On This Day, September 1: Saturday Night Theatre and Crime Doctor
This report documents the historical provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and pure narrative synopses for broadcasts transmitting on…
September 1 Update
This report documents the historical provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and pure narrative synopses for broadcasts transmitting on September 1 across the illustrious history of British radio drama on the BBC and American psychological detective mysteries, Ray Collins in Crime Doctor for Philip Morris (1946), alongside a five-decade retrospective of the BBC's flagship Saturday Night Theatre presenting Sutton Vane's metaphysical masterpiece Outward Bound (1945), The Raphael Resurrection (1951), Hugh Hastings's Seagulls Over Sorrento (1956), This Land of Ours (1962), and The Rise and Fall of Liberty Wilkes (1973):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The First Chair Barber vs. the Fourth Chair Barber with Ray Collins" | CBS (WABC) 1946-09-01 8:30 PM EDT |
Philip Morris & Co. Philip Morris Cigarettes |
Ray Collins (Dr. Ordway) | Max Marcin (Creator) | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Crime Doctor", "Ray Collins", "Philip Morris"] |
Dr. Benjamin Ordway mediates a bitter rivalry between barbershop employees after razor sabotage threatens a customer's life. |
| "Sutton Vane's Outward Bound with BBC Radio Drama" | BBC Home Service 1945-09-01 9:20 PM BST |
Sustaining British Radio Drama |
BBC Drama Repertory Co. | Val Gielgud (Producer) | ["Drama", "Fantasy", "Saturday Night Theatre", "BBC", "Val Gielgud"] |
A diverse group of ocean liner passengers slowly realize they are deceased souls journeying toward divine judgment. |
| "The Raphael Resurrection with BBC Radio Drama" | BBC Home Service 1951-09-01 9:15 PM BST |
Sustaining British Radio Drama |
BBC Drama Repertory Co. | BBC Drama Unit | ["Drama", "Mystery", "Saturday Night Theatre", "BBC", "Art"] |
An art restorer uncovers hidden Renaissance brushwork beneath a forgotten religious canvas, triggering an international provenance dispute. |
| "Hugh Hastings's Seagulls Over Sorrento with BBC Radio Drama" | BBC Home Service 1956-09-01 9:15 PM BST |
Sustaining British Radio Drama |
BBC Drama Repertory Co. | Hugh Hastings (Writer) | ["Drama", "Military", "Saturday Night Theatre", "BBC", "Naval"] |
British naval ratings stationed on an isolated Scottish island fortress face perilous explosive trials while testing an experimental underwater mine. |
| "This Land of Ours with BBC Radio Drama" | BBC Home Service 1962-09-01 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining British Radio Drama |
BBC Drama Repertory Co. | BBC Drama Unit | ["Drama", "Family", "Saturday Night Theatre", "BBC", "Rural"] |
Generational tensions erupt within an English farming family when post-war industrial developers seek to purchase ancestral pastureland. |
| "The Rise and Fall of Liberty Wilkes with BBC Radio Drama" | BBC Radio 4 1973-09-01 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining British Radio Drama |
BBC Drama Repertory Co. | BBC Radio 4 Drama | ["Drama", "History", "Saturday Night Theatre", "BBC Radio 4", "Victorian"] |
A charismatic Victorian orator builds a working-class political movement before corrupt financial entanglements threaten his reputation. |