Paul Temple
Created by Francis Durbridge (1912-1998)
One
of the most popular private detectives of all time, once upon
a time, PAUL TEMPLE was a popular British private detective who made his first appearance in a BBC radio serial in 1938 and went on to appear in novels, film, television and even a daily comic strip. And on the radio itself for a whopping thirty-year run, originally broadcast on the BBC Light Programme and around the world with the result that Paul Temple, even now, has fan fans all over the world.
Temple is a crime writer turned private eye, who is frenquently "sent for" by Scotland Yard to help out. Aiding him in his investigations are his faithful wife, Steve, and Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard. The stories themselves are often quite suspenseful, and the radio serials were full of cliffhanger endings, but nobody's going to mistake Temple for a member of the hard-boiled school. They're invariably set in the genteel world of the upper classes, even if Temple himself is closer to say, Sherlock Homes as opposed to Miss Marple. According to 20th Century Crime and Mystery Writers, Francis Durbridge, Temple's creator, is "a master of the cliffhanger, albeit verbal rather than unpleasantly physical. Durbridge has kept tight control over his creation over the years, being involved in almost all subsequent projects. The books were merely quickie novelizations of the radio scripts at first, but as the character's popularity increased, wholly original adventures were soon being printed. A few of the books were even credited to "Paul Temple," actually a pseudonym of Durbridge and fellow writer Douglas Rutherford.
There were four films in the forties, and in the fifties, a daily comic strip ran in the U.K. And in the late sixties, a television show made it on to the air, in colour even (all the films had been in black and white). There were other changes as well -- for the first time, Francis Durbridge relinquished control and didn't write the stories. Also, instead of the much-loved serials of the radio show, the series featured standalone episodes for the most part. Even more disconcerting to older fans were that the series was set squarely in to the swinging 60s, often abroad, and many of the old characters, such as Sir Graham Forbes, were tossed, although new characters were added to the roster. Still, the show proved popular enough to run for four series.
Not a bad run at all, if you ask me. Even now, I get quite a bit of mail about this character, and it's not all from Brits of a certain age.
UNDER OATH
RADIO PLAYS
- SEND FOR PAUL TEMPLE
(April 8, 1938)
8-part serial
Starring Hugh Morton as PAUL TEMPLE
and Bernadette Hodgson as Steve
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE FRONT PAGE MEN
(November 2, 1938)
8-part serial
Starring Hugh Morton as PAUL TEMPLE
and Bernadette Hodgson as Steve
.- NEWS OF PAUL TEMPLE
(November 13, 1939)
6-parts serial
Starring Hugh Morton as PAUL TEMPLE
and Bernadette Hodgson as Steve
.- SEND FOR PAUL TEMPLE
(October 13, 1941)
60 minute abridged story
Starring Carl Bernard as PAUL TEMPLE
and Thea Holme as Steve
.- PAUL TEMPLE INTERVENES
(October 30, 1942)
8-part serial
Starring Carl Bernard as PAUL TEMPLE
and Bernadette Hodgson as Steve
.- NEWS OF PAUL TEMPLE
(July 5, 1944)
60 minute episode
Starring Richard Williams as PAUL TEMPLE
and Lucille Lisle as Steve
.- SEND FOR PAUL TEMPLE AGAIN
(September 13, 1945)
8-part serial
Starring Barry Morse as PAUL TEMPLE
.- A CASE FOR PAUL TEMPLE
(February 7, 1946)
8-part serial
Starring Howard Marion Crawford as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE GREGORY AFFAIR
(October 17, 1946)
10-part serial
Starring Kim Peacock as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND STEVE
(March 30, 1947)
8-part serial
Starring Kim Peacock as PAUL TEMPLE
.- MR. AND MRS. PAUL TEMPLE
(November 23, 1947)
45 minute episode
Starring Kim Peacock as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE SULLIVAN MYSTERY
(December 1, 1947)
8-part serial
Starring Kim Peacock as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE CURZON CASE
(December 7, 1948)
8-part serial
Starring Kim Peacock as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE MADISON MYSTERY
(October 12, 1949)
8-part serial
Starring Kim Peacock as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE VAN DYKE AFFAIR
(October 31, 1950)
8-part serial
Starring Kim Peacock as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE JONATHAN MYSTERY
(May 10, 1951)
8-part serial
Starring Kim Peacock as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND STEVE AGAIN
(April 8, 1953)
60 minute episode
Starring Kim Peacock as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE GILBERT CASE
(March 29, 1954)
8-part serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE
.- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE MADISON MYSTERY
(June 20, 1955)
8-part serial, remake of previous serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE
..- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE LAWRENCE AFFAIR
(April 11, 1956)
8-part serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE
..- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE SPENCER AFFAIR
(November 13, 1957)
8-part serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE
..- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE VAN DYKE AFFAIR
(January 1, 1959)
8-part serial, remake of previous serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE
..- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE CONRAD CASE
(March 2, 1959)
8-part serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE
..- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE GILBERT CASE
(November 22, 1959)
8-part serial, remake of previous serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE
..- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE MARGO MYSTERY
(January 1, 1961)
8-part serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLEe
..- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE JONATHAN MYSTERY
(October 14, 1963)
8-part serial, remake of previous serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE
..- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE GENEVA MYSTERY
(April 11, 1965)
6-part serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE
..- PAUL TEMPLE AND THE ALEX AFFAIR
(February 26, 1968)
8-part serial, remake of previous serial
Starring Peter Cooke as PAUL TEMPLE.
