Darkness at Pemberley - T. H. White - BBC Saturday Night Theatre

[@MinkaSchlossberger4ever]

I love it.... excellently spoken, very easy to understand.... even for me, who can t hear anything with the right ear. The athmosphere just sooo British...Thank You so much for this!!!

[@gijsje011]

Best mystery play I have heard. Great actors. Being Dutch, I had no problems, thanks to the perfectly spoken English. ❤️ Thank You, Chesterton!

[@latzmenon5770]

I had the perfect day to listen to this today . Storms and rain , sitting with my hot chocolate . And switched my phone off .

[@AnitaSews]

Sounds so cozy...

[@louise7552]

Ah, a person after my own heart. Perfection.😊😊

[@deborahrobertson8606]

I was 12 when this was broadcast. This is the BBC that formed me. What a different country it was then. The BBC now is appalling. A wonderful play, with ,any familiar voices. Thank you !

[@artur4613]

Yes, absolutely. I listen to these old radio-dramas to polish (I'm Polish by the way) my English. There is this charm in classic radio. The style has changed not only in England. There are brilliant old Polish radio programmes from 60ties or 70ties with perfect grammar and spelling. Nowadays the "actors" can barely speak, but certainly they would take part in every commercial available to them.

[@deborahrobertson8606]

@@artur4613 Exactly! I listen to all the old productions. It keeps me sane!

[@applesandpears9756]

100%. I listen to the BBC for 10 mins a day in the car...just to find out what we're supposed to be thinking...I miss the days when drama was challenging and varied, and England was different world..

[@stephenhaywood5672]

@@applesandpears9756I agree 90% with you but I’m afraid I just can’t stomach to listen to the BBC for even 10 minutes these days without raising my blood pressure. 👍

[@fw6667]

I absolutely agree with you both that this is the BBC that formed me also and that the BBC now is not worth its licence fee in fact I never watch BBC I only ever listen

[@curtcaudle5900]

Thoroughly enjoyed this radio play 😊🎉. Fine actors and wonderful production. BRAVO 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@AnitaSews]

I love these old time stories, they're the best!

[@PinkyPuff69]

I wish it were raining, but I'm listening in August 2023... In California. San Francisco is usually foggy, even in the Summer, so at least I can pretend it's a cold wintery night!

[@nonayoung8177]

sounds like a perfectly cozy day. i’m in Ventura, California.

[@gordonshewan9892]

Freezing in Scotland tonight 😊

[@joycehilkey7238]

A cup of Earl Grey strong with milk and a scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam and a good mystery…perfect

[@pamwarhurst2519]

S

[@paulharris9268]

Or as a bedtime story, in bed.

[@lucrtrvl]

Where is Envy moji? 😹

[@mwatts-riley2688]

Joyce: Right and wrong- Right with the general scene; Wrong with the accessories. Assam with 2 sugars. Milk. Toast with melting butter. Dark room, no lights. 2 candles electric. No kids. No brother. Ahhh. 😃 m

[@2msvalkyrie529]

It's traditional in England to serve the scones laced with cyanide .. apparently ?

[@donwardell4605]

Of all the radio plays in the "Saturday Night Theatre" vault this is my number one pick. I can recall hearing it when originally broadcast. A car carrying the chief suspect was racing around the Midlands and I remember, convinced that they would pass our house in Birmingham, standing in the bay window to look out. Guess the producer and writer did a good job convincing me that fiction was in fact reality.

[@lindawalters4098]

It’s amazing how memories can come flooding back listening to these splendid plays from the past

[@TheKathymorrison]

Is this a true story??

[@donwardell4605]

not at all but google the writer - really top notch

[@bettysteubing8129]

This TX girl has been a fan of T. H. White for at least 20 yrs (The Once & Future King + others), but man, oh man, this recording was fantastic! Thank you, thank you.

[@susanhepburn6040]

Well, that was an oddity and a half! Brilliant but quite, quite bonkers!

