SPECIALIST IN RADIO THRILLERS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 28, Issue 725, 5 June 1953, Page 25

SPECIALIST IN RADIO THRILLERS

""[ HERE is one thing in radio thrillers about which I feel very strongly," says Martyn C. Webster (below), who has been a BBC drama producer, specialising in crime plays and thriller serials for more than 25 years: "They must be acted with complete sincerity to hold the attention of listeners." Webster was fascinated by things theatrical from his early youth. He recalls how family hat boxes used to disappear only to reappear as scenery in his most cherished possession — a, model theatre. As _ the

years progressed’ the lure of the stage grew stronger than ever and at 18, against the wishes and advice of everyone, he became an _ actor, "and I have never regretted it." In 1939 most booksellers in England were having a boom in detective stories, and he had an idea that radio ought to have its own detective. There had been many radio plays about Sherlock Holmes, Lord Peter Wimsey, and dozens of other sleuths from famous novels, but no one had created an original radio detective. He gave the idea to the programme planners, who were not very enthusiastic, but quite willing to experiment.

He then got in touch with Francis Durbridge, and for several weeks they discussed the problem of creating a character who would have the intelligence of Holmes, the whimsy of Wimsey and yet an individual character of his own. And so "Paul Temple," whose exploits have been enjoyed by thousands of New Zealand listeners, was _ evolved. "It’s a fascinating job being a radio producer," says Webster. "All these years of it-and, as they say in the old music-hall song, ‘It don’t seem a day too much.’"