Private Eye Philip Odell: Lady in a Fog & Test Room Eight

Summary

Robert Beatty stars as the hard-nosed Irish-American PI in these two vintage crime serials

Lester Powell's Chandleresque detective Philip Odell was a huge hit on the BBC Light Programme between 1947 and 1961, thrilling audiences with his crime-solving adventures in postwar London. This gripping collection brings together the only two surviving radio serials featuring the tough-guy investigator - one of which, Test Room Eight, is published here for the very first time.

Lady in a Fog - En route from London to Dublin, Philip Odell meets an old friend, Heather McMara, who tells him that her brother has been found drowned and asks him to investigate. Against the backdrop of a thick, pea-soup fog, he probes a case of blackmail and murder, involving a racehorse owner, a newspaper editor and a mysterious lady in mink...

Test Room Eight - Concerned that someone is trying to sabotage the production of his new influenza vaccine, millionaire industrialist Herbert Truscott hires Odell and Heather to go undercover at his state-of-the-art facility at Barton Medworth. They soon discover that all is not well at the plant - and when a staff member dies after inhaling a fatal dose of live virus, their search for a saboteur turns into a hunt for a killer...

Starring Robert Beatty as Philip Odell and Sheila Manahan as Heather, with a supporting cast including June Tobin, Jeffrey Segal, David March, Hilda Schroder, Mary Wimbush, Beryl Calder, Trevor Martin, Hamilton Dyce and Rolf Lefebvre.

NB: Due to the age of the recordings, the sound quality may vary

Lady in a Fog
Philip Odell - Robert Beatty
Heather McMara - Sheila Manahan
Marilyn Peters - June Tobin
Christopher Hampden/Bookmaker's Clerk - James Thomason
Parkin - Harold Reese
Martin Sorrowby - John Bennett
Barman - Ronald Baddiley
Mrs Cantaloup - Betty Baskcomb
Receptionist/Violet Levine - Joan Matheson
Hector O'Gorman - David March
Taxi Driver/Foreman - Will Leighton
Narrator/Constable - Anthony Viccars
Inspector Rigby - Edward Jewesbury
Head Waiter/Sergeant Layton - Jeffrey Segal
Telephone Operator/Rosie - Hilda Schroder
Jay - Haydn Jones
1st Driver/Police Doctor/Voice - Hugh Manning
Postman - Frank Partington
Dr Alexander Frey - Trevor Martin
The Lady in Mink/Kitty Stapleton - Mary Wimbush
Receptionist/Shop Assistant - Beryl Calder
Police Surgeon - John Graham
2nd Driver/Bandleader - David Spenser
Doctor/Hotel Manager/Waiter - Peter Wilde
Maid - Ann Rye
Produced by Martyn C. Webster
First broadcast BBC Light Programme, 29 April-17 June 1958

Test Room Eight
Philip Odell - Robert Beatty
Heather McMara - Sheila Manahan
Herbert Truscott - Hamilton Dyce
Hugh Chalk - David Spenser
David Karswood - Frederick Treves
Ken Armstrong - Duncan McIntyre
Barbara Eurich - Stella Textor
Wynn Craxton - Jeffrey Segal
Martin Dersen - Rolf Lefebvre
Colonel Guestling - Richard Williams
Jill Guestling - Hilda Schroder
Policeman - Will Leighton
Coroner - John Cazabon
Superintendent Manley - Edward Jewesbury
Mr Twist - Frank Windsor
Fred Fazackerly - David March
Mr Russell - James Thomason
Paula - Beryl Calder
Dent - John Hollis
Produced by David H. Godfrey
First broadcast BBC Light Programme, 22 December 1958-26 January 1959

© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd