Francis Durbridge

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Francis Henry Durbridge (25 November 1912 – 11 April 1998) was an English playwright and author.

Durbridge was born in Hull, and educated at Bradford Grammar School, where he was encouraged to write by his English teacher. He continued to do so while studying English at Birmingham University. After graduating in 1933 he worked for a short time as a stockbroker's clerk before selling a radio play, Promotion, to the BBC at the age of 21.[1]

In 1938 Durbridge created the character Paul Temple, a crime novelist and detective. With Steve Trent, a Fleet Street journalist and later his wife, Temple solved numerous crimes in the glamorous world of the leisured middle classes, first on radio, then in films and, from 1969 to 1971, in a television series. In addition to the Paul Temple series, Durbridge wrote other mysteries for radio and television, many of which were also produced for German and Italian television and radio.

Durbridge also forged a successful career as a writer for the stage with seven plays, the last of which, Sweet Revenge, was written in 1991. He also wrote 43 novels, many of which were adapted from his scripts, sometimes with the help of others.[2]

Durbridge married Norah Lawley in 1940. They had two sons. He died at his home in Barnes, aged 85, in 1998.[2]

Work for radio

Paul Temple in the United Kingdom

Durbridge wrote twenty Paul Temple serials for the radio. The first was Send for Paul Temple, broadcast in eight episodes on the BBC Midland Regional Programme from 8 April 1938. Hugh Morton played Paul and Steve was played by Bernadette Hodgson. In 1939 Carl Bernard took over the part of Paul. After the war the character was played by a succession of different actors: Barry Morse (1945), Howard Marion-Crawford (1946) and Kim Peacock (1946–1951). Peter Coke took over the part from the 1954 serial, Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case, onwards.

Marjorie Westbury took over the part of Steve from the fifth serial, Send for Paul Temple Again (1945), although she had a small part in the fourth serial, Paul Temple Intervenes (1942). She remained as Steve for the rest of the radio run. To many people, Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury are most firmly identified with Paul and Steve.

The original signature tune was taken from Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, with incidental music taken from the works of other composers, including Tintagel by Sir Arnold Bax. The signature tune was later changed to Coronation Scot by Vivian Ellis. The BBC shipped recordings of the serials to other Commonwealth countries where they were repeated long after they had finished in their home market.

Repeating the recordings on the BBC7 digital speech channel revived interest in the serials in the early 2000s. The BBC then released all the complete recordings known to survive on CDs and cassettes.

On Monday 7 August 2006, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first episode of a new production of Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery, a lost 1947-produced serial. The re-creation used the original 1947 script, vintage sound effects, music and microphones, and carefully reproduced 1940s upper class accents. Paul Temple was played by Crawford Logan and Steve by Gerda Stevenson. This production was repeated on Radio 4 from mid-June 2007. Listeners complained because the repeat was scheduled at the same time of day as the original broadcast. BBC Audio and Music head Jenny Abramsky told 6 July 2007's Radio 4's listeners' complaints programme, Feedback, that more repeats were inevitable because the level at which Parliament had set the television licence fee – the BBC's principal source of income – made spending cuts vital.

Paul Temple in Germany

Throughout the 1960s German radio adapted twelve Paul Temple serials. Like the BBC originals, each part ended with a cliffhanger, making them "Strassenfeger" ("street-clearers"), which were so popular as to leave the streets deserted. The actors were of national renown, with Paul Temple played by Luxembourg-born René Deltgen, and supported by Gustav Knuth, Paul Klinger and others. All of these German radio serials are, like the BBC originals, available on CD.

In 1967, The European Broadcasting Union invited Durbridge to write an original radio serial for the international market - La Boutique - which was broadcast in more than fifteen countries, and in a variety of languages.

Work for television

Between 1952 and 1980 Durbridge wrote 17 TV serials for the BBC. Until 1959 they were shown under the umbrella title "A Francis Durbridge Serial" which was then changed to "Francis Durbridge Presents". Versions were also made in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. Even after Durbridge stopped writing, some serials were re-made in the '80s and '90s.

The Scarf was a six-part serial starring Stephen Murray and Donald Pleasence and was aired by the BBC in February and March 1959. The theme music is The Girl from Corsica by Trevor Duncan. There was uproar in Germany in 1962 when comedian Wolfgang Neuss revealed in a newspaper who would turn out to be the murderer in the last episode of a German version called Das Halstuch.[3]

In the 1960-61 The World of Tim Frazer was broadcast as an 18-episode serial featuring three adventures starring Jack Hedley in the title role. They attracted almost 80% of all TV-viewers – partly because, at that time, many European countries had one TV station each.

In sixities and seventies, the mini-series written by Durbridge were among the most popular in Italy. They were played by the most important Italian theatrical actors of that age, among which Aroldo Tieri, Giuliana Lojodice, Nando Gazzolo, Ugo Pagliai, Luigi Vannucchi.

In the mid-1960s, mini-series based on the Paul Temple novels appeared on TV in Europe, especially in Britain and Germany. The first 52 episodes of the 64-part 1969-1971 television series was the first international television co-production. It was made by the BBC with the Germany's ZDF. Paul Temple was played by British actor Francis Matthews and Ros Drinkwater played Steve.

The colour episodes of Paul Temple were re-run on UK Gold in its formative years. In July 2009 Acorn Media are releasing the existing colour episodes on DVD Format. These were cleared at the BBFC on 17 March 2009.[4]

Novels

Durbridge wrote several Paul Temple novels in collaboration with John Thewes, Douglas Rutherford and Charles Hatten – and those he wrote with Rutherford appeared under the pen name "Paul Temple," making the fictional writer "real."

