Peter Coke, who in 1954 took over the lead role, had a small part in this serial "Obituary: Peter Coke", the Guardian, 4 September 2008 But Temple ruled the U.K. and much of the Commonwealth, and his exploits entertained millions of fans around the world. He made his first appearance in a BBC radio serial in 1938 and went on to appear in further radio serials, several novels, four feature films, a BBC television series in the sixties and even a long-running daily comic strip that lasted almost twenty years. But his main stomping ground was radio–the show was good for a whopping thirty-year run, initially airing on the BBC and then sent out internationally with the result that Paul Temple, even now, has fans all over the world. The super sleuth investigates whether an international criminal called The Fence is behind Julia's murder.

Lester Mudditt first played Sir Graham Forbes, the Chief Commissioner of Scotland Yard, in this serial – and would continue to play that part in every serial up to and including The Spencer Affair in 1958. Send for Paul Temple' (1940) is an early remake of the now lost original 1938 BBC production. 'Paul Temple Intervenes' (1942) finds Paul and Steve investigating a series of celebrity murders whilst 'Paul Temple and the Vandyke Affair' (the original 1950 production, presented here for the very first time) concerns the strange disappearance of the Desmond baby and her sitter.

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From 1938 to 1968, Francis Durbridge's incomparably suave amateur detective Paul Temple and his glamorous wife Steve solved case after baffling case in one of BBC radio's most popular series. Sadly, only half of Temple's adventures survive in the archives. Now it's the turn of Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair from 1946, in which Paul and Steve come to the aid of a baffled Scotland Yard in pursuit of a deadly and mysterious criminal mastermind. Not only has the recording disappeared but also the scripts of Episodes 1, 2 and 6. This new production is made possible by the recent discovery by a colleague in Norwegian radio of a complete set of scripts in an old store cupboard in Oslo. Between 1958 and 1988, he wrote eleven plays, including his best-known, Breath of Spring, which was successful both in the West End and on Broadway. [9] Coke continued to take film roles and television parts until the late 1950s, including a minor role as Lt. Lashwood in Carry on Admiral (US: The Ship Was Loaded, 1957). [10] Between 1946 and 1952, Paul Temple appeared in four feature films, each an abridged version of one of the early (hence, now lost) BBC radio serials. These films were distributed by Butcher's Film Service based in the North of England. All were made in the years before Peter Coke was cast as the definitive Paul Temple in the radio series in 1954. Marjorie Westbury had been established in the radio series by this point, but was not cast in these films because she was not a film actress.

Peter John Coke was born in Southsea, Hampshire on 3 April 1913. [2] His father was a commander in the Royal Navy, who took his family to Kenya to run a linen plantation; however, this venture failed and he began to run a coffee plantation. Coke was educated at Stowe School [3] and later lived with his maternal grandmother in Menton, France. [4] Temple is a mystery author turned private eye (and shit magnet–trouble just seems to follow him), who is frequently “sent for” by Scotland Yard to “help out.” Aiding him in almost all of his investigations is his faithful journalist wife, Louise, known to one and all as “Steve,” after her writing pen name of Steve Trent. Also frequently lending a hand is Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard, who would join the couple at the end of each show to offer a post-mortem of sorts on the case at hand. April 1938 saw the transmission on the BBC's Midland Regional Programme of a thriller serial called 'Send for Paul Temple', written by Francis Durbridge. For the next thirty years, until 1968, the incomparably suave private detective and crime novelist Paul, together with his glamorous Fleet Street journalist wife Steve, solved case after baffling case in one of BBC radio's most enduringly popular series. Unfortunately, recordings of many of the early series are lost to the archives. Searching for Julia's killer, a fortune teller in Brighton warns the Temples they're in grave danger.By Timothy, it's good to hear this early BBC Paul Temple which, according my little friend Mr Wikipedia, was first broadcast from October to December 1942 (right in the middle of the War, of course). During 2011–12 all four Paul Temple movies were released by Renown. A DVD box set of three was released in November 2011; the fourth film, Paul Temple's Triumph, was released singly, initially to Renown Club members only, in March 2012, but has since become generally available. For a different start date, just change the YYMMDD date in the URL; for a different number of days between episodes, change the number The investigation into the activities of the mysterious Dr. Belasco lead him to a murder scene in a flat above a London dry-cleaning business; but then the clues begin to point far away from the great city, to a lonely country house on Romney Marsh.

Peter Coke: Voice of radio sleuth Paul Temple". The Independent. 13 August 2008. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. I am old enough to recall when the Australian Broadscasting Commission transmitted Peter Coke's Temple at 10.00 at night. For me, Paul Temple was often accompanied by cries from my mother:Until 1954 the strip was drawn by Alfred Sindall. [20] From 1954 onward it was continued by Bill Bailey, John McNamara [21] and Philip Mendoza. [22] Selected editions from the strips drawn by John McNamara were reprinted by an obscure South London magazine publisher, Micron, in a short lived series in 1964. [23] At no stage did the strip feature recognisable portraits of the then-current stars of the radio series, Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury. [24] Commercial releases [ edit ]

At the end of each tale, Paul, Steve and Sir Graham Forbes held a post mortem. Here, Paul explained why certain events in the serial took place, which of these had been red herrings, and which had been genuine clues. In general, the serials feature similar types of events, often in the same sequence. The first of the re-recorded versions of this century, utilizing — when possible– the original theme music and sound effects.Coke later exhibited his works at Partridge Fine Art in the 1990s, and at The Fine Art Society in New Bond Street in 2002, and 2004, and at the Sloane Club in Lower Sloane Street in December 2006. [12] Personal life [ edit ] Perhaps the biggest trope of all: the mystery writer who actually solves actual crimes. Durbridge didn’t create it, of course, and he certainly wasn’t the last one to do it. Seven Italian-language Paul Temple serials were produced by RAI between 1953 and 1977, each with a different voice actor in the title role: