Inspector West: A Classic BBC Radio Crime Collection

Summary

Three vintage crime serials, adapted from John Creasey's hugely popular thrillers

Roger West is a home-loving, hard-hitting and very human policeman. Nicknamed 'Handsome' West, he's more than just a pretty face - he's also Scotland Yard's youngest, smartest detective and a crime-solving supremo. Six of his adventures were dramatised for radio between 1967 and 1971, but only three survived, all of which are included in this box set.

Battle for Inspector West - Idle curiosity takes the Chief Inspector to a high-society wedding - and leads him into a case involving a notorious blackmailer and a missing bride. Drawn into a web of terror, West comes face-to-face with an old adversary - a dangerous criminal mastermind named Carosian...

Inspector West at Home - When Roger West finds the dead body of a small-time crook, he faces opposition from the formidable Superintendent Abbott, his superior at the Yard. Suspended from duty, he sets out on a trail of conspiracy, corruption and murder...

Inspector West at Bay - First West is targeted by a vicious attacker, then his wife Janet receives an anonymous, threatening message. Caught up in a deadly game of blind man's buff, can he save himself and his family from an enemy who seems determined to destroy them?

Starring real-life husband and wife Patrick Allen and Sarah Lawson as Roger and Janet West, these three full-cast dramas are full of excitement and suspense. Also featured is a 30-minute episode from The Radio Detectives, 'Stand by for West', in which Professor Jeffrey Richards investigates the 'master craftsman of mystery' John Creasey and his greatest creation, Inspector West.



Written by John Creasey
Adapted by Maurice Travers

Starring Patrick Allen as Chief Inspector Roger West and Sarah Lawson as Janet West

Battle for Inspector West
Michael Grant - Philip Bond
Christine Grant - Denise Buckley
Sir Guy Chatworth - Hamilton Dyce
Prendergast - John Cazabon
Vic - Charles Haggith
Carosian - Francis de Wolff
Arthur Morley - Preston Lockwood
Julieta - Eva Stuart
Sir Mortimer Grant - Humphrey Morton
Detective Sergeant Hubert Gill - Trevor Bannister
Pearly Willis - Henry Stamper
Superintendent Mulloon - Harry Webster
Produced by John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast BBC Light Programme, 4 May-15 June 1967

Inspector West at Home
Detective Inspector Bob Cornish - Frederick Treves
Mark Lessing - Edward de Souza
Superintendent Abbott - Grant Taylor
Pep Morgan - Harry Landis
Pickerell - Robert James
Sir Guy Chatworth - Maurice Hedley
Mrs Fleming - Margaret Robertson
Lois Randall - Carol Marsh
Bill Tennant - Anthony Jackson
'Whistler' Malone - Rio Fanning
Raymond Fleming - Frederick Jaeger
Produced by John Fawcett Wilson
Pianist: Max Harris
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2, 25 March-15 April 1968

Inspector West at Bay
Sir Guy Chatworth - Maurice Hedley
Detective Inspector Bill Sloan - Derek Newark
Mark Lessing - James Kerry
Eve Wedlake - Anna Gilchrist
With Leonard Fenton, John Baddely, Elizabeth Proud, Judy Bennett, Margaret Wolfit, Peter Williams, John Pullen, Ian Frost and Peter Thompson
Produced by John Browell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2, 27 May-19 June 1969

The Radio Detectives, Series 3 Episode 5: Stand by for West
Presented by Professor Jeffrey Richards
With Richard Creasey, Patrick Allen and Sarah Lawson
Produced by Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 28th March 2000