Broadcast live on BBC Television 28 February — 4 April 1959; novelisation Garry Halliday and the Disappearing Diamonds published at 8s 6d by Faber & Faber, 21 October 1960, with cover art by Leo Kenyon based on photographs supplied by the BBC.
Charter pilot Garry Halliday stumbles on and then foils a diamond smuggling operation between the Netherlands and UK, overseen by a sinister mastermind known as "The Voice", who is never seen by his gang.
Regular cast: Terence Longdon (Garry Halliday); Terence Alexander (Bill Dodds); Ann Gudrun [aka Gudrun Ure] (Jean Wills); Elwyn Brook-Jones (The Voice); Maurice Kaufman (Kurt); Michael Collins (Inspector Franks, eps 1, 3-6); Philip Howard (Sergeant Banks, eps 3, 5-6); Stanley van Beers (Herman, eps 2-5); Anthony Sagar (Hesse, eps 2-4). Commentator: Andrew Faulds (eps 2-6)
Crew: Justin Blake (writer); John Turner (film cameraman); Eddie Wallstab (film editor eps 1-3); Ron de Mattos (film editor eps 4-6); Stewart Marshall (designer); Richard West (producer).
Flying and airport sequences by arrangement with Silver City Airways Ltd.
1: The Exploding Balloon (5.15pm, Saturday 28 February 1959) — Genome/Radio Times
Guest cast: Julian D'Albie (Airport Officer); Gerard Hely (Geoff); Geoffrey Hibbert (George Basset); Patricia Haines (Airport Announcer)
Summary (based on the first chapter of the novelisation, "Something in the Air"): On several trips flying back from Amsterdam to London, BOAC pilot Garry Halliday spots what look like small weather balloons. His co-pilot Bill Dodds (who narrates the novelisation) and stewardess Jean Wills don't believe him; back on the ground, neither do the Airport Officer or Inspector Franks.
In the pub, Halliday tells his friend Geoff what he's seen. This is overheard by trainee steward George Basset, who phones in a report to The Voice.
"The Voice sat in a revolving chair in front of a whacking great leather-topped desk. I've seen his office, and I can describe it for you. There was a telephone on the desk, and one of those black boxes that millionaires have to talk to their secretaries. Most of the wall behind him was covered with a weather map of the Dutch and English coasts. And there was radar equipment in the office, which isn't the sort of thing you'd find in most offices. But the oddest thing of all was that if you were sitting where the Voice was sitting, the wall opposite you was of clear glass, and you could see right through into the next room." (p. 18)
This two-way mirror means The Voice's operatives never see him. The Voice orders his second-in-command Kurt to arrange an accident for Halliday's (never seen) steward, meaning George Basset is then assigned to the crew.
On the next flight, Halliday again spots the balloons. Basset tries to persuade him otherwise but Halliday diverts course for a closer look — and the balloon explodes. Basset convinces Halliday and the crew not to report this until they have evidence and Dodds says he'll bring a cine camera on their next trip. Basset reports this to The Voice, who provides him with a bomb to put on the plane.
Basset plants the bomb, intending to make up a reason not to be on the flight himself. However, Kurt says this will raise suspicions and forces Basset onto the flight, under threat of a worse death. The flight takes off, the bomb set to explode.
2: Danger at the Mill (5.10pm, Saturday 7 March 1959) — Genome/Radio Times
Guest cast: Geoffrey Hibbert (George Basset); John Harrison (Passenger); Richard Dare (Jakob); Ivor Salter (Dutch wine merchant)
Summary (based of the second chapter of the novelisation, "Danger at the Windmill"): An increasingly anxious George Basset confesses to Halliday about the bomb, and Halliday is able to find it and throw it out over the sea just in time. George also confesses that the balloons belong to someone called The Voice, and are being used to smuggle diamonds across the sea. Basset provides a description of Kurt and also the phone number he used to report to The Voice.
