BBC RADIO DRAMA: NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH by Peter Walley

BBC RADIO DRAMA: NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH by Peter Walley was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 9th March 1985.
Story:
Janet Isherwood had a blazing row with her husband the night before she disappeared. It was heard all over the cul-de-sac; two days later the police arrived and started asking Roy Isherwood questions. When he couldn't answer them they dug up his garden. All of which his neighbours found most interesting.

[@elizabethbower2168]

This was a truly gripping story… Many thanks for sharing… RIP Peter Whalley

[@mikewellwood1412]

Nice one Peter Whalley. Thanks for uploading Arch Phoenix Stanton. :-)

[@m.d.b.6318]

Superb! Writer understands everyday people and their common behavior throughly! Can't wait to listen again!

[@stevie-ray2020]

Peter Whalley scripts some really excellent plays!!!

[@nats2976]

Very clever ending !

[@Elizabeth-zp2ir]

Thanks for uploading. Loved the twist.

[@bilindalaw-morley161]

Thanks heaps for the upload. The ending isn't unexpected but it's very well written and acted.

[@mikephelan7244]

Wasn't David a complete drip...Let's hope he stays in Wales 🤣🤣 Great play 👍

[@iap-ug3oy]

Thank you for this very enjoyable…..I miss B B C Saturday night theatre.

[@hectorbrown656]

Well worth listening to .

[@Mounhas]

A good radio play is like a good book. It transports you somewhere else, away from the day to day stresses & drudgery. You make the appearance of the characters band the locations your own. It used to listen to R4 plays avidly, and that wasn’t always easy when driving as the signal would drift. So glad I found this site, maybe belatedly but I am making up time. Thank you for the uploading.

[@christinecarr1679]

I thought that Roy sounded like Norris Cole from Coronation Street.

[@Alan-ss3xp]

Doris!

[@hilaryeales1268]

Omigoodness Arch.....I'm so happy you're there!! Here's a big old hug, from two metres away, obviously 😉 👍💜💛💚💙

[@hilaryeales1268]

@Hitogokochi I flippin' hope not.....I'd need someone to hit me with a cricket bat if I didn't have his stories to fall asleep to 😉

[@hilaryeales1268]

@Hitogokochi I found it, thank you! I'll fall asleep listening to it....👍😪

[@hilaryeales1268]

@Hitogokochi I love a bit of spooky goings on.....as long as it's not in real life lol

[@liscatcat8756]

Your comment was a year ago and nothing has changed. That's really sad :(

[@suspendeddisbelief401]

@@liscatcat8756 Only sad for those who (on orders) stopped hugging their loved ones.

[@lindaevery467]

Wow! I'm so happy you are back. .. Thank you..

[@andyjones7750]

Brilliant play thank you 😊👏

[@jillsmith4749]

Really good great ending

[@iandavidthomson6428]

listened to this several times still love the ending Peter walley very clever

[@polly7553]

Enjoyed it. Thanks

[@puccininumberonefan3400]

Another good play ,thanks

[@deegeraghty3421]

Excellent ! Really enjoyed this drama. Thank you Arch

[@elizabethroberts8829]

Brilliant 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🥰

[@dominicankandie5957]

Excellent story! Thanks for sharing ❤

[@juliam7056]

Excellent !

[@jackiewacky346]

Thankyou

[@nellietv1968]

Great story, well acted, enjoyable drama.

[@sparklemotion8377]

Amazing!

[@alealelucy]

I understand Roy COMPLETELY! 😊

[@PetroicaRodinogaster264]

There seems to be a heavy thread of similarity about the work of this writer. Very formulaic…Mills and Boon type repetition. A huge emphasis on adultery blabber mouthed women and secretive men. But entertaining enough

[@rthompson7282]

Thanks!

[@cathystrydom8731]

Tks very much south africa.

[@dl18336]

Good story

[@jamesfranklyn8547]

Nicely done Roy 👍

[@carlesq.]

good stuff,thanks for sharing

[@emiliebova]

Haha! Fixing up his garden.

[@dee4174]

Excellent play! Iept me guessing. ❤

[@Md.SiamAhmed-s8y]

nice story

[@hawthorne1504]

Smacking noises in beginning

[@martinholmes-ue9ko]

Terrible shame that The BBC plays the rubbish it does nowadays. This was beautifully written, produced and acted.

[@dl18336]

Great story

[@flapjackfae]

No hurry would convict him.

[@liznorth4028]

She had it coming...i wish David had been found out, too...

