Shadow of Murder - BBC Saturday Night Theatre - Charity Blackstock

Ursula Torday was a British writer of some 60 gothic, romance and mystery novels from 1935 to 1982.
Enjoy Elfland Radio - our 24/7 Live Stream anytime! Listen.Chestert...
She also used the pseudonyms of Paula Allardyce, Charity Blackstock, Lee Blackstock, and Charlotte Keppel. In 1961, her novel Witches' Sabbath won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Saturday Night Theatre was a long-running radio drama strand on BBC Radio 4. The strand showcased feature-length, middle-brow single plays on Saturday evenings for more than 50 years, having been launched in April 1943. The plays featured in the strand included stage plays, book adaptations and original dramatizations. For most of its history, programmes ran for 90 minutes and were largely entertainment-centred, such as thrillers, comedies and mysteries.
Saturday Night Theatre was noted as the major drama of the week on BBC Radio 4, until it was scrapped as a programme strand in 1996. Shorter plays continued to be broadcast on Radio 4 on Saturday evenings from 1996 until the relaunch of the channel's schedule in April 1998 by James Boyle, when single dramas were removed from the Saturday evening schedule. Since 1998, the main weekly play on the station has been The Saturday Play, a daytime programme that runs for 60-90 minutes.
There have since been campaigns to bring back Saturday Night Theatre, but in the context of BBC budget cuts, that have included the 2010 axing of Radio 4's Friday Play (established in 1998, when Saturday Night Theatre was abolished), any return looks unlikely. (Wikipedia)
Originally Broadcast 1/30/1965
Our channel is not monetized. Your support is the only thing that keeps Chesterton Radio on the Air!
/ chestertonradio
www.SubscribeS...
BuyMeACoffee.co...
Sponsor.Chester...
Chesterton Radio
Playing the Classics! Works of G.K. Chesterton and Friends
Plus, Drama, Comedy, Mystery, Science Fiction and more
Chuck the TV and discover a whole new world!
True - Good - Beautiful
The Soundtrack for your Chesterton Day!
Our 24/7 Live Stream - Elfland Radio is here:
Listen.Chestert...
Programs on Chesterton Radio are sponsored by:
MachineDesignPro.com: Engineering and Product Development Services
MachineDesignPr...
BatteryJobs.com: Energy Career Portal - Electric Vehicle - Lead-Acid - Lithium - Solar
BatteryJobs.com
Contact us to learn how you or your company can become a Chesterton Radio sponsor:
Sponsor.Chester...
Do you enjoy the variety on Chesterton Radio?
Like, Share and Subscribe to be notified of our new shows
Discover new Chesterton Radio shows in our Playlists!
Plays.Chesterto...
Chesterton.Ches...
Orthodoxy.Chest...
EverlastingMan....
Eugenics.Cheste...
Distributism.Ch...
FatherBrown.Che...
Freedom.Chester...
1984.Chesterton...
Jukebox.Chester...
Sponsor.Chester...

[@estewart6745]

How amazing to hear a real News report from 1970! A real treat...

[@aprilblossom9268]

Being Scots born and a great fan of mysteries and the likes of 39 Steps, this is just my cup of tea x thanking you 😊.

[@DenisePoole-Closet-Crafts]

Thank you for taking the time to upload these wonderful radio dramas. 😀

[@kayi9236]

Thank you, very entertaining!

[@jeanmcguinness3297]

Thank you so much for these keeps us also happy and warm❤❤❤❤

[@AuntClara0911]

Great play keeps you guessing right to the end. Thanks

[@jordsupp]

Hmmm ... well, we have to take the not-so-good to appreciate the good and really great plays. Best part for me was hearing the very civilised 10 o'clock news and Big Ben's chimes. Thank you for uploading.

[@MinkaSchlossberger4ever]

I can relate to the old man......even If he was shown as mad....I have no patience with people, who are cruel to animals,either....

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Definitely one for the " So Bad : It's Good " category. Where's TedaR I wonder ? This is her favourite category.....must be something in the Tennessee air ??

[@carojames6776]

Never listened to anything like this before but I thoroughly enjoyed it, thank you.

[@judithwilliams3835]

What an enjoyable play - so captivating and charming. It constantly held my attention. Thank you so much for making these dramas available.

[@michaelberg9656]

Charming is not the word I would use!

