Eight abridged novels

Paul Temple at the Double

Anthony Head reads eight abridged novels by Francis Durbridge. 
 
Send for Paul Temple, based on the first ever Paul Temple radio serial, centres around the mystery of The Green Finger. 
In Paul Temple and the Front Page Men, a series of thefts is linked to high profile kidnapping cases - and then murder. 
News of Paul Temple links a vivacious actress, a mysterious letter and an enigmatic doctor in Paul's latest case. 
In Paul Temple and the Tyler Mystery, the main suspect in a murder case is someone Paul put away for fraud four years earlier... 
In Paul Temple East of Algiers, the Temples travel to Tunis in order to deliver a package - but a series of murders ensues. 
In Paul Temple and the Kelby Affair, a sensational diary appears to be at the centre of Alfred Kelby's murder. 
In Paul Temple and the Harkdale Robbery, a suspect involved in a robbery is found dead - in the garage of Paul's own country cottage. 
Paul Temple and the Curzon Case is a gripping story of kidnap, intrigue and sudden death, and Paul must work to find out if all the events are connected. 
 
Anthony Head, famed for his TV roles in Buffy and Little Britain, reads these stories inspired by one of the most successful BBC radio serials of the Twentieth Century. 
 
(P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd © 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Three unabridged novels

Paul Temple Deduces

Toby Stephens reads three thrilling unabridged novels by Francis Durbridge. 
 
In Paul Temple Intervenes, the murder of a well-known American heralds a spate of celebrity deaths that become known as the Marquis murders. The police are baffled, and the Home Secretary is calling for Paul Temple to intervene... 
 
In Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery, Paul faces danger once again as he and Steve must find the answer to one vital question: is Carl Milbourne, supposedly killed in a motor accident in Switzerland, dead or alive? 
 
In Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery, a brand of expensive designer coats sparks the latest mystery, when Steve goes missing and another woman is brutally strangled and thrown into the Thames. A trip to the funfair yields further clues... 
 
Toby Stephens, known for roles including Gustav Graves in Die Another Day, reads these stories based on some of the most popular BBC radio serials of the Twentieth Century. 
 
(P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd © 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Francis Henry Durbridge was an English playwright and author born in Hull. In 1938, he created the character Paul Temple for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple. A crime novelist and detective, the gentlemanly Temple solved numerous crimes with the help of Steve Trent, a Fleet Street journalist who later became his wife. The character proved enormously popular and appeared in 16 radio serials and later spawned a 64-part big-budget television series (1969-71) and radio productions, as well as a number of comic strips, four feature films and various foreign radio productions.

Three abridged novels

A Tim Frazer Trilogy

Anthony Head reads three unabridged novels by Francis Durbridge. 
 
In The World of Tim Frazer, the engineer-turned-spy's friend and ex-business partner Harry Denston has gone missing. That's not all: he owes money, and there are several people desperate to track him down. Frazer must put the pieces together. 
 
In Tim Frazer Again, when special agent Leo Salinger is killed by a fast car in Amsterdam, Frazer is sent over to trail the young woman who was at the wheel. Was it a genuine accident? The case grows more complicated at every turn. 
 
In Tim Frazer Gets The Message, Frazer is sent to Wales to find out why a British intelligence agent was brutally murdered. There's also the matter of a missing German scientist. Can Frazer find out what links the two agents, before it's too late? 
 
Anthony Head, famed for his TV roles in Buffy and Little Britain, reads these stories inspired by one of the most successful BBC TV serials of the 1960s. 
 
(P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd © 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Paul Temple Returns (2006-2013)

Paul Temple: The Complete Radio Collection: Volume Four

Paul Temple lives again in these five complete radio dramas starring Crawford Logan and Gerda Stephenson.

Francis Durbridge was born in Hull in on 25 November 1912. He was educated in Bradford and went on to Birmingham University. It was while he was there that his radio play, Persuasion, was written and broadcast. After leaving university he worked for a short time in a stockbroker's office before realising that the only career he was really interested in was writing. For some time he toyed with the idea of creating a detective who was also a crime novelist, but was unable to finalise the character to his satisfaction until 1938. The end result, Paul Temple, inhabited a world of luxurious sports cars, Knightsbridge flats and chic women - a bygone age of elegance and manners. Durbridge had his first detective novel published at the age of twenty-two and went on to write three dozen more. Paul Temple made his first radio appearance on 8 April 1938 on the BBC's Midland Region. Send for Paul Temple was a huge success: within a week of the serial's final instalment the BBC received 7000 letters demanding more. A second adventure, Paul Temple and the Front Page Men, was broadcast in November and December 1938 and was even more popular than the first. The theme tune for the series was Vivian Ellis' Coronation Scot, which became instantly recognisable to the millions of Temple listeners. In all, twenty-one series of Paul Temple were broadcast over a period of thirty years. During the 1950s and '60s Durbridge transferred his skills to television; Portrait of Alison, Melissa and The Scarf are just a few of the serials that gripped the nation during those years. They all adhered to the writer's golden formula: 'Everybody is lying, nothing is as it seems.' His appeal was widespread: in Germany in particular a new Durbridge television thriller was apparently enough to clear the cinemas. In 1967 the European Broadcasting Union commissioned him to create a radio serial for the international market. The result, La Boutique, made for riveting listening. Durbridge was an extremely entertaining writer and the clever twists and turns of his plots were guaranteed to keep audiences tuning in week after week. He also wrote nine plays for the theatre: Suddenly at Home, The Gentle Hook, House Guest and A Touch of Danger all ran successfully in the West End. He married Norah Lawley in 1940 and had two sons. Francis Durbridge died in London on 10 April 1998.