[@captainswing4487]

Great stuff..... I must remember that an hour's steeple chase before a breakfast of kidneys and coffee is a fine start to any day.

[@mikewellwood1412]

Top hole, what?

[@brennykins8823]

Pure entertainment, a fun frolic. Thank you.

[@janeclarkson8471]

Odd ball bu that's it's charm for me. I thought it was a delightful change. I love eccentricity! A little gem. Thank you.👌

[@aprilskies1051]

Absolutely teriffic! I thoroughly enjoyed this..thanks once again for uploading. I love these broadcasts.

[@katecavell7969]

This play was excellent.Thankyou very much.🎉❤

[@mellisande638]

Absolutely loved it!! Thank you all so much😊😊😊

[@patticlare8306]

Brilliant... really good listening. Many thanks.🌟

[@iap-ug3oy]

Thank you for this story…..Best wishes to you . Please keep them coming…

[@lorrainevanlelyveld8065]

Thank you thank you for this great radio drama. I loved it.

[@natasharosetarrant]

Great little play. Thank you.

[@TheLeeattwood]

Jolly marvellous

[@ChestertonRadio]

Thank you very much for listening! The positive response to these shows is still very much an unexpected surprise. I started the channel some time ago just as a place to save favorite show. We invite you to also listen to our all-day live stream - Elfland Radio - at Listen.ChestertonRadio.com Please consider joining our family of patrons at Patreon, BuymeaCoffee or SubscribeStar. Our channel is not monetized and we are very much at risk of not being able to continue sharing these shows very soon unless we can cover some costs. chestertonradio.com/index.php/support. You or your company can become a sponsor of our Live Stream. We can share your message with our engaged, passionate listeners! Sponsor.ChestertonRadio.com

[@jomancao2341]

How is it that I have only just found out about Chesterton Radio! ? Possibly because I am from the other side of the globe. 😁 Regardless, I am now an avid follower of the channel. Thank you so much for sharing these "wireless" - I believe that is how it is called over there in England- treasures. ❤❤

[@debbie9340]

Enjoyed very much

[@carolynthornber748]

Now that sounds proper cosy to me ☺️ your my type of person 🤘 xxx

[@AB-nr8cu]

This is bonkers! Loved it. Thankyou 👍😁

[@vulcanswork]

100% appreciated.

[@denestarjanyi8892]

Thank you for uploading this play.

[@michaelfagan1823]

Love this story thanks “that’s entertainment” 😜Micky N London 😎🙏☯️

[@deanazcoolzi4382]

The beautiful and utter terror of the imagination

[@civilpanda9422]

Stellar police service, he hangs up on the caller reporting the dead body, laments that murder is rare in his precinct, and his sergeant locks the woman at the scene in the dining room. 😂😅😆

[@Ciara1594]

Are we sure that he's not Chief Wiggum? ☺️

[@robertbuckman-b3j]

Thanks!

[@michaelprobert4014]

I'll never read Pride and Prejudice in the same way ever again!

[@claireb4259]

Absolutely smashing!

[@2msvalkyrie529]

@ 25.26 ' Come on, old man.....polish off that scone ; I want to show you my new rifle range....' I'd like to nominate that as Quintessential Golden Age Murder Mystery line of dialogue .?

[@murkydepths181]

Very good 👌

[@bmf1949]

Priceless!

[@garydance4077]

@@bmf1949 (

[@princessdumbarton9877]

The bad guy was played by Marius Goring. He was the composer in The Red Shoes.

[@kirpalani-griffin3706]

Wonderful stuff. Thank you.

[@vivmarshall6797]

I thoroughly enjoyed that! Thank you.

[@shaukatali-qi3dc]

Fantastically acted loved it.

[@hAnah1112xX]

This was completely not what I expected… in the best possible way 😄😄

[@milliewilkie1969]

i was walking around cambridge today then this play popped up tonight🙂

[@davidarundel6187]

A good yarn, with an unexpected outcome. 🤔👍😚

[@bmf1949]

‘My great aunt in Montreal had the same trouble, only with her it was owls’. .......!!