[@smariegalski3641]

Aaaaaaarch!!!! :D

[@patriciallamas2050]

Cheers for the upload, Arch!!! Second or third time I'm listening to this gripping story, I loved it! @ArchPhoenixStanton6998 !!! Virtual hug from Buenos Aires! 🤗 xxx

[@archphoenixstanton6998]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@patriciallamas2050]

@@archphoenixstanton6998 I'm so happy to hear from you, dear Arch!! 🤩 I (re) relisten to your radio dramas at least twice a week, they help me to deal with everyday anxiety. 🤗 I hope you are doing great!! 🥰 We miss you a lot here! xxx

[@alealelucy]

But what about Linda being found? I don't want to create a spoiler, but whst about her... whodunit?

[@alealelucy]

And nobody has been charged?

[@Lakeslover1]

Yet another dig at Christians. Sad and predictable . Interesting play.

[@deerinheadlights100]

They don't dare dig at any other kind! That would be "hate" - but Christianity just has to take it.

[@henryworthington8261]

Stupid ending which didn’t match the character, like the playwright had got bored of it. Not really worth listening to.

[@michealburnett4]

Grand story, listened so often. Peter Walley is one of those writers....! 😂🎉😊

[@Goj899]

Excellent!

[@johnbunyan5834]

Thank you for loading this superb drama. I shall watch my neighbours’ behaviour more closely.

[@cherbrowne1637]

That was SO good! Superb performances and a solid story of truth, lies and deception.Thank you so much for sharing.

[@ysel6287]

Thank you for taking the trouble to upload this. I have heard it several times via Radio 4. Unfortunately it does shine another light on the decline of BBC Radio 4's current offerings. The future of radio drama looks bleak whether by cost-cutting, reference to 'woke' or other excuses; BBC radio drama ceases to employ the fine writers, actors & directors that were the mainstay of this fine audio tradition. So sad.

[@archphoenixstanton6998]

You're welcome

[@kaylemon2286]

I❤

[@saintessa]

Honestly, I spend most of my recreational viewing/listening time on YT these days to find stories... Because I don't want to spend hours sifting through all the crap on subscription streaming services for something that might be good. Whereas when you listen to older stuff before all the money stuff, you know you're gonna find something of quality.

[@HarringtonsApocy]

This “everything’s gone woke” whining business wasn’t the same in the past, but watch out, its the exact same curmudgeonly behavior every sour old person stuck in their sheltered past has had for generations. You think of this as good, but ask my nan, and she would have said THIS “showed the moral decline” of the BBC😂😂😂. History repeating itself in real time

[@ysel6287]

@@HarringtonsApocy I don't believe I mentioned 'woke' as the only reason for decline in quality in BBC Radio dramas. Economy is obviously the main issue. Please don't assume that because some folk have differing attitudes that they are all from or in 'a sheltered past', whatever that is. Quality is the main point is it not?

[@judykorman7283]

Gripping! Didn’t expect that ending

[@louisbrugnoni7639]

Whalley’s a bloody genius! 😊

[@sheilajackson4839]

Good plot and engaging storyline with the twists and turns. Would not want to live in their neighborhood. Best to choose better friends.

[@sailorsquatandhisseaman]

Classic! That’s all that needs to be said! BRAVO!

[@sailorsquatandhisseaman]

This is my second listen and I had forgotten how really great this performance was!

[@lorrainevanlelyveld8065]

Brilliant, brilliant! Really enjoyed it. Thanks.

[@marypartridge5154]

I am English by birth but have lived in Australia for many years These plays make me remember England and takes me back to my roots.

[@jeremypearson6852]

Does anyone really know their neighbors, walls and fences can hide a multitude of sins? An expat listening in S Florida.

[@alexanderblake3569]

Listen ALL THE WAY to the end. This is a sweeeeeet one.

[@pegallen6983]

Welp she won't be missed! Great story Arch. Thank you again for all your hard work

[@joantennant5579]

Jhhhj)

[@pegallen6983]

@@joantennant5579 Could you repeat that in English please?

[@suzannehutchins8326]

Amazing. l love the suspense, thank you!

[@davidmunday4367]

I will second that with a hand shake from 2 metres away.......i've got long arms ! ! 😉 🙋‍♂️ 👍

[@johnturner1073]

The plot is very similar to one episode of Tales of the Unexpected, and, before that, one from Alfred Hitchcock Presents in the 1950s. In those versions, the philandering wife returns and is buried in the cellar, which the police had already excavated. Still, nicely done, and as others have observed, from a time when BBC productions did not have to include, by law it seems, THE MESSAGE...

[@carolburke9153]

More like "noseyhood watch !"

[@MartysWhiteSuit]

Listening to this while mending a sleeve on my coat. Nice company.

[@MartysWhiteSuit]

@@crispindry2815 One of those summer casual jackets, as I recall.