Paul Temple lives again in five BBC Radio 4 remakes of classic adventures, starring Crawford Logan as Paul and Gerda Stephenson as Steve. 
 
Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery (2006) A pair of spectacles spells danger for the suave sleuth and his wife as they embark on a trip to Egypt. 
 
Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery (2008) A murdered millionaire and a mysterious watch-chain sets the Temples on the trail of an international counterfeiting gang. 
 
Paul Temple and Steve (2010) On the hunt for notorious criminal mastermind Dr Belasco, Paul and Steve find trouble at every turn... 
 
A Case for Paul Temple (2011) Braving booby traps, bullets and blazing houses, Paul pursues a shadowy drug dealer known only as ‘Valentine’. 
 
Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair (2013) When a young woman disappears, Paul is drawn into a ruthless kidnapping racket run by the murderous ‘Mr Gregory’. 
 
These five dramas were originally broadcast in the late 1940s, but are now missing from the BBC archives. Using the same scripts, vintage sound effects and much of the original incidental music, these remakes have been engineered to sound as much like the lost serials as possible.

The Sixties (1960-1968)

Paul Temple: The Complete Radio Collection: Volume Three

Paul Temple swings into the Sixties with five complete radio dramas.

Francis Durbridge ( 1912 – 1998) was an English playwright and author. 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, then in films and, from 1969 to 1971, in a television series. In addition to the Paul Temple series, Durbridge wrote other mysteries for radio and television, many of which were also produced for Dutch, German and Italian television and radio.e with seven plays, the last of which, Sweet Revenge, was written in 1991. He also wrote forty-three novels, many of which were adapted from his scripts, sometimes with the help of others.

Paul Temple swings into the Sixties in these five complete radio dramas starring Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury – plus bonus archive material. 
 
Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case (1960) 
A dead girl's father is sure the police have placed the wrong man in the gallows. This 1960s remake version is published for the first time. 
 
Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery (1961) 
The suave sleuth tries to connect his wife's kidnapping with a body dressed in an expensive designer coat. 
 
Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery (1963) 
After meeting an American couple on a flight, Paul Temple is soon investigating another murder in this 1963 remake. 
 
Paul Temple and Geneva Mystery (1965) 
A woman thinks her late husband is still alive – and someone would prefer Paul Temple dead... 
 
Paul Temple and the Alex Affair (1968) 
The debonair detective investigates three murders, all linked to the mysterious and elusive 'Alex'. 
 
This volume also includes the bonus 2005 radio feature Peter Coke and the Paul Temple Affair, introducing the man behind radio's smoothest and most sophisticated sleuth. Actor Peter Coke talks to Michaela Saunders about how he got the part, what he thinks of his famous catchphrase and more. 
 
Duration: 18 hours approx.

The Fifties

Paul Temple: The Complete Radio Collection: Volume Two

Five complete radio dramas featuring writer-cum-amateur detective Paul Temple, plus bonus archive material.

Five complete radio dramas featuring writer-cum-amateur detective Paul Temple, plus bonus archive material. When it comes to classic crime partnerships, Paul Temple (Peter Coke) and his wife Steve (Marjorie Westbury) are the crème de la crème. Between 1938 and 1968 their glamorous exploits enthralled generations of radio listeners around the world. Here, presented in chronological order, are some of the amateur detective's adventures from the 1950s: 'The Gilbert Case' (1954); 'The Lawrence Affair' (1956); 'The Spencer Affair' (1957); 'The Vandyke Affair' (the 1959 remake) and 'The Conrad Case' (1959). This set also includes a number of bonus items.Duration: 19 hours approx

Francis Durbridge

Neil Pearson

Greg Wise

Three unabridged readings of original novels from the creator of Paul Temple. 
 
In The Desperate People, read by Neil Pearson, Philip Holt is determined to uncover the truth about the death of his brother, Rex, and those who were responsible for it. 
 
In Dead to the World, also read by Neil Pearson, Philip Holt's skills are again in demand after he meets Robert Scranton, a wealthy American, on a plane returning to England from the USA. 
 
In My Wife Melissa, read by Greg Wise, the wife of a journalist is found strangled, and all the evidence points to her husband as the culprit. It is up to Guy Foster himself to uncover the truth about his own wife and then find her killer. 
 
(P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd © 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Francis Durbridge

Francis Durbridge Investigates

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