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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The play opens on the centre court at Wimbledon where Dmitri Rikhjovic, of Hungary, and Anthony Hargraves, of Australia, are fighting out the semi-final of the men’s singles. Rikhovic has a comfortable lead of two games and is just about to deliver what will probably be his decisive service in the third.
'The first ball is a fault. A murmur of surprise goes up from the crowd. Before Rikhjovic can serve a second ball, he collapses. A doctor is quickly on the scene, but it is too late—the tennis star is dead. The doctor, obviously disturbed, suggests that the police should be called, for it seems probable that Dmitri Rikhjovic has died of cyanide poisoning.
'This is the problem confronting the police: how could a man be poisoned while on a tennis court, with thousands of eyes focused on him?'
Source: ABC Weekly, 29 October 1955, p.20.
Adaptations
-
form
y
Who Killed Kovali?
( dir. Cyril Coke
)
England
:
ITV
,
1957
6104805
1957
single work
film/TV
crime
thriller
Production Details
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Aired on BBC radio at 9:15pm on 10 July 1954.
Producer: Ayton Whitaker.
Cast: Brian Haines, Richard Waring, and Rolf Lefebvre.
Broadcast on ABC Radio (2FC) from Melbourne, 2 April 1955.
Producer: Henry Cuthbertson.
Cast: Williams Lloyd (Major Morrison), Robert Peach (Tony Hargraves), Keith Eden (Detective-Inspector Carson), John Morgan (Sergeant Stott), Betine Kauffmann (Maria Rikhjovic), Douglas Kelly (Igor Kovali), Sydney Conabere (Jeff Willis), John Bluthal (Pedro Moreno), Beverley Dunn (Jill Masters), Denzil Howson (Radio Voice), Noel Ferrier (Max Robertson), David Reed (Dr Noble), Merle Dalmaine (Maid), Eric Conway (Constable Wilson), and Cyril Gardiner (Colonel Braid).
Broadcast on ABC Radio (2FC) from Sydney, 30 October 1955.
Producer: Raymond Menmuir.
Cast: Peter Owen (Major Morrison), Charles Tingwell (Tony Hargraves), Brian James (Detective-Inspector Carson), Ron Whelan (Sergeant Stott), Georgie Sterling (Maria Rikhjovic), Richard Davies (Igor Kovali), Leonard Bullen (Jeff Willis), Guy Leclaire (Pedro Moreno), Ann Bullen (Jill Masters), Ric Hutton (Max Robertson), Rupert Chance (Dr Noble), Marilyn Thomas (Maid), Leonard Bullen (Constable Wilson), Charles McCallum (Mackenzie), and Reginald Collins (Colonel Braid).
Note: this version has a role, 'Mackenzie', that is not listed in the Melbourne production.
