Dick Barton - Special Agent: The Complete Series [DVD]

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Barton’s audience continued to grow, boasting anywhere between 15 to 20 million listeners at its peak Swearing and bad language generally may not be used by any character. This ban ranges from ‘bloody’ through ‘God,’ ‘damn’, and ‘hell’ to ugly expressions currently heard in certain conversations but not considered admissible for child usage in middle-class homes. Originally running on the BBC Light Programme between 1946 and 1951, few of the BBC’s original recordings still survive. However, in 1949 a number of early Barton tales were re-recorded for transmission overseas starring Douglas Kelly. This collection contains 12 of the most recognisable dramas, as well as live performances, a profile of the character and interviews with the stars. Barton and his friends do not wittingly involve innocent members of the public in situations which would cause them to be distressed. For example, a motor car cannot be requisitioned for the purpose of chasing bandits, without the owner’s permission.

Contributors include Gareth Johnson, son of the first actor to play Barton, award winning playwright Phil Wilmott and Barton fan John Mundy.

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The location work - usually one of the most costly features of scripted television - is plentiful and the acting is more or less solid throughout. As you would expect from such a short serial, the whole thing runs like the clappers and the scripts - mostly by Clive Exton, who would later bring Poirot and Jeeves & Wooster to television - wisely play it straight throughout. There is, of course, the odd bit of wince-inducing dialogue, but all such things can be waved away as attempts at period authenticity. Like the original, it ran in 15-minute segments and was again accompanied by the familiar theme tune, the titles playing against an animated dagger and target motif. The production was blighted by financial troubles, though, and some critics said it was a mistake to try to resurrect the character.

In 1972 as part of the BBC's Golden Jubilee, the BBC broadcast a new, abridged, 10-episode version of the first Barton serial - "The Secret Weapon". The cast included many members of the original cast, including Noel Johnson, John Mann, William Fox, Alex McCrindle, and Margaret Robertson. [1] Adventure One written by Clive Exton, in ten parts. Demobbed after six years in the army, old friend Sir Richard Marley asks Barton to look into the disappearance of his daughter Virginia ( Fiona Fullerton) and son Rex (Kevan Sheehan). They come up against master criminal, Melganik played by John G. Heller. No! No! No!" screams Snowy. "Don't! It's from the War Office. Have you forgotten? You're a Z-reservist. They're calling you up"

Credit

In January 1948 the BBC bowed to pressure and published a code of conduct which the characters had to abide by. Unfortunately, this twice-weekly 15-minute serial from Southern Television failed to capture the public’s imagination in the same way as the original radio series. The nanny state killed the show off after five years in the belief that it was damaging to the dear young children. By this time, however, the show was a nationwide phenomenon, spawning a behind-the-scenes book, another volume of short stories and three films from Hammer Studios (at the time, best known for making thrillers, not horrors). The BBC then replaced it with a rustic drama named The Archers, the theme tune of which must have made every red-blooded adventurer used to Barton's buccaneering wish for another war. If it's another someone wanting another job, I'm tearing it up," says Barton as Snowy passes it to him.