Francis Durbridge

Francis Henry Durbridge (25 November 1912 - 11 April 1998) was an English playwright and author born in Hull.

Biography

Educated at Bradford Grammar School in Yorkshire, he was encouraged to write by his English teacher, and continued to do so whilst studying English at Birmingham University. After graduating in 1933, he worked for a short time as a stockbroker's clerk, before selling a radio play to the BBC at the age of 21.

In 1938, he created the character Paul Temple, a crime novelist and detective. With Steve Trent, a Fleet Street journalist and later his wife, Temple solved numerous crimes in the glamorous world of the leisured middle-classes, first on radio and, from 1969 until 1971, in a 64-part big-budget television series.

Durbridge went on to forge a successful career as a writer for the stage, with seven plays, the last of which, "Sweet Revenge", was written in 1991.

He married Norah Lawley, with whom he had two sons, in 1940. He died at his home in Barnes, London in 1998.

"Paul Temple" on radio

In Great Britain

The first Paul Temple radio serial was "Send for Paul Temple", broadcast in eight episodes on the BBC Midland Regional Programme from 8 April 1938. Hugh Morton played Paul and Steve was played by Bernadette Hodgson.

In 1939 Carl Bernard took over the part of Paul, and after the war he was played by a succession of different actors: Barry Morse (1945), Howard Marion-Crawford (1946), and Kim Peacock (1946-1951). Peter Coke took over the part in the 1954 serial, "Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case", and played the part until the serials came to an end.
Marjorie Westbury took over the part of Steve from the fifth serial, "Send for Paul Temple Again" (1945), although she had a small part in the fourth serial, "Paul Temple Intervenes" (1942). She played Steve until the serials came to an end. To many people, Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury are most firmly identified with Paul and Steve.

The original signature tune was taken from "Scheherazade" by Rimsky-Korsakov, with incidental music taken from the works of other composers, including "Tintagel" by Sir Arnold Bax. The signature tune was later changed to "Coronation Scot" by Vivian Ellis.

The BBC shipped recordings of the serials to other Commonwealth countries where they were repeated long after they had finished in their home market.

Repeating the recordings on the BBC7 digital speech channel revived interest in the serials in the early 2000s. The BBC then released all the complete recordings known to survive on CDs and cassettes.

On Monday 7 August 2006, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first episode of a new production of "Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery" a lost 1947-produced serial. The re-creation used the original 1947 script, vintage sound effects, music, microphones, and carefully reproduced 1940s upper class accents. Paul Temple was played by Crawford Logan and Steve by Gerda Stevenson. This production was repeated on Radio 4 from mid-June 2007. Listeners complained because the repeat was scheduled at the same time of day as the original broadcast. BBC Audio and Music head Jenny Abramsky told 6 July 2007's Radio 4's listeners' complaints programme, "Feedback", that more repeats were inevitable because the level at which Parliament had set the television licence fee – the BBC's principal source of income programme income – made spending cuts vital. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/feedback.shtml] .

In Germany

Throughout the 1960s German radio adapted twelve Paul Temple serials. Like the BBC originals, each part ended with a cliffhanger, making them "Strassenfeger" ("street-clearers"), which were so popular as to leave the streets deserted. The actors were of national renown, with Paul Temple played by Luxembourg-born René Deltgen, and supported by Gustav Knuth, Paul Klinger and others. All of these German serials are, like the BBC originals, available on CD as audio-books.

In 1967, The European Broadcasting Union invited Durbridge to write an original radio serial for the international market - "La Boutique" - which was broadcast in more than fifteen countries, and in a variety of languages.

"Paul Temple" on television

In the mid-1960s, several mini-series based on Paul Temple novels appeared on TV in Europe, especially in England and Germany. The first 52 episodes of the 64-part 1969 - 1971 television series was notable for the being the first international television co-production. It was made by the BBC with the Germany's ZDF. Paul Temple was played by British actor Francis Matthews – whose film and television credits included and the voice of Captain Scarlet)– and Ros Drinkwater played Steve.

Several series were made in Europe from other Durbridge's novels. They ran under the title "Francis Durbridge Presents..." in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany and featured other characters including Tim Frazer in the 1960-1961 "The World of Tim Frazer", an 18-episode serial featuring three adventures [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/26881] starring Jack Hedley in the title role) and Harry Brent. They attracted almost 80% of all TV-viewers – not least because, at that time, many European countries had one TV station each). There was uproar in Germany in 1962 when comedian Wolfgang Neuss revealed in a newspaper who would turn out to be the murderer in the last part of six-parter "Das Halstuch" ("The Scarf"), of which the BBC already had shown an own produced series in the UK in February and March 1959. [ [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/27529 BBC airing dates] ]

Novels

Durbridge wrote several Paul Temple novels in collaboration with John Thewes, Douglas Rutherford and Charles Hatten – and those he wrote with Rutherford appeared under the pen name "Paul Temple", making the fictional writer "real".

Radio plays and serials

Paul Temple

*"Send for Paul Temple" (1938)
*"Paul Temple And The Front Page Men" (1938)
*"News of Paul Temple" (1939)
*"Paul Temple Intervenes" (1942)
*"Send for Paul Temple Again" (1945)
*"A Case for Paul Temple" (1946)
*"Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair" (1946)
*"Paul Temple and Steve" (1947)
*"Mr. and Mrs. Paul Temple" (1947)
*"Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery" (1947)
*"Paul Temple and the Curzon Case" (1948)
*"Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery" (1949)
*"Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair" (1950)
*"Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery" (1951)
*"Paul Temple and Steve Again" (1953)
*"Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case" (1954)
*"Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery" (1955) (new production)
*"Paul Temple and the Lawrence Affair" (1956)
*"Paul Temple and the Spencer Affair" (1957)
*"Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair" (1959) (new production)
*"Paul Temple and the Conrad Case" (1959)
*"Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case" (1959) (new production)
*"Paul Temple and the Margot Mystery" (1961)
*"Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery" (1963) (new production)
*"Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery" (1965)
*"Paul Temple and the Alex Affair" (1968) (revised version of "Send For Paul Temple Again")
*"Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery" (2006) (new production)

Other radio plays and serials

*"Persuasion" (1933)
*"Information Received" (1938)
*"And Anthony Sherwood Laughed" (1940)
*"Were Strangers" (1941)
*"Mr. Harrington Died Tomorrow" (1942)
*"The Essential Heart" (1943)
*"Frewell Leicester Square" (1943)
*"Over My Dead Body" (1946)
*"John Washington Esquire" (1949)
*"What Do You Think?" (1962)
*"La Boutique" (1967)

Novels

Paul Temple novels

*"Send for Paul Temple" (1938)
*"Paul Temple and the Front Page Men" (with Charles Hatton) (1939)
*"News of Paul Temple" (1940)
*"Paul Temple Intervenes" (1944)
*"Send for Paul Temple Again!" (1948)
*"East of Algiers" (with Douglas Rutherford) (1959)
*"Paul Temple and the Kelby Affair" (1970)
*"Paul Temple and the Harkdale Robbery" (1970)
*"The Geneva Mystery" (1971)
*"The Curzon Case" (1971)
*"Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery" (1986)
*"Paul Temple and the Madison Case" (1988)
*"Paul Temple and the Conrad Case" (1989)

Tim Frazer novels

*"The World of Tim Frazer" (1962)
*"Tim Frazer Again" (1964)
*"Tim Frazer Gets the Message" (1978)

Other Novels

*"Back Room Girl" (1950)
*"Beware of Johnny Washington" (1951)
*"Design for Murder" (1951)
*"The Tyler Mystery" (with Douglas Rutherford) (1957)
*"The Other Man" (1958)
*"A Time of Day" (1959)
*"The Scarf" (1960)
*"Portrait of Alison" (1962)
*"My Friend Charles" (1963)
*"Another Woman's Shoes" (1965)
*"The Desperate People" (1966)
*"Dead to the World" (967)
*"My Wife Melissa" (1967)
*"The Pig-Tail Murder" (1969)
*"A Man Called Harry Brent" (1970)
*"Bat out of Hell" (1972)
*"A Game of Murder" (1975)
*"The Passenger" (1977)
*"Breakaway" (1981)
*"The Doll" (1982)
*"House Guest" (1982)
*"Deadly Nightcap" (1986)
*"A Touch of Danger" (1989)
*"The Small Hours" (1992)
*"Sweet Revenge" (1994)
*"Fatal Encounter" (2002)

TV series

*"The Broken Horseshoe" (1952)
*"Operation Dilomat" (1952)
*"The Teckman Biography" (1953-54)
*"The Teckman Mystery" (1954)
*"Portrait Of Alison" (1955)
*"My Friend Charles" (1956)
*"The Other Man" (1956)
*"A Time Of Day" (1957)
*"The Vicious Circle" (1957)
*"The Scarf" (1959)
*"The World Of Tim Frazer" (1960-61)
*"The Desperate People" (1963)
*"Melissa" (1964)
*"A Man Called Harry Brent" (1965)
*"Bat Out Of Hell" (1966)
*"Paul Temple" (12 episodes) (1968-69)
*"Paul Temple" (52 episodes) (1969-71)
*"The Passenger" (1971)
*"The Doll" (1975)
*"Breakaway" (1980)

Plays

*"Suddenly At Home" (1971)
*"The Gentle Hook" (1974)
*"House Guest" (1976)
*"Murder With Love" (1976)
*"Deadly Nightcap" (1983)
*"A Touch Of Danger" (1987)
*"The Small Hours" (1991)
*"Sweet Revenge" (1993)

Films

* 1946 "Send for Paul Temple" (with Anthony Hulme)
* 1948 "Calling Paul Temple" (with John Bentley)
* 1950 "Paul Temple's Triumph" (with John Bentley)
* 1952 "Paul Temple Returns" (with John Bentley)

References

External links

*
* [http://www.geocities.com/gregorym101/Temple1.html The Paul Temple File]