[@deborahbranson6053]

The days before television much simpler times really enjoy listening

[@kennethrichardson8311]

When I'm alone and particularly when working on a project I find these casts very good company.

[@davidskeeterskeeter1835]

Aghhh I just love the nostalgia. Thanks a million 👏👏👏👏👍👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@lindadriscoll6299]

Another very enjoyable evening listening to this play.. thank you!

[@BlackCatTarotUSA]

So loving these! Thank you!

[@hermajesty52]

OH! So wonderful!!!!

[@rb4877]

Good stuff. Really enjoy the news afterwards.👍🏼

[@Gillby47]

Always amazing to listen to a full news report from so long ago after the play finishes.

[@pariscribe5245]

Thanks again för a great show ! The New broadcast at the end was a very wellcome "bonus". More of the same , please!

[@Drcharlesworth]

Really enjoyed listening, Thank you for sharing... Wonderful plays and should be listened to in an historical context, pity Britain isn't like this now.

[@pariscribe5245]

I agree but let us be glad that the BBC World service at least is still going strong !

[@nibblypig6291]

The beginning of this play has the male protagonist blaming the female murder victim. Disgusting. Don’t pine for the acceptance of domestic abuse, child abuse, low social mobility, infant mortality, rickets, police brutality, slums etc etc.

[@janebrown7231]

@@nibblypig6291 The men in this play are deeply misogynistic, narcissistic and casually violent. The women serve them. Why anyone would want to return to these times is beyond me. However, they weren't meant to be typical men. This definitely wasn't the standard for the times. In my own family in 1950s UK, all men and women played equal roles, and I know that was the norm that my family saw all around.

[@LuciThomasHardylover-qx6ts]

Exactly! It's so common to see so many comments under these plays from people complaining about the 'good old days ', how life was simpler, better etc.. forgetting all the points you just made, never mind the dreadful things going on across Latin America, South Africa, Northern Ireland &other places. What's really meant is that we were younger, more accepting of the propaganda of the ruling classes& as we get older&face harsh realities&our relative impotence every generation looks back&focuses on the endless summer days of youth. Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely not a fan of that ghastly expression "woke" but I was never a fan of the open acceptance or even celebration of sexual abuse of girls&young women,or the casual &relentless racism of the times. Every generation creates it's own social problems&every generation can learn from those who went before. But no-one ever got it right. There 😂 Sermon over! 😂

[@trace-elementz1343]

Hmmm, I think now, during the era of 'worldwide stay at home orders", it might be a good time for Radio 4 to re-launch some radio dramas/mysteries. I have noticed a resurgence in popularity of radio shows on YT and podcasts since the lockdowns. Many of these shows have doubled, even quadrupled the number of listens in a short time. I love the radio format and listening to audio broadcast stories; so much more imagination and brain activity involved.

[@Enri45100]

I completely agree.

[@jacalineballif7237]

It’s now part of my bedtime routine. Love them.

[@teresaballardagent7111]

This is was so awesome. My oldest grandchild passed by my room, when he heard the dialogue. He wheeled back around to my door. Now he stops by room ever time

[@carmenedwards3863]

@@teresaballardagent7111 that is most beautiful ❤️

[@carmenedwards3863]

The radio plays are like medicine to my soul.

[@katrinahyslop4483]

Wonderful play really enjoyed it

[@patriciallamas2050]

Cheers for the upload! ✨

[@ingridlowrie1029]

What a great story. Loved it. Thank you for uploading for our enjoyment.

[@camelia9802]

Very good play indeed

[@nobelknightnell]

I enjoyed it very much! Thank you for the uploading.

[@juliea.7292]

Thank you for these GREAT videos. I am Thoroughly enjoying them 🙌🤗

[@kimberlykasimoff1447]

There were parts in this play that sounded like it was the movie Rebecca. Kate's voice for one, and how she pleaded with Johnnie concerning his wife after they left the cinema. As one person said, Kate's voice does sound like the actress was much older than the age she was playing. I did enjoy the play. There were comments that were really funny.

[@dominicankandie5957]

I enjoyed this story very much. Thank you ❤

[@aprilblossom9268]

Excellent! Thank you so much for this gem...!

[@jeneb52]

A very exciting and mysterious tale!

[@jude9411]

The news at the end was very interesting.

[@mandymandy1524]

K

[@gmadude1394]

So VERY good!!!