[@johnpeet5862]

Brilliant. Thank you very much 💕👌

[@TheBrewforbreakfast]

brilliant British folly

[@stewartlancaster6155]

listened whilst on the loo, made the process a bit easier, as I do struggle with movements of that nature.

[@alanesplen2253]

Another great classic R4 Saturday Night Theatre first time I have heard it.

[@mikewellwood1412]

This has to be the strangest play I have ever heard from the BBC. Jolly good fun though! Thank you for uploading it. I think I started listening to it once before, but can't have been in the right mood or something, so gave up on it. However, I stuck with it this time, and I'm glad I did. Broadcast in 1973, but surely set in an earlier age, when there were no motorways, not much traffic on the roads, and police constables and garage attendants touched their forelock and bowed and scraped to the "gennelemen" in their big cars who talked down to them, and there were housefuls of servants ready to search the house bearing arms and prepared to use them....oops, better stop there.... Very odd delivery of lines by the actors as well, I thought.

[@hermione9445]

What are you ..some kind of Marxist ?

[@debbiewilliams2946]

Goodness gracious me what a bizarre plot!

[@janetmackinnon3411]

Extraordinary!

[@dianaantu8227]

Elizabeth wouldn't it be marvelous to get married, or something? love it !!!! Thank you, great story.

[@michaelwalker2475]

Tried it. Best to settle for the .. or something.

[@QueenBee-gx4rp]

@@michaelwalker2475 ☺️

[@kimberlykasimoff1447]

This Saturday Night Theatre really is the best one that I have listened to so far. The Constable at the cross roads sounded like Ringo Starr!

[@FrancienDanielsWebb]

I will listen to him.

[@mikewellwood1412]

I thought he sounded like Sid Perks! :-D

[@kimberlykasimoff1447]

@@mikewellwood1412 Sid Perks from the Archers? I have to admit that I have listened to the show once. There was an annoying woman with tons of problems who depressed me, so I did not continue. I remember the grandfather and his grandson. Maybe I will listen to it again. 🙂

[@mikewellwood1412]

@@kimberlykasimoff1447 I did mean Sid Perks from the Archers, but I didn't mean it terribly seriously. I was more making the point that it was a Birmingham (UK!) accent that he had, not a Liverpool one. Might possibly have been the same actor though, as I'm pretty sure Sid was a character in TA back in 1973 (he was in it for decades). I used to be an Archers Addict, but I'm pretty much recovered now, if one can ever say that.... :-) ) . FWIW, they were driving all around "Archers" country. It was fun to hear real place names being mentioned, and I could imagine some of those roads, which away from the motorways, may not have changed all that much, apart from a bit of widening, straightening, and bypasses added.

[@kimberlykasimoff1447]

@@mikewellwood1412 Gotchya!

[@valeriejohnson5283]

Wonderful!😍

[@21anusha]

Cheers ✌🏽

[@llyngibson4160]

A big coincidence that Miss Darcy lives at Pemberly. A very suspenseful story.

[@WWZenaDo]

It's a polished performance, but there are two significant plot holes that were disappointing. 1. These are English people in an English manor, great house or castle. Whether or not this is their ancestral home, they or their ancestors would have had such respect for the history of the building and estate as to have had some inkling of the possibility of "priest holes". 2. The English steeplechase originally was loosely connected to fox hunting, which required sharp-nosed hunting hounds. This family may not have had a single hound left (questionable, since they were continuing the tradition of steeplechasing), but at the very least they probably had a neighbor or two with a good hound (or several) which could have been put on the scent of the psychopath narcissistic murderer.

[@jonjames7328]

Yawn. You’re an outsider and know very little of houses and hounds.

[@robertmatch6550]

I bet Mickey Spillane got started after listening to a coupla these!