In Holland, Halliday and his friends leave Basset with the local police and then decide to see if they can work out where the balloons are being launched from. While they have comic encounters with a Dutch wine merchant, a man pretending to be a policeman visits Basset's cell and kills him; Basset just has time to scrawl a "V" in spilled ink before he dies. The Dutch wine merchant directs Halliday and his friends to a windmill. Leaving Jean Wills in the car, Halliday and Dodds enter the windmill, where two of the Voice's people, Herman and Hesse, hold them at gunpoint.
3: The Disappearing Diamonds (5.15 pm, Saturday 14 March 1959) — Genome/Radio Times
Guest cast: Douglas Storm (Parker); Clarence Bigge (Mr Bullmore)
Summary (based on the third chapter of the novelisation, "The Disappearing Diamonds"): With Halliday held at gunpoint, Dodds is sent by the gunmen to fetch Jean Wills from the car, while Hesse watches from an upper window of the mill. Alone with Herman, Halliday pretends to faint then punches Herman and takes his gun. With Dodds and Jean Wills, they then overcome Hesse. Going through the crooks' pockets, they then find a bag of diamonds.
Then the crooks' radio starts up and Halliday and his friends realise more villains may soon be on the way. They hurry away with the diamonds, leaving Herman and Hesse tied up until the police can come back in force. But Herman and Hesse wriggle free and send a message to The Voice, who vows vengeance on the meddling Halliday by leading a trail to Austria...
Back in London, Halliday and his friends tell Inspector Franks what they've uncovered, only to discover that the bag of diamonds they brought with them has turned to dust. In the police laboratory, a man called Parker reveals that these are high quality but unstable, artificial diamonds, which collapse to dust when heated. The Austrian chemist who developed them has since disappeared.
It looks as though The Voice intends to flood the market with these phone diamonds. Even so, the police don't have enough evidence to proceed. Halliday and offers to call the phone number George Basset used to report to The Voice. He'll then asks to be cut in to the smuggling operation. Franks has no other way of foiling the operation so agrees, but gives Halliday a card with his name and number for use in an emergency.
Halliday calls the number. "Bullmore's Hand Laundry" says the ordinary voice that answers. Halliday gives his name, mentions diamonds and Amsterdam. He's given instructions to come the laundry that evening, on the corner of Pont Street and Sloane Street [now a branch of Strutt & Parker estate agents].
4: Into the Fire (5.10 pm, Saturday 21 March 1959) — Genome/Radio Times
Guest cast: Deering Wells (Pop)
Summary (based on the fourth chapter of the novelisation, "Into the Fire"): From the laundry, Halliday is taken blindfolded on a two-hour drive, and finds himself in the mirror room where he meets (without seeing) The Voice. Halliday offers his services as an expert pilot in exchange for 15% of the profits, assuring The Voice that the police don't know enough about the operation to be a threat. Halliday is hired.
He duly reports this to Inspector Franks before flying out to Amsterdam again, where he meets Kurt, Herman and Hesse in a bar. They want to give him a parcel to take back to London and smuggle through customs. However, Bill Dodds, not knowing what Halliday is up to but wanting to help, has followed him to the bar and is spotted by Herman.
Halliday goes over to Dodds, tells him he's only pretending to be a crook and that Dodds should head back the airport. Relieved, Dodds heads out - and is then stopped by Inspector Keller of the Dutch Security Police. He tells Dodds that he keeping an eye on Halliday to ensure he doesn't come to any harm. Dodds apologises for getting in the way, saying he didn't know until now that Halliday was only pretending to be part of the criminal gang. "I'm afraid I've been rather a fool," he says (p. 80), not realising that this Inspector Keller is, in fact, Kurt the henchman.
Meanwhile, Halliday must collect the parcel he's meant to take back to London. Herman and Hesse direct him to the wine cellar, where the parcel is hidden. As he recovers the parcel, Halliday is confronted by Dodds and "Keller", who want him to reiterate that he's only pretending to join the crooks. Instead, to Dodds' amazement, Halliday hits "Keller", ties him up and then tells Herman and Hesse that he's dealt with a Dutch policeman. Halliday leaves, with the parcel, a confused Dodds trailing behind.
