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RADIO BROADCASTS & STAGE PRODUCTIONS |
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< RADIO PRODUCTIONS |
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STAGE PRODUCTIONSPeter Cheyney’s theatre connections began at a very young age. Although he did perform, Cheyny’s stage successes were mostly in writing humourous songs and patter, notably for the music hall hero Fred Karno and before they conquered Hollywood Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, were among Fred Karno’s Army. One of Cheyney’s best-known songs was Reginald the Cheese (see MISC PUBICATIONS for the lyrics. Note: Reginald is Peter’s real name, see LIFE CHAPTER 3 ). Among the stage adaptations of Peter Cheyney novels was Meet Mister Callaghan, adaptated from The Urgent Hangman. Derrick de Marney alternated the lead role of Slim with his brother, Terence de Marney (illustraion, right), at the Garrick Theatre. In 1953 Terence produced, directed and starred in the stage sequel, Dangerous Curves, again at the Garrick. The next year, Derrick (photo, right) played Slim in the film version of Meet Mister Callaghan. The back jacket of the first edition of Sinister Errand proclaims: Novel into Play – B. A. Meyer will present a stage adaptation of THE DARK STREET in 1945 directed by Terence de Marney and Peter Cheyney. |
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The theme tune Dangerous Curves was specially recoreded for the stage production by Les Paul & Mary Ford – who also recorded the theme to Meet Mister Callaghan (see MISC PUBLICATIONS for a copy of the sheet music, with French lyrics). Both recordings are currently available on CD. |
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BBC RADIO BROADCASTSThe first revue ever broadcast by BBC radio was from Manchester in March 1925. Later the same year Peter Cheyney wrote part of the serial for the London revue Radio Radiance (featuring music hall star Tommy Handley making his radio debut). Twenty four years later the BBC broadcast the first of 15 Cheyney serials and plays. From 1939 to 1954 the productions featured Lemmy Caution, Slim Callaghan, and other characters, such as Julia Herron and Alonzo MacTavish. Sadly, none of these recordings have survived, but five scripts were published in the book Making Crime Pay. These include the The Humour of Lo Chung (broadcast on 4 July 1939) together with scripts featuring Lemmy, Slim and Alonzo, which may have been broadcast as episodes in one of the serials, plus a play entitled Your Deal, Madame. On 4 June 2008 at 3.30pm, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the Afternoon Reading, A Double Double-Cross, by Peter Cheyney, read by Rosalind Ayres (below), as part of a week of “classic spy stories of espionage – from the 1800s to the present day”, directed by Martin Jarvis, a J&A production. Below are the listings of productions from the BBC archives, with details of the broadcast date, channel and some adaptation details. |
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| BBC radio productions with broadcast dates many thanks to Hazel Simpson, BBC archives reasearcher • Murder in the Crisis (see under Death in the Crisis) • Regional, 02.01.1939 |
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| BBC Broadcasting House, c.1940 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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