[@andrewsmith-cm9qw]

This was first broadcast on 24/04/1965 on the bbc and it’s quality is still preserved

[@mikewellwood1412]

They don't write plays like this anymore, with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and something actually happens. Nowadays it's all psycho-babble drama, with confusing flashbacks all over the place.

[@Failte630]

I have to say there is a great deal of truth in what u say Mike.

[@neilmiller3220]

Thats BBC for you keep your licence money

[@dmx5439]

Nice one ,thank you

[@barbaraperry7699]

Are there any other like this it’s become my favorite

[@tottiemae2258]

Whoa! I was highly entertained by this even though it was very un PC. I didn't know whether to be amused or shocked. So I was both. My attention never lapsed, that's for certain!

[@susansherlock6934]

Don't forget the era it was written in...

[@tottiemae2258]

@@susansherlock6934 So true! Although the dialogue wouldn't allow you to forget that for a minute. 😅

[@andrewsefia2059]

@@tottiemae2258 personally, I lmao. So much un pc🤣 but was definitely nostalgic. Represents a bygone era that’s never coming back and is not welcome back.

[@tottiemae2258]

@@andrewsefia2059 SO true! (Had to look up imao. I may use that! 😂)

[@siddharthsen7035]

Un PC is good

[@nellietv1968]

Great story and well acted by the cast.

[@olivemd]

It’s nice to listen to such un-PC plays. Sure makes one appreciate our present times. Was 1965 that bad in the Highlands? I hope not! Lol. Certainly wasn’t like my 1965.

[@erikab5412]

Oh I love a tense vintage murder mystery with a happy ending 😂👍

[@fishfootface]

Great stuff. Thankyou.👍💜

[@tottiemae2258]

After listening to this I will try to give a thumbnail sketch with no spoilers. An author who can no longer write goes to Scotland for rest following his nasty divorce. But the small town he goes to is reeling from an appalling murder. Who is the murderer, and how will he be apprehended?

[@jonsmum5552]

tottie mae Thank you! ❤️

[@mckavitt13]

tottie mae V precise summary

[@zoyablake9538]

Thank you!

[@gordonshewan9892]

Thank you

[@jacquietremain5743]

I can't get to the end. All it is is senseless arguing and shouting.

[@jetblack.7186]

Good play. The news bulletin is an interesting extra from the BBC.

[@stevie-ray2020]

If they'd run that sonic-boom test for another 6mths, I reckon over 90% of the population would've been begging them to stop, with rest being deaf!

[@xaraxania]

what a strange bunch of people these characters are, so emotional and yoyoing between all those emotions, a good story none the less

[@debbielangton8371]

Ive watched upstairs and downstairs like I lived it😊💃😎

[@niccolehoody7317]

Great show love it bravo 👏

[@alicejackson771]

The news afterwards was the best bit!!!

[@lauraarcher6996]

Yes! What a treat!!

[@mckavitt13]

Alice Jackson I disagree. I liked it, but ofc I came to hear the play.

[@joycehilkey7238]

A

[@joycehilkey7238]

? 1

[@tanyadavis2874]

Excellent 👏 .

[@judikingsman6132]

Excellent ❤❤❤

[@stephaniehand503]

thank you

[@dairinnally5912]

Excellent

[@olliemoss2298]

Ships stuck in the Suez Canal, India & Pakistan fighting....all these years later and nothing has changed.

[@murielhutchinson728]

Very enjoyable ❤

[@auroramariealmeara8622]

That was great.

[@WWZenaDo]

WHAT on earth is that line @45:08? "The pistol I shot you with 300 years ago!" Are these characters from "Highlander", with Duncan MacLeod????

[@purltwotogether8218]

Well, they don't make them like that anymore, do they?! For all the people speculating on the age of the actor portraying Kate - Gudrun Ure was around 29 at the time as she was born in 1926.

[@muiresuilgorm3452]

Thank you. Good point. People became/behaved like adults at a younger age. Adolescence was not prolonged into middle age as seems to be common in the 21st century.

[@rosacamilleri3193]

My word, Gudrun was Supergran when I was a teenager in the 80s!!

[@janebrown7231]

Gudrun Ure was 32 when this play was written in 1958. It was presumably cast and broadcast in the same year, but there seems no convincing record of that.

[@sabinchich999]

@@rosacamilleri3193 oh that's nice info, thank you. I do remember the series, I watched it back then on TV, too! Greetings from Slovenia 😉

[@michaelberg9656]

Good to know. She sounds 79, not 29.