Dodds doesn't know what to do or say about any of this. They fly back to London and head through customs, chatting amiably with the old customs officer there, Pop. But The Voice has made an anonymous call to the police about Halliday smuggling diamonds, and they are waiting to arrest him.
5: The Wrong Side of the Law (5.10 pm, Saturday 28 March 1959) — Genome/Radio Times
Guest cast: Patricia Haines (Announcer); Deering Wells (Pop); Ronald Mayer (Police sergeant); Nigel Sharpe (Newsvendor); John Collin (Lounger); Michael Corcoran (Arthur).
Summary (based on the fifth chapter of the novelisation, "The Wrong Side of the Law"): The police search Halliday and find the smuggled diamonds. Jean Wills is horrified and Bill Dodds can offer little explanation. "Airline pilot arrested," reads the headline in the evening paper.
At Scotland Yard, Halliday and Inspector Franks discuss the next stage of their plan. Halliday will now escape, call the laundry and get the villains to collect him, so he'll be taken back to The Voice's hide-out to bring down the operation.
Franks suggests keeping watch as Halliday is collected and then following on behind but Halliday thinks this too risky and besides the police need more time to gather the information they need to bring down the whole network. Instead, he will ask The Voice to let him call Jean Wills to tell her he is safe; the police can then trace the call.
Halliday already had some idea where the hide-out is be from his previous, blindfolded journey: somewhere in Essex, probably by the coast, with a gravel driveway and a smell of sulphur. This time, he'd call the laundry and get the villains to collect him.
Halliday and Franks stage a fight, which is caught on camera and reported on that night's TV news. Halliday seeks shelter at Bill Dodds' flat, where he calls the laundry and arranges to be collected. He's still at the flat when Franks calls to say that the police still don't have the information they need. Everything now depends on Halliday.
Halliday heads out to meet the gang. Bill Dodds decides to follow him, and quickly writes a note for Jean to explain. Outside, Dodds gives this note and a quid to a passing idler — credited on screen as "lounger". But as Dodds races off, the lounger pockets the money and screws up the note.
6: The Big Showdown (5.10 pm, Saturday 4 April 1959) — Genome/Radio Times
Guest cast: Gertan Klauber (Hobbs); Hamilton Dyce (Henry Riggs); James Beattie (Lenny); Geoffrey Palmer (London distributor); John Collin* (Cardiff distributor); John Barrett (Manchester distributor); Roger Avon (Glasgow distributor); Esmond Webb (Birmingham distributor)
* John Collin also credited as fight arranger.
Summary (based on the sixth chapter of the novelisation, "The Show-Down"): Inspector Franks has narrowed the location of The Voice's hide-out to three potential sites in Essex. When Halliday calls through to Jean Wills from the hide-out, the police will be able to identify which it is.
Halliday is ushered into the mirror room, where he tells The Voice about the tip-off that got him arrested (though we, of course, know that The Voice was responsible). The news reports seem to have convinced The Voice that Halliday is really a crook, who will now assist Kurt with their plans. The five men responsible for distributing the fake diamonds around the country are being brought to the hide-out that night. It's now or never. Halliday asks for permission to call Jean, saying he'll tell her he's being flown out of the country as a false trail for the police. The Voice agrees, so long as he can listen in.
At the same time, Bill Dodds — who was doggedly following Halliday but has lost the trail — stops at a house owned by one Henry Riggs and asks to use the phone. He calls Jean, meaning to tell her where Halliday is, but Jean doesn't answer. Her instructions are to let the call (from Halliday) ring, so the police can trace the location of the caller. The police now trace Mr Riggs's address.
