h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've found the West series very entertaining, as I've picked up the occasional paperback - they're great snapshots of their time, in describing post-war London, for example.
Anyway, I was particularly impressed with recordings I've heard of the "Stand By For West" radio serials made by the BBC in the late '60s/early '70s; do the 'missing' series still exist somewhere? Bearing in mind that John Creasey was obviously so keen to maintain his printed archive, I'd expect reels of tape (or even early cassettes)to be lurking in a cupboard somewhere!
It was a well-made series, full of pace and action and it would be great to hear "A Beauty For...", "...Cries Wolf" and "...Makes Haste", which aren't available to BBC radio fans.
Regards to all,
Researcher 196412

I'll pass this thread on to Richard, John's son, I think that a lot of John Creasey's work is perfect for radio, maybe we should start a campaign

Thanks for pointing this thread out Ashley. I am always keen to write about my father.

And thank you Researcher 196412 for the interest. Sadly I don't know of, and indeed, haven't heard all the programmes in the BBC's "Stand By For West" series that was recorded in the sixties. However I know a producer in BBC Radio, so if you want to jog my memory in two weeks time when he's back from holiday, I will ask if he can discover whether the tapes are in the BBC archive.

We might then be able to put them up in the Creasey section on h2g2.

Richard

Dear Richard,

I would like to know the status of the series within the BBC too. Co-incidentally I have just spent part of this weekend transcribing material from R.T's of the period covering all episodes of STAND BY FOR WEST; for an update to my web page on the series.

http://www.geocities.com/gregorym101/West.html

In my case, I have my own off air recordings of the first 3 serials, as rebroadcast here in NZ in the late 80s or early 90s - though I have been unable to track the later 3 serials at all. One point here - in the radio series, THE RADIO DETECTIVES dealing with WEST in 2000, I believe a very clean sounding clip from possibly INSPECTOR WEST MAKES HASTE was used in addition it clips from the earlier serials.

This brings me to another "radio" question, do you have any knowledge of the INSPECTOR WEST series as made by Crawford Productions in Australia, in the early 1950s? I believe there are surviving examples in ScreenSound Australia.

The Australia's seem to be very keen on "Creasey" serials, as other radio series were:
INTRODUCING THE TOFF
ALIAS THE BARON
PATRICK DAWLISH

All in the 50s, produced by either Crawford's or Grace Gibson.

Here's the BBC WEST log.
Stand By For West
6 series 1967 - 1971
41 episodes

based on the stories by John Creasey
adapted by Maurice Travers
starring Patrick Allen & Sarah Lawson

Series 1 & 2. Produced by John Fawcett Wilson
Series 3 to 6. Produced by John Browell

Battle For Inspector West
Light Programme, Thursdays
1 4.5.1967 Honeymoon spells Nightmare
2 11.5.1967 Terror for a Bride
3 18.5.1967 Shadow on a Millionaire
4 25.5.1967 Bait for a Bogey
5 1.6.1967 Trail from a Tip-off
6 8.6.1967 Explosion in Red
7 15.6.1967 Master-mind at Midnight

Inspector West At Home
R2, Mondays & Thursdays
1 25.3.1968 The Voice of Doom
2 28.3.1968 Crisis for a Copper
3 1.4.1968 Fear in Flat Nine
4 4.4.1968 A Call from the Whistler
5 8.4.1968 A Girl for a Hostage
6 11.4.1968 Clue from a Captive
7 15.4.1968 A Date With Justice

Inspector West At Bay
R2, Tuesdays & Thursdays
1 27.5.1969 Flashpoint in Fleet Street
2 29.5.1969 Bombshell in Bournemouth
3 3.6.1969 Encounter with an Eve
4 5.6.1969 Conflict in Kensington
5 10.6.1969 Package for Peril
6 12.6.1969 Shadow of Darkness
7 17.6.1969 Bullets in Bell Street
8 19.6.1969 Finale for a Vendetta

A Beauty For Inspector West
R4, Mondays
1 13.7.1970 Death Calls for a Queen
2 20.7.1970 Killer - With a Question Mark
3 27.7.1970 Heat Seven - Hammersmith
4 3.8.1970 Beauty Beware!
5 10.8.1970 Murder, Sweet Murder
6 17.8.1970 Fire in the Night
7 24.8.1970 Murder Wears a Veil

Inspector West Cries Wolf
R4, Mondays
1 31.8.1970 The Mark of the Wolf
2 7.9.1970 Knife In the Dark
3 14.9.1970 Murder at Morden Lodge
4 21.9.1970 Captive at Cannon Row
5 28.9.1970 Hunt the Wolf
6 5.10.1970 The Face of Lobo

Inspector West Makes Haste
R4, Saturdays
1 28.8.1971 Old Coppers Never Die
2 04.9.1971 Murder Steps In
3 11.9.1971 A Clue from the Past
4 18.9.1971 Appointment by Night
5 25.9.1971 Someone Missing
6 2.10.1971 The Race is Run

Many thanks for putting this information on the site. I am delighted that you included a link to your West page.

