AustLit logo
form y separately published work icon Murder at 2FC single work   radio play   detective  
Alternative title: Death at Broadcast House
Issue Details: First known date: 1935... 1935 Murder at 2FC
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Based on the BBC radio production Death at Broadcasting House, itself an adaptation of the 1934 British film of the same name, the action is set in the Sydney studios of 2FC where an actor taking part in a live drama is murdered. Much of the fun of the piece was reportedly due both the 'real' personalities involved and the 'fascinating details of broadcasting methods [which were] revealed.'

The production included the State Manager for the ABC H. G. Horner; programme director Ewart Chapple; producer James J. Donnelly; and announcers Heath Burdock (2FC) and Bryson Taylor (2BL). The celebrity participants included variety artists and actors such as Rene Dixon, Grace Quine, Nancye Stewart, Ronald Morse, Reg Hawthorne, Vivian Edwards and juvenile actor Robin Ordell (son of actor Tal Ordell).

[Source: Queenslander 26 September 1935, 50]

Notes

  • 'Adapted and localised from the British Empire Film by Edmund Barclay.' ('On the Air', Maitland Daily Mercury, 8 June 1935, p.3.)
  • The film on which this radio play was ultimately based was written by Eric Maschwitz (as Holt Marvell), and adapted from a novel by Val Gielgud.

Production Details

  • 1935: 2FC (Sydney), 1 October.

    Producer Lawrence H. Cecil.

    Cast incl. Ronald Morse (the author), Vivian Edwards (the detective), Nancye Stewart (Isobel Dryden), Walter Plinge (the lover), Mayne Linton (Leopold Dryden), Robin Ordell (the boy), Bert Barton (the doorman), Charles Wheeler (Sydney Parsons), Guy Bannister (Eric Masters), H. G. Horner, Reg Hawthorne (2FC control room operator), (State Manager of the ABC), Ewart Chapple (programme director), James J. Donnelly (research department); Heath Burdock announcer), Bryson Taylor (announcer), Conrad Sharlton (studio manager), Lawrence H. Cecil (dramatic producer), Fred Wahite (conductor), Oscar Lansbury (sound effects section), Professor Charteris (lecturer), Rene Dixon (soubrette), Grace Quine (singer).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Last amended 4 Jun 2015 11:38:25
Settings:
  • Sydney, New South Wales,
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X