Meanwhile, Halliday can only get an engaged single from Jean's number. Worse, Kurt gets another henchperson, Lenny, to pick Halliday's pocket. In his wallet, they find the card with the name and phone number of Inspector Franks — proof of who he's really working for. Lenny and Kurt replace the card and return the wallet to Halliday, so he doesn't know that they're on to him.
The police arrive at Henry Riggs's house and soon learn they've got the wrong place. Dodds isn't there, having headed off to try and find real hide-out.
The various distributors arrive at the hide-out. Kurt exposes Halliday as a police agent. Halliday, realising that the police haven't found him, stalls for time and tells the distributors what will happen to these diamonds if they are heated. The Cardiff distributor is willing to test the merchandise. There's a fireplace in the room; they put a sample of the small diamonds in a shovel and hold it over the coals. When the diamonds collapse into dust, the distributors turn on Kurt.
The police arrive before things turn nasty. Halliday throws a chair at the huge mirror, exposing the room beyond. But The Voice is not there; instead, they find a remote-controlled record player which plays the things he said earlier that evening — he was never there. The phone rings; it's The Voice calling to say "au revoir." Halliday concurs that they will meet again.
Production notes
While working at advertising company J Walker Thompson (JWT) between 1956 and 1958, copywriter John Bowen (1924-2019) worked on campaigns including "Have a break, have a Kit-Kat" for Rowntree. He also had a novel published, The Truth Will Not Help Us (Faber & Faber, 1956), about a political witch hunt. In addition, with a colleague at JWT, Jeremy Bullmore (1929-2023), he submitted an idea for a children's serial to BBC Television about the adventures of airline pilot Garry Halliday foiling a smuggling operation.
The Biggles stories by WE Johns were an obvious influence on this, but the BBC also produced a series of serials by Desmond O'Donovan and Ingram D'Abbes about ex-Flight Lieutenant Peter Potts: Potts in Parovia (six episodes, 6 October — 10 November 1956), Potts, Gangbuster (three episodes, 8-22 December 1956), Potts and the Phantom Piper (six episodes, 2 February — 9 March 1957), Potts and the Night Whistlers (four episodes, 4-25 May 1957). Bowen and Bullmore seem to have sent in their storyline while the Potts series was on air.
On 15 March 1957, the BBC's assistant head of copyright RG Walford (A.H.Cop) wrote to Robin Wade, script organiser for television (S.O.Tel) to confirm that Bowen and Bullmore would each be paid 30 guineas (£31.10s.0d) per episode for their story, half paid on agreement with their agents - Kavanagh Productions Ltd and MCA respectively — and half on acceptance. (Source: Assistant Head of Copyright to Mr Robin Wade, "GARRY HALLIDAY", 15 March 1957, BBC Written Archives Centre (WAC ) file T48/103/1 - John Bowen Drama Writer’s File).
Ada Wood from the BBC's Script Unit seems to have approved this storyline. She was then off sick and the project was assigned to her colleague Anthony Steven, who was less enamoured by the proposal but found the writers resistant to rewrites. The issue was over what had already been agreed. In an undated memo to script supervisor Donald Wilson (S.S.Tel), Steven said that RG Walford had told him that Bowen and Bullmore had each been paid 30 guineas for their story idea and that the BBC had no further commitment to them; if needed, the BBC could ask them for a new storyline. However, when Steven met with Bowen and Bullmore, they said the BBC had accepted the storyline and so they were not prepared to make major changes.
The original storyline is not known to survive but Steven's memo gives some sense of how it differed from what made it to the screen. Initially, Halliday believed the strange objects he spied in the air over the North Sea to be flying saucers and, when no one at BEA believed him, he resigned from his job. Only midway through the second episode did he discover that he'd stumbled on to a smuggling ring using balloons. Even so, he returned to the subject of flying saucers in the final episode, suggesting that these would be the subject of his next adventure — Bowen and Bullmore already considering a series.
