On This Day, August 23: Sherlock Holmes and P.G. Wodehouse
Also featured: Palmolive Beauty Box.
August 23 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 23 across British BBC and American network broadcasting history (1935–1997):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Flowering Cherry (Starring Brenda Bruce & Andrew Cruickshank — BBC)" | BBC Radio 4 1969-08-23 8:30 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Radio Drama |
Brenda Bruce (Isobel), Andrew Cruickshank (Jim), David Spenser | Robert Bolt (Playwright), Norman Wright, Ronald Fletcher | ["Drama", "British", "Domestic", "Psychological", "Theater"] |
In Robert Bolt's poignant domestic tragedy, an insurance clerk lives in a self-deluding fantasy of retiring to a Somerset fruit orchard, but his inability to confront reality slowly fractures his family and destroys his marriage. |
| "Witch Wood (Starring David Hayman & Tom Fleming — BBC Radio 4)" | BBC Radio 4 1975-08-23 8:30 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Radio Drama |
David Hayman (David Semphill), Tom Fleming, Edith MacArthur | John Buchan (Author), Donald Campbell, Gordon Emslie | ["Drama", "Historical", "Supernatural", "Scottish", "Horror"] |
In 17th-century Scotland, newly ordained minister David Semphill discovers that respected elders of his rigid Presbyterian parish are secretly practicing dark pagan rituals in the ancient primeval wood of Melanudrigill. |
| "The Events at Black Tor (Starring John Castle & Michael Gough — BBC)" | BBC Radio 4 1980-08-23 8:30 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Radio Drama |
John Castle, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Michael Gough | Roy Clarke (Writer), Brian Miller, Dick Mills | ["Drama", "Mystery", "Supernatural", "British", "Thriller"] |
A forensic archaeologist investigating a series of unexplained livestock deaths and pagan symbols near a remote Dartmoor stone tor uncovers a terrifying modern conspiracy tied to ancient sacrificial folklore. |
| "Leave It to Psmith (Starring Jonathan Cecil & Ian Carmichael — BBC)" | BBC Radio 4 1986-08-23 8:30 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Radio Drama |
Jonathan Cecil (Psmith), Ian Carmichael, Moray Watson | P.G. Wodehouse (Author), Michael Bakewell, John Tydeman | ["Comedy", "British", "Humor", "Satire", "Adaptation"] |
In P.G. Wodehouse's classic farce, suave and monocled gentleman of leisure Ronald Psmith places an advertisement offering his services for 'any enterprise not involving manual work', becoming embroiled in a diamond theft scheme at Blandings Castle. |
| "The Problem of Thor Bridge (Starring Clive Merrison & Michael Williams as Holmes & Watson)" | BBC Radio 4 1997-08-23 2:30 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Radio Drama |
Clive Merrison (Sherlock Holmes), Michael Williams (Watson) | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Author), Bert Coules, Patrick Rayner | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Victorian", "British", "Adaptation"] |
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate the baffling gunshot murder of an American Gold King's wife on the parapet of Thor Bridge, uncovering a fiendishly clever suicidal trap designed to frame the innocent governess. |
| "Countess Maritza (Starring Gladys Swarthout & Frank Chapman — Palmolive Soap)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1935-08-23 10:00 PM EDST |
Colgate-Palmolive Palmolive Soap |
Gladys Swarthout (Countess Maritza), Frank Chapman | Emmerich Kálmán, Kenneth MacGregor, Nathaniel Shilkret | ["Music", "Operetta", "Vocal", "Romance", "Classical"] |
Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Gladys Swarthout stars in Emmerich Kálmán's romantic operetta Countess Maritza, singing passionate Hungarian csárdás and romantic waltzes alongside baritone Frank Chapman for Palmolive Soap. |