On This Day, August 24: Saturday Night Theatre (5 Decades) and Imagination Theater
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, serial multi-part narrative arcs, and story synopses for…
August 24 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, serial multi-part narrative arcs, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 24 across five decades of British BBC Saturday Night Theatre drama and American modern audio drama history (1957–1997):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Murder When Necessary (Philip Levene — Patrick Barr — BBC)" | BBC Home 1957-08-24 9:15 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Drama Presentation |
Patrick Barr, Beryl Baxter, Hamilton Dyce | Philip Levene (Writer), Audrey Cameron (Producer) | ["Mystery", "Detective", "Thriller", "British", "Noir"] |
A tense psychological thriller written by Philip Levene, wherein an apparently flawless murder scheme conceived by a desperate blackmailer begins to unravel when an uninvited guest turns up at a secluded Surrey country estate on a stormy evening. |
| "Means to an End (John Rowan Wilson — John Carson — BBC)" | BBC Home 1963-08-24 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Drama Presentation |
John Carson, Mary Wimbush, Ralph Truman | John Rowan Wilson, John Wilson, Norman Wright | ["Drama", "Corporate", "Ethics", "British", "Thriller"] |
An intense corporate thriller chronicling an ambitious young executive who uncovers systemic bribery and international bribery kickbacks within a transatlantic industrial manufacturing conglomerate, forcing him to choose between corporate advancement and personal integrity. |
| "The French Prisoner (Martin Jarvis & Sean Barrett — BBC)" | BBC Radio 4 1968-08-24 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Drama Presentation |
Martin Jarvis, Sean Barrett, Ronald Herdman | John Elliot (Writer), David H. Godfrey (Producer) | ["Drama", "Historical", "Military", "Napoleonic", "British"] |
Set during the Napoleonic Wars on the windswept coast of Cornwall, a compassionate English physician shelters an escaped French naval prisoner of war, sparking fierce suspicion among local smugglers and coastal militia. |
| "Soldier, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief (Ted Willis — Bryan Pringle — BBC)" | BBC Radio 4 1974-08-24 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Drama Presentation |
Bryan Pringle, Peter Vaughan, Liz Goulding | Lord Ted Willis (Writer), Joe Burroughs (Producer) | ["Drama", "Social", "Crime", "British", "Post-War"] |
A gritty post-war social drama by Ted Willis following a demobilized British army soldier struggling to find honest employment in London's East End, who finds himself drawn into an underworld safe-cracking gang by former wartime comrades. |
| "Rookery Nook (Ben Travers — Ian Carmichael & Derek Nimmo — BBC)" | BBC Radio 4 1985-08-24 8:00 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Comedy Farce |
Ian Carmichael, Derek Nimmo, Joan Sanderson | Ben Travers (Author), Peter Jones, Gerry Jones | ["Comedy", "Farce", "British", "Satire", "Theater"] |
Ben Travers' legendary Aldwych farce starring comedy masters Ian Carmichael and Derek Nimmo, following a newly married groom whose holiday cottage is invaded by a distressed young woman in pink silk pyjamas, sparking frantic cover-ups to deceive a ferocious daily housekeeper and suspicious in-laws. |
| "Crisis: Comedy in Three Acts & Star Light, Star Bright (Jim French — Imagination Theater)" | Syndicated 1997-08-24 8:00 PM PDT |
Sustaining Imagination Theater |
John Gilbert, Larry Albert, Pat French | Jim French (Writer/Dir.), Eric Aho (Composer) | ["Mystery", "Suspense", "Thriller", "Anthology", "Audio Drama"] |
Audio drama master Jim French presents two gripping suspense thrillers in the Crisis anthology series: a deadly stage farce in 'Comedy in Three Acts' and a tense psychological kidnapping mystery in 'Star Light, Star Bright'. |