Steven disliked the sci-fi element, which he felt diverted too much from the main plot, and also objected to the comic characters of co-pilot "Hopeless" and Halliday's Uncle George. He felt there were too many characters and implausible events involved anyway. He suggested that the idea and level of writing had all the faults of Potts and the Phantom Piper in underestimating the intelligence of the viewer. (Source: Anthony Steven to S.S.Tel, "GARRY HALLIDAY — Children's serial by J. Bowen & J. Bulmore [sic]", undated, WAC T48/103/1 — John Bowen Drama Writer’s File.)
On 3 May 1957, Steven's head of department Donald Wilson wrote to head of children's programmes Owen Reed (H.C.P.Tel) to reiterate what Steven had told him (suggesting Steven's undated memo was from about this date) and he agreed with Steven's assessment of the story outline. Wilson suggested that he meet with Bowen and Bullmore himself, adding that he already knew and had encouraged Bowen. Handwritten notes on the memo suggest Owen concurred and, on 28 May, Wilson undertook to write a letter to Bowen and Bullmore setting out the points they'd discussed. (Source: Script Supervisor, Television to H.C.P.Tel, "GARRY HALLIDAY — Children's Serial by John Bowen and Jeremy Bullmore", 3 May 1957, WAC T48/103/1 - John Bowen Drama Writer’s File.)
A month later, Reg Walford in the BBC's copyright department wrote to Kevin Kavanagh and to Adrian Vale at MCA (representing Bowen and Bullmore) to confirm what had been agreed by telephone: the BBC would pay an additional 40 guineas (£42.0.0.) to each author for a new storyline and first script. (Copyright Department to Kevin Kavanagh Esq and Copyright Department to Adam Vale Esq, 3 June 1957, WAC T48/103/1 — John Bowen Drama Writer’s File.)
The result was an undated, 12-page synopsis for Garry Halliday much closer to what it made it to screen, and credited to Justin Blake — a pseudonym for Bowen and Bullmore. Some of the differences are as follows. In the synopsis for Episode One, "The Exploding Balloon", Garry's copilot is named Hopeless Dodds and stewardess Jean is Garry's girlfriend. In Episode Two, "The Windmill", the dying George [Basset] scrawls the Voice's telephone number on the wall in his own blood. In Episode Three, initially called "The Telephone Number" and then revised by hand to "The Disappearing Diamonds", Kurt was originally called "Senior" and Parker was originally "Jim". In Episode Four, "A Lion in Wolf's Clothing", Senior is behind the mirror in the mirror room, presumably with and able to see The Voice. In Episode Five, "The Wrong Side of the Law", the synopsis specifies that the scene of Halliday leaving with the crooks and Dodds paying the Lounger and then following on his motor cycle would be pre-recorded on film, which seems unlikely given the lengthy sequence and requirement for dialogue. In Episode Six, "The Distribution", Henry Riggs is "Mr Harrison" and the authors weren't yet sure how Halliday would demonstrate to the Voice's distributors that the diamonds were fake; Bowen and Bullmore thought they (the authors) could consult a metallurgical chemist. The synopsis ends as per the broadcast version, with the promise of a second encounter with The Voice. (Source: "GARRY HALLIDAY, Synopsis for a 6-part adventure serial for Children's TV by 'Justin Blake' (John Bowen & Jeremy Bullmore)", undated, WAC T48/103/1 — John Bowen Drama Writer’s File.)
And then nothing — for a year.
"People used to call me Hopeless Dodds at school, and then in the R.A.F they went on doing it, and even after I'd left, and joined British Overseas Airways, then went on, and I didn't like it much. ... Garry never did call me 'Hopeless'. And after a bite when the chaps found that Garry didn't do it, they left off doing it too" (p. 10).
Then, in the fifth chapter, Dodds refers to himself as "a bit of an ass ... Maybe I'm being Hopeless Dodds now" (p. 97); Halliday responds, "You're not as hopeless all that", which Dodds says is "the first and last time" Halliday uses the nickname (p. 98). This exchange may have been in the fifth episode as broadcast, an echo of the original conception of the character, used to show Halliday's loyal character at a moment when other suspect him of being a crook.