[@joprent6727]

I really liked this one. Thanks for uploading this. 😊👍

[@malabhargava]

Ha ha ha. Very enjoyable, this one

[@archphoenixstanton6998]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@hanschristophercharles6981]

Bloody Hell!! With neighbors like. them, I'd keep to myself or move!. Lmao!!😂🤣 But this was an excellent play! And a great but not unsurprising ending

[@sallyone7029]

Moving sounds the better option.

[@sparklemotion8377]

Why?

[@katmandu2478]

Loved this one! Thank you Arch!

[@mojofilter2285]

Love the ending

[@LondonEE16]

Listening to something from 37 years ago (from 1985) reminds me of the struggle women had not to be repeatedly portrayed as stupid and feckless as the missing wife is portrayed here.

[@xeldinn86]

Now today men are portrayed as stupid and feckless

[@saintessa]

I've noticed that while listening to radio dramas lately... (ones from 1970s+)

[@gillps5130]

Ah but the errant wife was with someone equally stupid and feckless by her own account. So equality there of a sort.

[@QPRTokyo]

Thank you.

[@lindabrown253]

Love this play and writer

[@nomagea2684]

Many thanks for uploading, thoroughly enjoyed it but please I do not understand the ending.. Did, he then impulsively decide to kill the wife after she confessed that she had been aware that he was being accused of murdering her and yet kept quiet instead of coming forward to clarify she s still alive?

[@lynneosborne5200]

I think so, he didn't want her back so as he was already accused of killing her he might as well do it

[@dianapeek6936]

Yes, with empty bottle of wine.

[@christrinder1255]

Very good Arch👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍😊

[@dianepeck7500]

Brilliant play many thanks 🙋🏼‍♀️

[@archphoenixstanton6998]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@rthompson7282]

Brilliant, loved the ending!

[@marcwilliams9824]

Peter Whalley and RD Wingfield are my two current favourite writers. Does anyone have any other writer recommendations?

[@srinagesht]

RD Wingfield has humour too.

[@shelbythomas]

Mike Walker, James Follet

[@abraxasnl]

Is that the voice of Ford Prefect I’m picking up there?

[@DenisePoole-Closet-Crafts]

Good one. Heard this one many times and i still listen lol😀

[@davidskeeterskeeter1835]

👏👏👏👍🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@michealburnett6]

Haha This should be a MUST LISTEN 😜

[@magicbulletdancers]

Great it was to find a Peter Walley that I'd not heard. Thank you v much. Power to 🇺🇦 love 🇫🇮 🇨🇦

[@jemartinez50ja]

Karma!!!

[@natashabates4736]

I wish I could figure out who us talking when. This requires a lit of concentration.

[@dianapeek6936]

I agree. Two of the male actors sounded identical at times in fact I had to go back a couple of times to double check. Great play though.

[@Lucy-ym8ch]

Side question; the road in the photo looks familiar. Does anyone know where it is?

[@Alan-ss3xp]

It’s the road where you live!?

[@kerenasmith1120]

Amazing thank you

[@nesapanjalingam704]

Thank u for this 🤗

[@martinadarcy781]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@royhadley686]

Thank you

[@mariavlachodimou3771]

How did he kill her,what was empty?

[@dianapeek6936]

A glass wine bottle.

[@joprent6727]

👍👍👍

[@NoosaHeads]

I think I've listened to all the BBC radio drama plays of Peter Whalley Sadly, there don't appear to be any more. He's my favourite playwright by far. Is there anyone else who does similar plays? I don't like Agatha Christie (way too complicated and convoluted), and Inspector Wingfield and Inspector Frost just don't seem to "do it" for me. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance! Ian

[@maryw6506]

You could try Paolo Baldi.

[@nfer5424]

Joyce Porter's creation, Chief Inspector Dover, who has been called the most entertaining detective in fiction. He is slothful, overweight, bullying - but unerringly cracks every case.

[@martinholmes-ue9ko]

All the men seem to be southerners and their wives northerners!😊

[@anglogerman2287]

Brilliant play!

[@wherami]

Wow that ending

[@jessicaharrison1401]

Thankyou fot the upload .i really enjoyed this one i have listened to it about 5 times its brilliant 😘❤

[@joemmya]

I am not sure, did he kill her in the end?

[@XyzXyz-mm9vq]

FYI: a lot of viewers read the comments BEFORE they listen to the play. If you didn’t get the ending, listen to it again, because it is not complicated or tricky to figure it out, but don’t spoil it for others by asking such questions.

[@XyzXyz-mm9vq]

Many thanks for this gem with an unexpected twist at the end.

[@OleHippy]

Delightful!!