[@stephaniehand503]

great

[@juliam7056]

Unusual story but entertaining

[@WWZenaDo]

Another gigantic plot flaw - to claim that a small, bookish weakling would be able to lift a full grown muscular policeman up to the roof AND after that to have the strength to carry the woman - up to the roof, no less - is beyond belief.

[@golaswati]

How big are those bloody chimneys that he could not only hide a body in there and then take the pistol from the hands of the inspector as if he was next to him 🤦 And why didn't they light fire in the chimneys of the rooms where people were sleeping 💁

[@jaszi33]

It's not unheard of for many old chimneys to have spaces in for people to hide, often called priest holes. Frequented by priests to hide during the reformation & smuggling times later. Got to love the layers of history hidden in old British houses. 😁💗🏰

[@pariscribe5245]

Delightfull ! Only lacking a ghost...

[@emmaknight3890]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@1234cheerful]

It's as if SOMEONE read Pride and Prejudice and a few "Golden Age" British "country house" mysteries, maybe Ngaio Marsh? and just HAD to play with the exquisite attention to the proprieties for a while, producing a lovely pastiche. Miss Darcy's first name in Jane Austen's novel was Georgina I believe but that's only one piece of the extensive and enjoyable artistic license. Ok, just my theory. It was so over the top, and quite fun!

[@citizen1163]

Marius Goring! The Scarlet Pimpernel!

[@michaelprobert4014]

Thanks. I couldn't remember why his name was familiar.😊

[@janeclarkson8471]

And "The Expert" (a Coroner from tv)!

[@skirlaugh100]

"Wouldn't it be marvellous if we could get married or something"

[@Jemmainadilemma]

I don’t understand the motivations of any of the characters or why they talk the way they do or how anyone ever wrote such an odd play that could have been more logical with a bit of reorganising… still enjoyed it though, not sure why!

[@Gillby47]

Delightfully potty.

[@markcrook4615]

Why do all these radio programmes keep stopping and starting? Nothing wrong with my data connection

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Hmm.....starts off very promisingly . Unfortunately after the half way point things start to become more and more ludicrous before a damp squib of an ending . T H White obviously lost interest and / or couldn't be bothered to develop the plot properly. Very odd since he was extremely talented. Perhaps Murder Mysteries not quite his thing.?

[@MaxFactor-k8g]

🍵

[@mmitchellhouston]

Very interesting, but odd. I wasn't sure why they were using Pemberly in that manner. Nevertheless, quite enjoyable.

[@mrbazzabee4013]

I now know why Harold Pinter took to writing plays.

[@mrbazzabee4013]

Ha ! ...No-actually...and strangely....I enjoyed it.

[@bernard0142]

Um, a guy confesses at 18:00. He also knows a lot of details that weren't released publicly, such as the order in which the deceased had been shot. In real life that would merit an arrest.

[@davidfist3872]

01:09:48

[@ellie698]

When was this broadcast?

[@parrmik]

nobodies that clever !

[@ronin472100]

This story is beyond doubt, the worst I have ever read or heard...

[@mrbazzabee4013]

Ha !

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Try listening to The Archers ? This is King Lear by comparison.

[@mikewellwood1412]

It's so bad, it's good. No, it's not good, it's great! :-D

[@frankah]

Preposterous story but riveting nonetheless.

[@Kernowcornwall]

Can't get through this one. A bit overwrought and a tad silly

[@shebillings8942]

Love all these plays but this was my least favourite!

[@deegeraghty9426]

Preposterous ! Persevered but gave up at 1 hour 14 minutes. None of the characters invoked my interest.

[@lingham2099]

All the comments here are positive. I must be too young to appreciate these old shows. I am 71. I thought it was absolute crap.

[@anthonysokolsky6210]

Brilliant story & I enjoyed the way the sadistic bastard was killed in the end!

[@bertspeggly4428]

After the bit about the pig I stopped listening. Just nasty.

[@ferberina]

Ok but not a great read

[@susankelly5585]

Completely bonkers, but loved it!😄

[@janholland7160]

Ll

[@guitarboogieboogie]

stupid nonsense.