Having revised the scripts for Garry Halliday, West says he offered his friend Terence Alexander (1923-2009) the choice of playing either the lead role or the renamed co-pilot Bill Dodds, and Alexander — "a light comedian, of considerable ability" — selected the latter. West and Alexander then spent a day interviewing potential actors for the lead before choosing Terence Longdon (1922-2011). The RADA-trained actor had just had starring roles in the first two Carry on... films and was due to be seen in a small role in Ben-Hur. What was more, he was a qualified pilot:
"Actor Longdon spent a lot of time in the last war piloting Swordfish aircraft (they called them 'string-bags') for the Fleet Air Arm on convoy duties across the Atlantic." (Source: "Garry Halliday Adventure in Kent", Kentish Express, 8 April 1960, p. 12.)
Gudrun Ure (1926-2024) was cast as Jean Wills. At the time, the Glaswegian actress was performing under the name "Anne Gudrun", and had just appeared on stage opposite Orson Welles in Othello; West considered her casting something of a coup. The producer already knew Elwyn Brook-Jones (1911-62) and offered him the role of The Voice.
In January 1959, filming took place in the Birling Gap, East Dean and Jevington areas around Eastbourne for the car chase in which the diamond smugglers escape the pursuing police. Real police were involved in stopping traffic to accommodate this filming. The smugglers' car was driven by WB Hammett from nearby Willingdon, a neighbour of producer Richard West’s mother, the actress Gladys Young. When the serial was broadcast, the local paper ran a story with a photo of Hammett at the wheel of his car. (Source: "'Smuggling' story", Eastbourne Gazette, 8 April 1959, p. 10.)
(Gladys Young had played the prominent role of "Mrs O'Hara" in The Mad O'Haras for her son the previous year. She later played "Madame Simon" for him in The Runaround, in the eighth and final run of Garry Halliday episodes.)
By February, location filming was based at an airport. West says in his memoir that he visited Heathrow Airport — "London Airport" until 1966 — as a possible location, where the team at British Airways gave him a tour and good lunch but said they were too busy to accommodate filming. Then West, with designer Stewart Marshall, visited Silver City Airways at Ferryfield Airport in Lydd, Kent, where they were able to agree terms with managing director Hugh Kennard and public relations officer Tony Good.
Good suggested that nearby Woodchurch Windmill could be used for "an aerial film sequence showing a Dutch mill in open country", and took members of the production team to see it. On Monday, 9 February they inspected Rolvenden Mill and two days later they inspected Winchelsea Mill. By the time news of filming at the airport made the front page of the Kentish Express that week, the team had not decided which mill to use. The report added that on Thursday, 12 February, "a camera crew flew to Rotterdam to take shots of the airport there," and that during filming in Lydd, "Members of Ferryfield Airport staff played the parts of passengers for several of the sequences," reported the Kentish Express. "There were shots inside an aircraft and others in the reception hall and lounge." (Source: "TV Search for Dutch Mill", Kentish Express, 13 February 1959, p. 1.)
Notably, this account didn't mention what would be a major selling point of the serial: aerial filming. As West later explained in his memoir,
"The cast, consisting of Garry Halliday, his co-pilot, and the air hostess, went up in the air [in one plane], and our plane followed with myself and the cameraman, plus his assistant, the focus puller. We achieved some excellent film, which, when edited, would be quite spectacular."
Perhaps these aerial shots had not yet been filmed when the news report was written.
Rehearsals for the live performance in studio of the first episode began on Monday, 23 February, according to a profile of actor Terence Alexander published that same week. (Source: "Magical Number", Guardian, 27 February 1959, p. 4.)
On the day of the live broadcast, 28 February, most newspapers simply included the title of the serial in their TV listings. The Leicester Chronicle went a little further, describing it as “A thriller serial with an airport setting” (p. 2) and the Liverpool Echo and Evening Express included a photo of "young Glasgow actress" Ann Gudrun in costume as air hostess Wills (p. 24).