[@janebrown7231]

According to the news afterwards, this was broadcast on the day the Chairman of Rolls-Royce died. Interestingly to me alone 😂, this must also have been the day when my great-uncle was promoted to vice-chairman of the same company.

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Did he present you with a free Roller ?

[@janebrown7231]

@@2msvalkyrie529 😂 Unfortunately, that's not how it worked! And I never got a free aero engine either... more of the group's business came from aero engines than from cars.

[@debbielangton8371]

I use to watch a tv series called take the high road 🛣️

[@janebrown7231]

(Late 2021) The principal lady is still living - Gudrun Ure (Kate) is 95. What changes she's seen! David March (John), his wonderful emotional range showcased in this piece, chose to give up theatre and television to focus on radio drama for his prolific career. He plays the womaniser role in this piece, now seemingly sexist but of its times. In real life, his life partner Derek Lewis supported his career. This play is missing from BBC Genome and doesn't appear in either of the actors' attributions, but I found it in the bibliography of the writer, which established the authorship date as 1958. The two principal actors were aged 33 (John) and 32 (Kate) at the time, so not far from the ages of their roles - Kate's age is set in her mid-twenties. The author, Charity Blackstock, was Ursula Torday, an English author who worked under five pseudonyms. This play was also published in the US entitled All Men Are Murderers under her pseudonym Lee Blackstock. She wrote 60 gothic, romance and mystery novels. This piece is a good example of this brilliant series, BBC Saturday Night Theatre, a leader in the underrated genre of radio drama. Thanks again for the upload!

[@SimonMcGrath-o8jk]

Wow and I'm surprised that no-one has thanked u for the information on the two main actors and the 'Lassy' is still alive as of ur comment date so I thank you kind Sir and I hope u r well and came thru Covid untouched so to speak??

[@janebrown7231]

@@SimonMcGrath-o8jk Thanks for your kind comment, Simon. I'm glad you found the information interesting. I do like to find out about radio drama and its contributors, and share it in case anyone else is interested, but this was the hardest ever to pin down! Sadly, Gudrun Ure died in May 2024, but she lived to the grand old age of 98 years, 2 months.

[@SimonMcGrath-o8jk]

@@janebrown7231 Jane I shall endeavour to keep an eye out for ur facts of actors, years etc and passed away only recently well we thank them for their service in making our days more interesting when listening to their plays.

[@janebrown7231]

@SimonMcGrath-o8jk They certainly keep us entertained, and many of us value these old masterpieces that have emerged from the huge archives of the BBC. 😊

[@helenswan705]

The good old days of rude and inappropriate men.

[@theelectricalengineer]

Back when erratic moods, narcissistic abuse, and repeatedly making your love interest cry by molesting her was seen as innocent flirting...

[@theelectricalengineer]

And killers who murdered and cut up their wives were "gutsy" "poor devils" who had reached their breaking point. It's terrifying.

[@2msvalkyrie529]

There might be worse plays than this elsewhere on KZbin but somehow I doubt it ! It's like a combination of a Carry On film and a rejected Agatha Christie script with a bit of Strindberg thrown in. Add in every cliche about the Highlands for good measure and there you have it !

[@stewartlancaster6155]

Saturday Night Theatre

[@missbingley6048]

I am enjoying listening to these plays but there was too much bad temperedness and angst in this one. It grated in the end.

[@lexicon1913]

This was so over-the-top Gothic, I couldn't pay attention to the mystery. Ah well, the news afterward was entertaining.

[@lyndamorgan8731]

Unfortunately not for me this time. I couldn’t stand the voice of Kate, or all the ‘I’m going to throw you over my shoulder’ stuff. I had to give up in the end.

[@dirkbogarde44]

What odd characters. I'd wager the actress playing the 25 yr old...is more like 55.

[@mckavitt13]

dirkbogarde44 65!

[@Edward-xw8rj]

BBC Home Service Basic Shadow of Murder Adapted from her novel by Charity Blackstock with David March , Gudrun Ure and Rona Anderson John Shawfield. author, travels north to Argyllshire after his divorce from his actress wife Sylvia Court to get away from it all. When there he gets involved in something far more serious. Produced by AUDREY CAMERON Saturday's broadcast

[@OperaJH]

The characters are meant to be exaggerated; there is sarcasm galore and at times it’s funny. WTF is the importance of simpering PC? People were people and they were real, whatever their characters. So imo a good reading, except that Kate sounded older than her supposed age of 25. But good acting all around. Thanks for the post - a great listen while walking!

