hated The Archers because it killed off his boyhood hero, Dick Barton.^{[citation needed]}

In 1972 the BBC broadcast a new, abridged, 10 episode version of the very first Barton serial - 'The Secret Weapon.'

[edit] Films

Beginning in 1948, the Hammer film company made a series of Dick Barton films, which were successful enough to have been planned as a long-running set in the style of Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes, or the later James Bond. The star, Don Stannard, was killed in a car crash, and Hammer decided to discontinue the films after only three were made.

[edit] Television

In 1979, Southern Television, which, despite being one of the smallest and least influential of the ITV Network Companies, had secured itself a strong reputation for adapting old literary sources for modern television audiences. Their greatest success had been Worzel Gummidge an updated version of Barbara Euphan Todd's much loved character with an excellent central performance from Jon Pertwee. Riding on the back of the success of this and an updated version of Enid Blyton's "Famous Five", Southern made a series of Dick Barton - Special Agent which ran in an early evening slot on the ITV Network.

Like the original, it ran in 15 minute segments and was again accompanied by the iconic theme tune, the titles playing against an animated dagger and target motif. The production blighted by financial troubles (Southern Television lost its franchise shortly afterwards). Some critics said that it was a mistake to try to resurrect Dick, one going so far as to say that Dick, dressed in his long mac and trilby hat, looked more like a dirty old man than a crimefighter.^{[citation needed]}

Cast of the show were Tony Vogel as Dick Barton, Anthony Heaton as Snowey White, James Cosmo as Jock Anderson, John Gantrel as Sir Richard Marley. The 26x15 minutes episodes were in colour and were transmitted twice weekly between 6th January till 8th April 1979.

Adventure One written by Clive Exton, in eight parts. Demobbed after six years in the army, old friend Sir Richard Marley asks Barton to look into the disappearance of his daughter Virginia (Fiona Fullerton) and son Rex (Kevan Sheehan). They come up against master criminal, Melganik played by John G Heller.

Adventure Two written by Julian Bond, in eight parts. At a late night celebration at the "Blue Parrot", Barton and his colleagues rescue a young girl, Lucy Cameron (Debbie Farrington) from being attacked. She tells them that her father, George Cameron (Colin Rix) has been kidnapped by the evil Muller (Guy Deghy) who is after the deadly poison he has developed.

Adventure Three written by Clive Exton, in six parts. Celebrating from the last adventure, Dick's Aunt Agatha (Stella Kemball) rings up and tells him that her house has vanished. A further phone call from Sir Richard Marley reveals that scientist, Harold Jenkins (Peter Godfrey) has perfected his ultimate weapon and Barton and comrades soon find themselves up against Melganik again.

Adventure Four written by Julian Bond, in four parts. Dandy Parkes (Terence Seward), a middle-aged playboy and Amanda Aston (Marsha Fitzalan), wife of a respected Whitehall official are threatened by the Drew Brothers (Ernie Drew by Bernard Kay}.

Rumours abounded about a revival, with actor Nigel Havers being tipped for the role, but to date this has come to nothing.

[edit] Stage musical

A stage musical, Dick Barton, Special Agent, written by Phil Willmott and directed by Ted Craig premièred at the Warehouse Theatre in December 1998 to great acclaim and productions toured Britain between 1998 and 2001. Following its success, a further four "episodes" were written and performed between 1999 and 2004 (episodes 4 & 5 written by Duncan Wisbey, Stefan Bednarczyk and Ted Craig). The sixth installment, Young Dick Barton - The Making of a Legend, book by Duncan Wisbey, lyrics by Stefan Bednarczyk, directed by Ted Craig, premiered at the Warehouse Theatre, on 8 December 2006 and the critically acclaimed, sell-out run played until 23 February 2007.

[edit] Radio pastiche

In the late 1990s, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a sequel/pastiche called Richard Barton, General Practitioner, in which Dick Barton's son Richard is a country doctor caring for his apparently senile father, who retreats into fantasies based on his past adventures, believing that there are devilish enemies lurking around him. The series was written by Edward Mason's son, and featured Moray Watson and Robert Bathurst as Dick Barton and his son Richard.