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| Radio Times preview 4 January 1962 |
Pre-recorded ahead of broadcast 6 January - 17 February 1962.
The Voice lives! Members of the Foreign Legion discover him alive and well in the desert, plotting new sinister schemes - and they agree to help him gain his revenge over Garry Halliday. Garry, who no longer has Bill Dodds to support him, is soon caught up in a plot involving an eminent archaeologist and an 11th century poet from Persia...
Regular cast: Terence Longdon (Garry Halliday); Audrey Nicholson (Vicky Fox); Frederick Treves (Nigel Fox); Bill Kerr (Eddie Robbins); Maurice Kaufmann (Sergeant Adolph Traumann); Elwyn Brook-Jones (The Voice, credited in Radio Times on all episodes but only appeared from ep 4); Hamlyn Benson (The Voice, eps 1-3, uncredited in listings); Oliver Johnston (Professor Irenon, eps 1-4, 6-7); Jack Rodney (Private Fallon, eps 1-5); George Little (Fahzil Imrali, eps 1-3, 5-6); Hugh Latimer (eps 2-3, 5-7); Robin Lloyd (Paul Brinker, eps 2-4, 6-7); Barbara Evans (Ludmila, 2-3, 5-7); Julie Martin (Leonie Martin, eps 3-5); Kevin Brennan (Mr Karim, eps 5-7)
Crew: David Whitaker and Michael Harald (writers); Justin Blake (based on characters created by); Douglas Wolfe (film cameraman, eps 1-4, 6-7); Ron de Mattos (film editor, eps 1-4, 6-7); Stewart Marshall (designer, eps 1-4, 6-7); Richard West (producer); Paul Machell (director, eps 2-3, 5-7); Terry Baker (fights arranged by, eps 4-6).
Flying and Airport sequences by courtesy of Skyways Ltd.
1. Live and Die (5.25 pm, Saturday 6 January 1962) - Genome/Radio Times
NB: Without the novelisations to work from to provide synopses, the full cast list in Radio Times is a helpful clue to what happened in each episode because actors are listed in order or appearance, plus some actors are given additional top billing in bold, denoting major roles. I'll include these as listed in what follows:
Top-billed cast: Terence Longdon (Garry Halliday); Bill Kerr (Eddie Robbins); Elwyn Brook-Jones (The Voice); Oliver Johnston (Professor Irenon); Jack Rodney (Private Fallon).
Cast in order of appearance: Clive Cazes (Lieutenant Boule); Bruce Wightman (Private Baltonne); Maurice Kaufman (Sgt. Traumann); Jack Rodney (Private Fallon); Elwyn Brook-Jones Hamlyn Benson (The Voice); Winifred Hindle (Mrs Peacock); Bill Kerr (Eddie Robbins); Terence Longdon (Garry Halliday); Frederick Treves (Nigel Fox); Audrey Nicholson (Vicky Fox); Oliver Johnston (Professor Ireton); George Little (Fahzil)
Summary:
"There doesn’t seem to be much connection between Garry Halliday and a famous poet of the Middle East [ie Omar Khayyam (1048-1131)], but young viewers will remember that last seen, ‘The Voice’ was wandering helpless, thirsty, almost dying in the desert. … The new series begins by showing how he escaped death." (Source: "Return of Garry Halliday", Lincolnshire Echo, 28 December 1961, p. 4.)
Four members of the Foreign Legion (1) in the desert of the fictional Balakesh near the real-life Tripoli (2) discover the Voice - alive, but not seen on screen (3). One of the soldiers, Sergeant Adolph Traumann (4) is "tired of his job" and "a man on the make" (5), so presumably does a deal with the Voice. The Voice has "started on another of his grandiose criminal schemes, but before he starts on this he is determined to get rid of Halliday" (6).
The action then switches to one-off character Mrs Peacock and new series regular Eddie Robbins (7), an Australian pilot (8). Only after meeting Bill would viewers have seen a familiar face:
"As the charter plane lands, another quite normal routine flight comes to an end. The pilot steps from the cockpit. It is the owner of the line himself. But no sooner is he in his office than trouble starts. That is hardly surprising for the pilot’s name is Garry Halliday." (9)
Nigel Fox is now Garry's partner in the business and his sister Vicky also works for the airline. They also have a visitor: "a Professor of Archaeology, a man called Irenon, who seeks Garry’s help" (10).
(1) "Traumann, a sergeant in the Foreign Legion" (Source: The Mail Man, "Children's Own —a new adventure series", Birmingham Evening Post, 4 January 1962, p. 8.)