Still waiting for my BBC Radio 4 producer colleague to get back from Vietnam where he is producing a documentary.

After that I'll see if I can find out more about the BBC West series.

Richard

Just realised that I didn't answer your question about a West Series produced by Crawford Productions in Australia.

No I've no knowledge of that, but I do know that Dad went to Australia in 1951 on the first family drive round the world. Mum and Dad in the front of our Humber Super Snipe saloon car - Scoop my brother (7) and me (6) in the back. Door to door the journey took 465 days.

The motivation was Dad’s first visit to the New York. He went there in 1949 to meet literary agents and publishers. They were all very kind, but firm: ‘Your books clearly work in Britain, but just aren’t international enough to work in America.”

A year later Dad had learnt to drive (not as easy as it sounds as Dad had a short left leg due to polio), had sold the house, put off ‘the boy’s’ schooling and set sail, with the Humber Super Snipe in the hold of the Athelone Castle, for Cape Town South Africa.

On the way he wrote a book, which was published in South Africa, as well as the UK. And so it went on via Pakistan, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada all the way back to New York.

By that time he was unquestionably an international writer, he saw the same literary agents and publishers but it took a further cash starved four months to persuade one to take on a West book. Dad went on to publish over 400 of his books in the States.

And that extraordinary journey is where my love of adventure came from: A388172

Richard, many years ago now, I started collecting your fathers books. I have quite the number of them still. I was recently in England where I thought that I would be able to find a good supply of volumes in used book stores but although I looked for almost a month I was only successful in finding one store that had any Creasy at all. The cost asked was about 2 pounds apiece. Since I can get them in Canada much less expensively, I did not purchace any there. Two pounds is about five dollars here. Here I pay about a dollar or less and have had much more success finding books here then I had in England. It is odd that there seems to be more available here then in his homeland. I have read and re-read these stories many times and would like to express how very much pleasure they have given me. Now in my retirement, my wife and I continue to read them. My hobbie is old time radio program collecting and I have had the pleasure of listening to the three readily available series from the BBC. It would be exceptionally wizard if the remaining three in the set were to be found...one can only hope. ..Russ

Hello Russ

Which three West books are you looking for?

Best

Richard

Hello Richard (and Anyone Else),
Just dropped back after losing all my electronic data in my broken Hard Drive - I was Researcher 196412, and now I need to be Researcher 205843!
I think Russ' message relates to the three 'missing' Inspector West radio serials from 1969/70, rather than novels.
Sadly for me, it would be easier to list the novels I have, rather than those missing!
All the Best,
Stuart

Hello Stuart

Sorry to hear about your Hard Drive breaking. That's horrible. If you can list the West books you have, I'd be really interested, just in case you've one that I don't know off.

Hello, Richard,
I have the following Inspector West novels - I think I have a couple of duplicates, but they're all paperbacks in a range of condition!

Case For Inspector West, A
Inspector West Takes Charge
Two For Inspector West
Murder, London-Miami
Scene Of The Crime, The
Accident For Inspector West
Inspector West Cries Wolf
Inspector West Alone
Murder, London-New York
Death Of A Racehorse
Triumph For Inspector West

Not a very comprehensive list, but all very entertaining.
All the Best,
Stuart

Just a bit of a bump to this - did anyone find out if the "missing" three radio series are actually lost or just sitting in a cupboard somewhere, taunting us?

I really love listening to the adaptations which are available and I'd love to hear the remaining ones. I've tried emailing people at the BBC but sadly with no results so far...

Hi Swimmy,

Welcome to h2g2

You could try putting your question into <./>Askh2g2</.>. I'm sure someone will be delighted to find out for you.

In the meantime, I have left you a message in your Personal Space, hopefully it will help you find your way around out site


lil xx

Hello, Richard/others.

My wife and I remember the Call for West Radio episodes, and have managed to get some of them, but would like the rest is there any where we can get them from. I am not too good at the downloading so would like them on an MP3 disc or cassette tape or CD. Obviously I mean I really would like to buy them.

Hope someone can help.

I just wanted to say that I too enjoyed the Inspector West dramatisations I have heard. I would really love to hear the rest. Please keep me informed of any progress in finding them.

My husband & I listen to them over and over again