The Scoop and Behind the Screen

infobox Book |
name = The Scoop and Behind the Screen
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
author = Hugh Walpole
Agatha Christie
Dorothy L. Sayers
Anthony Berkeley
E.C. Bentley
Ronald Knox
Freeman Wills Crofts
Clemence Dane
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Crime novel
publisher = Victor Gollancz Ltd
release_date = 1983
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 184 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 0-575-03225-1
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Scoop" & "Behind The Screen" are both collaborative detective serials written by members of the Detection Club which were broadcast weekly by their authors on the BBC National Programme in 1930 and 1931 with the scripts then being published in "The Listener" within a week after broadcast. The two serials were first published in book form in the UK by Victor Gollancz Ltd in 1983 and in the US by Harper & Row in 1984. The UK edition retailed at £6.95.

Julian Symons, then President of the club [1983] , explains in his introduction: "...The present volume... was written to provide funds so that club premises might be acquired. Other books with the same purpose, also the product of several hands, were "The Floating Admiral" (1931), ... "Ask A Policeman" (1933), ... and ... "Verdict of Thirteen". ..."

Behind the Screen

The episodes, contributors, transmission and magazine publication details of this serial are as follows (all episodes were transmitted from 9.25pm to 9.40pm):
* (1): (Episode un-named), written and broadcast by Hugh Walpole. Transmitted on Saturday, June 14, 1930. First published in issue 75 of "The Listener" on June 18, 1930.
* (2): "Something is Missing", written and broadcast by Agatha Christie. Transmitted on Saturday, June 21, 1930. First published in issue 76 of "The Listener" on June 25, 1930.
* (3): "Man at the Gate", written and broadcast by Dorothy L. Sayers. Transmitted on Saturday, June 28, 1930. First published in issue 77 of "The Listener" on July 2, 1930.
* (4): "I Killed Mr Dudden", written and broadcast by Anthony Berkeley. Transmitted on Saturday, July 5, 1930. First published in issue 78 of "The Listener" on July 9, 1930.
* (5): "Amy Intervenes", written and broadcast by E.C. Bentley. Transmitted on Saturday, July 12, 1930. First published in issue 79 of "The Listener" on July 16, 1930.
* (6): "How Dudden Died", written and broadcast by Ronald Knox. Transmitted on Saturday, July 19, 1930. First published in issue 80 of "The Listener" on July 23, 1930.

The book version of the serial (1983) only gives individual names to chapters four and six and renames these respectively "In the Aspidistra" and "Mr Parsons on the Case".

The Scoop

As announced in "The Guardian" on December 2, 1930, "Behind the Screen" proved popular enough for the BBC to commission a second serial, this time in twelve instalments.

The episodes, contributors, transmission and magazine publication details of this serial are as follows (all episodes were transmitted from 9.25pm to 9.40pm except for episode 7):

* (1): (Episode un-named), written and broadcast by Dorothy L. Sayers. Transmitted on Saturday, January 10, 1931. First published in issue 105 of "The Listener" on January 14, 1931.
* (2): (Episode un-named), written and broadcast by Agatha Christie. Transmitted on Saturday, January 17, 1931. First published in issue 106 of "The Listener" on January 21, 1931.
* (3): "Fisher's Alibi", written and broadcast by E.C. Bentley. Transmitted on Saturday, January 24, 1931. First published in issue 107 of "The Listener" on January 28, 1931.
* (4): "The Strange Behaviour of Mr. Potts", written and broadcast by Agatha Christie. Transmitted on Saturday, January 31, 1931. First published in issue 108 of "The Listener" on February 4, 1931 under the alternative title of "The Weapon".
* (5): "Tracing Tracey", written and broadcast by Anthony Berkeley. Transmitted on Saturday, February 14, 1931. First published in issue 110 of "The Listener" on February 18, 1931.
* (6): "Scotland Yard on the Job", written and broadcast by Freeman Wills Crofts. Transmitted on Saturday, February 21, 1931. First published in issue 111 of "The Listener" on February 25, 1931.
* (7): "Beryl in Broad Street", written and broadcast by Clemence Dane. Transmitted on Saturday, February 28, 1931 from 8.30pm to 8.55pm. First published in issue 112 of "The Listener" on March 4, 1931.
* (8): "The Sad Truth About Potts", written and broadcast by E.C. Bentley. Transmitted on Saturday, March 7, 1931. First published in issue 113 of "The Listener" on March 11, 1931.
* (9): "Bond Street and Broad Street", written and broadcast by Anthony Berkeley. Transmitted on Saturday, March 14, 1931. First published in issue 114 of "The Listener" on March 18, 1931 under the slightly different title of "Bond Street or Broad Street".
* (10): "Beryl Takes the Consequences", written and broadcast by Clemence Dane. Transmitted on Saturday, March 21, 1931. First published in issue 115 of "The Listener" on March 25, 1931.
* (11): "Inspector Smart gets a Nasty Jar", written and broadcast by Freeman Wills Crofts. Transmitted on Saturday, March 28, 1931. First published in issue 116 of "The Listener" on April 1, 1931 under the slightly different title of "Inspector Smart's Nasty Jar".
* (12): "The Final Scoop", written and broadcast by Dorothy L. Sayers. Transmitted on Saturday, April 4, 1931. First published in issue 117 of "The Listener" on April 8, 1931.

The book version of the serial (1983) replicates the chapter titles in "The Listener" and in addition names the first two instalments as "Over the Wire" and "At the Inquest".

Publication History

* 1983, Victor Gollancz (London), 1983, Hardback, 184 pp
* 1984, Methuen (London), 1984, Hardback, 182 pp
* 1984, Harper and Row (New York), 1984, 208 pp

References

Weedon, A. '“Behind the Screen” and “The Scoop”’: a cross-media experiment in publishing and broadcasting crime fiction in the early 1930s' "Media History", 13 (1), 2007, pp. 43 – 60.