(2) The setting of Garry Halliday and the Sands of Time, where the Voice was last seen.
(3) Although credited in Radio Times, Elwyn Brook-Jones was ill during production of the first three episodes of the story, and his place was taken by Hamlyn Benson. (Source: Cathryn Rose, "Topics for viewers", Grimsby Evening Telegraph, 12 January 1962, p. 6.)
(4) His first name given in the listing for the second episode; it's just possible he might be German.
(5) Quotations from Birmingham Evening Post, as above.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Deduced from the cast list being in order of appearance.
(8) Birmingham Evening Post, as above.
(9) Source: "Garry Halliday" (preview), Radio Times #1991, 4 January 1962, p. 4.
(10) Birmingham Evening Post, as above.
Top-billed cast: Terence Longdon (Garry Halliday); Bill Kerr (Eddie Robbins); Elwyn Brook-Jones (The Voice); Oliver Johnston (Professor Irenon); Hugh Latimer (Mr Temhani).
Cast in order of appearance: Audrey Nicholson (Vicky Fox); Oliver Johnston (Professor Ireton); George Little (Fahzil Imrali); Terence Longdon (Garry Halliday); Frederick Treves (Nigel Fox); Jack Rodney (Fallon); Hugh Latimer (Mr Temhani); Robin Lloyd (Paul Brinker); Maurice Kaufmann (Adolph Traumann); Barbara Evans (Ludmilla); Elwyn Brook-Jones Hamlyn Benson (The Voice); Bill Kerr (Eddie Robbins); Denis Harkin (Valet)
Summary: Note how late into proceedings Eddie Robbins appears in the cast list. In the first episode, Robbins is in a scene with Mrs Peacock before the scene featuring Garry Halliday. That makes me wonder when the two men first appeared on screen together - they might not even have met by the end of this second episode. Pre-publicity for the story describes Robbins as Garry Halliday's new co-pilot, replacing Bill Dodds. But perhaps that's a role Eddie took on over the course of this adventure, rather than being in the job from the start.
Production notes
On 17 November 1960, BBC Script Organiser Robin Wade proposed that BBC staff writer David Whitaker be engaged to co-write the 13 episodes of the fifth series of Garry Halliday - that is, stories 6 and 7 - to be produced 1961-62. This, of course, followed the example of the 13 episodes of the fourth series (stories 4 and 5), in production at the time and broadcast 1960-61. The first of the new stories was to be based on a storyline already purchased from John Bowen and Jeremy Bullmore, the creators of Garry Halliday (under their pseudonym "Justin Blake"). The second was to be an original scenario devised by Whitaker and Richard Wade, who seems to have been acting as an uncredited script editor on the fourth series. Robin Wade forwarded a copy of his memo about this to producer Richard West, asking to be informed when the Voice had been killed off - ie when Richard Wade completed work revising scripts for the fourth serial. (Source: Script Organiser, Television [Robin Wade] to Miss Ross, copy to Richard West, "GARRY HALLIDAY (5th series)", 17 November 1960, John Bowen Drama Writer’s File, WAC T48/103/1, a copy also held in Whitaker, David, Copyright File 1, 1958-1962, WAC RCONT1)
On 25 November, Miss DL Ross in the BBC copyright department noted that Bowen and Bullmore would need to be paid an additional fee for the use of their characters in any such fifth series of 13 episodes. (Source: Miss DL Rose, Copyright Department, to Script Organiser, Tel. [Robin Wade], "GARRY HALLIDAY - 5TH SERIES", 25 November 1960, John Bowen Drama Writer’s File, WAC T48/103/1)
That fee seems to have been agreed over the next fortnight and on 14 December Robin Wade issued a copyright brief commissioning Richard Wade and David Whitaker to co-write a new seven-part Garry Halliday serial for 60 guineas per episode each. That brief is not known to survive but is referred to in Miss Ross's confirmation of 29 December in which she added that the first half of the fee was being paid to the two writers. (Source: Miss DL Ross, Copyright Department to Script Organiser [Robin Wade] in room 5055 TC, "GARRY HALLIDAY - 5TH SERIES", 29 December 1960, Whitaker, David, Copyright File 1, 1958-1962, WAC RCONT1)
The plan at this point, then, was for the fifth serial of 13 episode to comprise:
- A six-part story based on a storyline already supplied by Bowen and Bullmore, to be written by Richard West (perhaps in collaboration with David Whitaker)
- A seven-part story that West and Whitaker would cowrite based on their own original storyline
We don't know what either of these storylines entailed, or how much of them survived in the fifth serial when it was eventually broadcast more than a year later. In the meantime, Richard Wade had completed rewrites of Bowen and Bullmore's scripts for the fourth story, The Sands of Time the final episode of which was broadcast on 17 December - killing off the Voice. Whitaker was at work revising Bowen and Bullmore's scripts for the fifth story, The Flying Foxes.