NOVELS
SHORT STORIES
FILMS
COMIC STRIP
TELEVISION
- 1st series
- "Who Dies Next" (November 23, 1969)
- "Message from A Dead Man" (November 30, 1969)
- "There Must Be A Mr X" (December 7, 1969)
- "Missing Penny" (December 14, 1969)
- "The Man Who Wasn't Really There" (December 21, 1969)
- "Which One of Us Is Me?" (December 28, 1969)
- "Inside Information" (January 4, 1970)
- "The Masked Lady" (January 11, 1970)
- "Swan Song For Colonel Harp" (January 18, 1970)
- "Mr. Wallace Predicts" (January 25, 1970)
- "Letters From Robert" (February 1, 1970)
- "The Man From the Sea" (February 8, 1970)
- "The Victim" (February 15,1970)
.- 2nd series
- "Right Villain" (April 5, 1970)
- "Kill Or Cure" (April 12, 1970)
- "Games People Play" (April 19, 1970)
- "The Artnappers" (April 26, 1970)
- "The Black Room" (May 3, 1970)
- "Antique Death, Part One" (May 10, 1970)
- "Antique Death, Part Two" (May 17, 1970)
- "Double Vision" (May 24, 1970)
- "Steal A Little Happiness" (June 28, 1970)
- "The Suitcase" (July 5, 1970)
- "Murder In Munich, Part One" (July 12, 1970)
- "Murder In Munich, Part Two" (July 19, 1970)
- "Re-Take" (July 26, 1970)
.- 3rd series
- "House Of the Dead (January 10, 1971)
- "Sea Burial" (January 17 , 1971)
- "Night Train" (January 24 , 1971)
- "Corrida" (February 7 , 1971)
- "Death For Drivers' Reasons" (February 14 , 1971)
- "A Greek Tragedy" (February 21 , 1971)
- "The Specialists" (February 28 , 1971)
- "Has Anybody Seen Kelly?" (March 7 , 1971)
- "Requiem For A Don" (March 14 , 1971)
- "Motel " (March 21 , 1971)
- "Cue Murder!" (March 28 , 1971)
- "Death Of Fasching" (April 4 , 1971)
- "Catch Your Death" (April 11, 1971)
.- 4th series
- "Paper Chase" (June 9, 1971)
- "Death Sentence" (June 16, 1971)
- "Ricochet" (June 23, 1971)
- "With Friends Like You, Who Needs Enemies?" (June 30, 1971)
- "Party Piece" (July 7, 1971)
- "The Quick and the Dead" (July 14, 1971)
- "The Man Who Forged Real Money" (July 21, 1971)
- "A Family Affair" (July 28, 1971)
- "The Guilty Must Die" (August 4, 1971)
- "Game, Set and Match" (August 11, 1971)
- "Long Ride to Red Gap" (August 18, 1971)
- "Winner Takes All" (August 25, 1971)
- "Critics, Yes! But This Is Ridiculous!" (September 1, 1971)
RELATED LINKS
Pictured are Dinah Sheridan as Steve Temple and John Bentley as Paul Temple in Calling Paul Temple (1948).
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. A thousand thanks to Adam Jezard, John Herrington and Ian Lyman or helping to plug the holes.
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