Inspector Millions by Michael Robson. BBC RADIO DRAMA

1 )The Terrible Connexion 00:00 Saturday-Night Theatre: The Terrible Connexion Sat 19th Apr 1975, 20:30 on BBC Radio 4 FM By Michael Robson 'An ugly fog this morning. An eerie fog. A fog that can be a fit companion only for deeds of stealth. Touching the current case, Mr Greenleaf, we have our work cut out. We do indeed. The identity of the deceased is unknown - as yet.’ Producer David Spenser Eleanor Delahunty: Liane Aukin Dynasty Surecard: Anthony Hall Sir Lisbon Delahunty MP: Denis McCarthy Rowland Stanyhurst: Simon Lack Caroline Stanyhurst: Diana Berriman Education Greenleaf: Trader Faulkner Cluny Wilbraham: Michael Burlington Hester Tang: Olwen Griffiths Emily Tang: Kate Coleridge The Ancient Theaker: John Hollis Serjeant Clench: Stephen Thorne Dead Bob: Peter Pacey Mrs Olliphant: Kathleen Helme Mr Collinge: Gerald Cross Counsel for the Prosecution: Malcolm Hayes Nigel Stock as Inspector Millions By Michael Robson The Terrible Connexion, The first of two Victorian mysteries solved by 'the eccentric Inspector Millions', as the Radio Times has it. Its companion-piece is The Instruments of Darkness Both plays are self-consciously baroque and establish their own idiom, with formal dialogue, fanciful crimes and grotesque characters with outre names. Nigel Stock plays the inspector with great panache, relishing his lines and contriving to make him at once absurd and impressive. Anthony Hall is his piping sidekick, the industrious Dynasty Surecard. 2) The Instruments of Darkness 1:28:09 Saturday-Night Theatre: The Instruments of Darkness Sat 24th Sep 1977, 20:30 on BBC Radio 4 FM By Michael Robson A comedy thriller; the second of two plays about the eccentric Inspector Millions. The happy excitement attendant upon the forthcoming opening of the Crystal Palace has been marred by two inexplicable fatalities. Two days ago at half past six in the morning, a scaffolder was seen to fall abruptly some 40 feet to the floor of the Oriental Tea Room and, yesterday morning, an even more macabre death was to follow ... a man was seen lying motionless 60 feet up in the branches of a sycamore tree - the centre-piece of a horticultural display! An motley crew assemble to sort out who did it: Joseph Paxton, a host of characters with unlikely names, and Inspector Millions and his sidekick Dynasty Surecard. Directed By: David Spenser Inspector Millions: Nigel Stock Dynasty Surecard: Anthony Hall Melisande, Lady Quandary: Elizabeth Proud Porritt: Richard Hurndall Xerxes, Lord Quandary: Manning Wilson Sir Joseph Paxton/Fleet Ned Sprott: Brian Hewlett Dr Melchior Yolland/Bishop of Whetstone: Michael Deacon Caroline Muldoon: Heather Bell Nimbles Earthrowl: Peter Wickham Edgar Joynstschism: Nigel Graham Danvers Gimlinge: Michael Harbour Sir Jericho Arbogast: Henry Knowles Meldrum/Peebles Clatworthy: Trader Faulkner Mrs Glumdalclitch Orsborne: Irene Sutcliffe Daf