In his memoir, Richard West says the live broadcast of the first episode went without a hitch, "in spite of the difficulty of mixing film with live action", suggesting that the new serial involved more filming and / or complexity than previous serials he'd worked on. But the effort seems to have been worthwhile:
"We were told later that the BBC switchboard had received favourable comments from the public, and our viewing figures increased after each episode, always a good sign. At last, we had a hit."
Yet there's little sense of this in the press, with rarely any coverage of the serial beyond the title appearing in listings. One critic briefly referenced the second episode when making a wider point about prejudice on TV.
"Saturday's episode of Garry Halliday showed foreigners in two popular shades — silly funny, and silly mean." (Source: PD, "A stuff dose of prejudice", Manchester Evening News, 9 March 1959, p. 2.)
Later that month, a news story about "film star" James Robertson Justice visiting Severn Wildfowl Trust mentioned that he was "accompanied by Ann Gudrun, who is currently playing in BBC Children's TV serial Garry Halliday." (Source: "Film star among 3,000 who visited Slimbridge", Bristol Evening Post, 31 March 1959, p. 7.)
Even so, the serial did well. Less than three weeks after the broadcast of the final episode of Garry Halliday, that success was made clear when Owen Reed, head of children's television, submitted his quarterly report, which provides some useful context.
According to Reed, in the first quarter of 1959, some 70% of the total expenditure spent by the Children's Programmes, Television department of the BBC went on regular serials broadcast at teatime on Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Reed also identified some concerning trends. He noted the relative unpopularity of repeated serials: The Black Arrow (six episodes, 19 January — 23 February 1958, repeated 2 January — 6 February 1959) The Invisible Armies, (four episodes, 9-30 March 1958, repeated 13 January — 3 February 1959) and The Adventures of Ben Gunn (six episodes, 1 June — 6 July 1958, repeated 13 February — 20 March 1959).
Even a new production of an old favourite, The Cabin in the Clearing (five episodes, 16 February - 16 March 1954; new production 4 January — 1 February 1959), was met with scepticism, which Reed thought suggested that the young audience weened on television had developed ever more sophisticated tastes. The implication was a need for ambitious new material.
Reed also felt that The Honey Siege (six episodes, 17 January — 21 February 1959) and The Budds of Paragon Row (four episodes, 17 February — 10 March 1959) had been good in conception but let down by the shortcomings of the child actors involved — not least because, by law, child actors could only rehearse for half as long as grown-ups. He didn't think programmes for children should necessarily feature them.
Then Reed singled out two successes in this period. Jo's Boys (seven episodes, 8 February — 22 March 1959) was the latest in a continuing series of adaptations of the popular stories by Louisa May Allcott (1832-88) and had received a very good Band II audience share of 10 and a reaction index of 75 out of 100. Ironically, this was old material featuring child actors.
Then there was Garry Halliday, which achieved a commendable Band III share of 6 and RI of 70. Reed noted that this was an unusual production for the BBC. That was true: it had been created especially for television when most of the BBC's drama output adapted pre-existing novels, short stories and stage plays. But that wasn't the reason Reed gave for calling Garry Halliday unusual; instead, he noted that the BBC had long neglected adventure stories of this kind of Bulldog Drummond style. The success of Garry Halliday had quickly been noted and Reed confirmed that a follow-up was being planned. (Source: Head of Children's Programmes, Television [Owen Reed] to D.D.Tel.B [aka Deputy Director, Television Broadcasting, Cecil McGivern], "CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMES: QUARTERLY REPORT JANUARY-MARCH 1959", 23 April 1959; BBC Written Archives Centre (WAC) T16/45/2: TV Policy, Children's Programmes, 1955-59.)
In fact, the success of this first Garry Halliday serial did more than prompt a sequel. In total, the BBC made 50 episodes of Garry Halliday before a new adventure serial took the same Saturday teatime slot and remained there until the 1980s — and beyond. But first things first...
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