[@lexicon1913]

Can you form a thought that doesn't blame "pc" or "wokeness"? It's intentionally camp but everyone doesn't have to like it.

[@OperaJH]

@@lexicon1913 a little touchy, are you?

[@colinglass1342]

Very good radio drama didnt know play was from the nigthteen sixties These audio plays from the bbc are very good and exciting with a touch of mystery and intriguing plot and great characters i remember recording these dramas on c 90 cassettes on my my trusty NAD cassette PLAYER AND my nad stereo receiver as time went by the recordings got lost only listned to radio 4 never listened to radio two or radio one or any other radio 🚉⛽

[@stevie-ray2020]

If they'd run that sonic-boom test for another 6mths, I reckon over 90% of the population would've been begging them to stop, with rest being deaf!

[@jordsupp]

Hahah ... I thought I'd missed something during the play.

[@LilouViviKiani]

This was such a silly story 🤨… on to the next one.

[@rosalindarcher6060]

That was so appalling it was compelling. Like watching a car crash

[@michaelynedwards1043]

Why don’t they stable Hughy in a warm barn?

[@ferberina]

It is a rather predivtable story however i enjoyed it

[@OneDullMan]

Mr. Schoefield / Campbell seems to be rather delusional and somewhat psychotic. Would have liked more consistency in his character.

[@valeriejohnson5283]

Goodness, Kate sounded like a whiny old woman! Always simpering and crying.That would drive me batty. RUN FOREST RUN!😂😂😂🥀

[@sergeantcarter610]

I must have listened to this particular play : At least a half-a-dozen times or even more than that. The characters - with the writer that comes in town, Or is it a town or Village ? But some other characters the sarcastic --- Angry Young Man... But moving on. : NOW IF ANYONE. READS COMMENTS. BEFORE THEY LISTEN TO PLAYS. : AS. I. DO. ? You must take the time to listen to this entertaining play, And once again, thank you

[@elainepayne7047]

Loved this but felt Kate’s voice was more 40 than 25 .

[@wendyboothman294]

The news after is an interesting 🧐 we still blame the nurses pay

[@jameslappin5325]

That's a long description for something that tells us absolutely nothing about the story

[@alicejackson771]

All a bit melodramatic!

[@susangregory2556]

Awful, particularly the 25yr old girl with the 45yr old voice lots of going off for a walk and shouting for no reason

[@allisophiajones3865]

She sounds more like 85

[@juliea.7292]

@@allisophiajones3865 🤣🤣It actually was her crying that kinda drove me nutty🤯and her melodramatics.

[@dirkbogarde44]

"But i'm 25"....she says, a dozen times

[@victoriasmith2512]

She sounds a very old 25 lol

[@stephaniehand503]

great

[@dodojack1045]

Overacted..... Puts women in bad light..!

[@dodojack1045]

Halfway through..... Cannot abide any further mysogenist drivel..

[@pensans1]

Half the news is football. Today they just take the knee.

[@gaetaneguitard7011]

I just,deteste that sonne voice, very ambition.

[@ForceFreeTrainergirl06]

What a weird play that was. The main character John was quite the arsehole all things considered. He was not a nice man at all. The woman playing Kate who was meant to be 25yrs old, sounded like a woman in her 50s. I have to say I did work out who the murderer was, about halfway through. I listened to the end but it was a very strange play.

[@stephenridley1153]

Preposterous overacting

[@debbielangton8371]

Ive been told i wud make a terrible actress 😂🎉 cant think 🤔 why 😂

[@margaretbrooker9744]

Hmmm . . . very over-dramatic. Pretty predictable outcome, too.

[@jenniferbate9682]

THEATRE!

[@guitarboogieboogie]

Cringworthy melodrama.

[@soulinabody3791]

Och aye the male chauvinist noo. Hilarious, for all the wrong reasons 🤣

[@cruisepaige]

Yes horrible assaulting the woman, bullying, etc. Ewww. I hated every character except the landlady.

[@rodpettet2819]

Too boring for me.😢

[@pennycartoulis6603]

Overacting much?

[@AB-nr8cu]

No scenery left unchewed, love it!

[@HartAngel5]

I wished there were a way I could fast-forward through it without hearing all the melodrama. Oh my goodness, it almost gave me a backache.