List of radio plays and serials

Paul Temple

  • Send for Paul Temple (1938)
  • Paul Temple And The Front Page Men (1938)
  • News of Paul Temple (1939)
  • Paul Temple Intervenes (1942)
  • Send for Paul Temple Again (1945)
  • A Case for Paul Temple (1946)
  • Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair (1946)
  • Paul Temple and Steve (1947)
  • Mr. and Mrs. Paul Temple (1947)
  • Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery (1947)
  • Paul Temple and the Curzon Case (1948)
  • Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery (1949)
  • Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair (1950)
  • Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery (1951)
  • Paul Temple and Steve Again (1953)
  • Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case (1954)
  • Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery (1955) (new production)
  • Paul Temple and the Lawrence Affair (1956)
  • Paul Temple and the Spencer Affair (1957)
  • Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair (1959) (new production)
  • Paul Temple and the Conrad Case (1959)
  • Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case (1959) (new production)
  • Paul Temple and the Margot Mystery (1961)
  • Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery (1963) (new production)
  • Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery (1965)
  • Paul Temple and the Alex Affair (1968) (revised version of Send For Paul Temple Again)
  • Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery (2006) (new production)

Other radio plays and serials

  • Persuasion (1933)
  • Information Received (1938)
  • And Anthony Sherwood Laughed (1940)
  • Were Strangers (1941)
  • Mr. Harrington Died Tomorrow (1942)
  • The Essential Heart (1943)
  • Frewell Leicester Square (1943)
  • Over My Dead Body (1946)
  • John Washington Esquire (1949)
  • What Do You Think? (1962)
  • La Boutique (1967)

List of TV series

  • The Broken Horseshoe (1952)
  • Operation Dilomat (1952)
  • The Teckman Biography (1953–54)
  • The Teckman Mystery (1954)
  • Portrait Of Alison (1955)
  • My Friend Charles (1956)
  • The Other Man (1956)
  • A Time Of Day (1957)
  • The Vicious Circle (1957)
  • The Scarf (1959)
  • The World Of Tim Frazer (1960–61)
  • The Desperate People (1963)
  • Melissa (1964)
  • A Man Called Harry Brent (1965)
  • Bat Out Of Hell (1966)
  • Paul Temple (12 episodes) (1968–69)
  • Paul Temple (52 episodes) (1969–71)
  • The Passenger (1971)
  • Melissa (1974)
  • The Doll (1975)
  • Breakaway - The Family Affair (1980)
  • Breakaway - The Local Affair (1980)

In 1997 Channel4 Broadcast a version of 'Melissa' adapted by Alan Bleasdale from the Francis Durbridge novel. Jennifer Ehle played Melissa.

List of plays

  • Suddenly At Home (1971)
  • The Gentle Hook (1974)
  • House Guest (1976)
  • Murder With Love (1976)
  • Deadly Nightcap (1983)
  • A Touch Of Danger (1987)
  • The Small Hours (1991)
  • Sweet Revenge (1993)
  • Fatal Encounter (2002-posthumous)

List of films

  • 1946 Send for Paul Temple (with Anthony Hulme as Paul Temple)
  • 1948 Calling Paul Temple (based upon Send for Paul Temple Again, with John Bentley as Paul Temple)
  • 1950 Paul Temple's Triumph (based upon News of Paul Temple, with John Bentley as Paul Temple)
  • 1952 Paul Temple Returns (based upon Paul Temple Intervenes, with John Bentley as Paul Temple)
  • 1953 The Broken Horseshoe
  • 1953 Operation Diplomat
  • 1954 The Teckman Mystery (based upon The Teckman Biography)
  • 1955 Postmark for Danger (based upon Portrait of Alison)
  • 1957 The Vicious Circle (based upon My Friend Charles)

List of novels

Paul Temple novels

  • Send for Paul Temple (1938)
  • Paul Temple and the Front Page Men (with Charles Hatton) (1939)
  • News of Paul Temple (1940)
  • Paul Temple Intervenes (1944)
  • Send for Paul Temple Again! (1948)
  • The Tyler Mystery (with Douglas Rutherford) (1957)
  • East of Algiers (with Douglas Rutherford) (1959)
  • Paul Temple and the Kelby Affair (1970)
  • Paul Temple and the Harkdale Robbery (1970)
  • The Geneva Mystery (1971)
  • The Curzon Case (1971)
  • Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery (1986)
  • Paul Temple and the Madison Case (1988)
  • Paul Temple and the Conrad Case (1989)

Tim Frazer novels

  • The World of Tim Frazer (1962)
  • Tim Frazer Again (1964)
  • Tim Frazer Gets the Message (1978)

Other novels

  • Back Room Girl (1950)
  • Beware of Johnny Washington (1951)
  • Design for Murder (1951)
  • The Tyler Mystery (with Douglas Rutherford) (1957)
  • The Other Man (1958)
  • A Time of Day (1959)
  • The Scarf (1960)
  • Portrait of Alison (1962)
  • My Friend Charles (1963)
  • Another Woman's Shoes (1965)
  • The Desperate People (1966)
  • Dead to the World (1967)
  • My Wife Melissa (1967)
  • The Pig-Tail Murder (1969)
  • A Man Called Harry Brent (1970)
  • Bat out of Hell (1972)
  • A Game of Murder (1975)
  • The Passenger (1977)
  • Breakaway (1981)
  • The Doll (1982)

References

  1. ↑ IMDB - Accessed 17 March 2011
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Independent Obituary 13 April 1998
  3. ↑ BBC airing dates
  4. ↑ BBFC Clearance with Episode Titles

External links

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