As we saw last time, on 31 December 1960, Jeremy Bullmore wrote a stiffly worded letter to producer Richard West, presumably objecting to the changes made to the fourth story as broadcast, or perhaps to Whitaker's initial reworking of the fifth story. That letter is no longer known to survive but is referred to in subsequent correspondence. On 10 January 1961, the day on which the first episode of The Flying Foxes was pre-recorded in studio, Bullmore wrote to Owen Reed, the Head of the Children's Department for BBC Television, objecting to Whitaker's rewrites. Unable to change the pre-recorded credits, Bullmore wanted an announcement made on broadcast to make clear that Whitaker was the sole author, using characters created by Justin Blake. (Source: Jeremy Bullmore to Mr [Owen] Reed, 10 January 1961, John Bowen Drama Writer’s File, WAC T48/103/1)
Again as discussed last time, Donald Wilson, the Head of Script Department, responded to this formal complaint. In a letter to Bowen and Bullmore's agent, Wilson said that the two writers would be paid for the storylines they'd supplied for the next 13 episodes / two stories, but that it was now unlikely that either of these would be used. Instead, entirely new storylines would be sent to Bowen and Bullmore in due course; they could then decide on an appropriate credit for themselves. (Source: Donald Wilson, Head of Script Department, Television, to Gareth Wigan, Esq at John Redway & Associates, 12 January 1961, John Bowen Drama Writer’s File T48/103/1)
The implication, then, is that the six-part storyline bought from Bowen and Bullmore was abandoned. Stories 6 and 7 would both be original ideas, conceived and co-written by Richard Wade and David Whitaker.
The following day, permission was given for Whitaker, as an in-house member of staff based in room 4016 of Television Centre, to co-write with Richard Wade a new, seven-episode story for broadcast in the autumn. As before, Whitaker was to be paid 60 guineas per episode for 50% of the work. Wade was described as an "outside contributor", ie not on staff at the BBC. Authorisation was also given to pay Whitaker the first half of his fee for this work, ie 210 guineas. (Source: AG Finch, Television Establishment, to Script Organiser [Robin Wade], "'GARRY HALLIDAY': MR DAVID WHITAKER (B/74624)", 13 January 1961, Whitaker, David, Copyright File 1, 1958-1962, WAC RCONT1)
On 24 January, recording (presumably) took place on the third episode of The Flying Foxes. Rehearsals for the fourth episode probably began two days later, ahead of studio recording on 31 January. The cast for this fourth episode included Michael Harald as "newspaper boy". As we saw last time, Harald was a wartime friend of producer Richard West. As well as his small role on screen, Harald was also soon involved in the writing of Garry Halliday...
Just over three weeks after Whitaker was commissioned to write the new serial, the BBC formally acknowledged that scripts for all seven episodes had been received and accepted. This was quick, not least given that the work was done outside Whitaker's full-time job as an in-house script editor. It was also noted that the first two scripts had been written solely by Whitaker, who was duly entitled to a full rather than half fee. Episodes 3-7 were written with an outside contributor; Whitaker was due a total second-half fee of 330 guineas. (Source: Senior Establishment Assistant, Programmes, Television [CS Mortimer] to Television Accountant, "'GARRY HALLIDAY': MR DAVID WHITAKER (B/74624)", "5 January" 1961 but surely 5 February as it refers to events of 13 January, Whitaker, David, Copyright File 1, 1958-1962, WAC RCONT1)
The outside contributor on episodes 3-7 was Michael Harald not Richard Wade. That's confirmed in a later memo from Script Organiser Robin Wade, who explained that Whitaker and Richard Wade had never collaborated on scripts. (Source: Script Organiser, Television [Robin Wade] to H.C.P.Tel [ie Owen Reed, Head of Children's Programmes], "GARRY HALLIDAY: RICHARD WADE", 5 September 1961, Whitaker, David, Copyright File 1, 1958-1962, WAC RCONT1) Harald seems to have reworked Whitaker's initial drafts as he and Whitaker were the credited co-writers on all episodes of story 6 when it was broadcast; Wade the sole credited writer on story 7.
If Harald joined the writing of story 6 only from the third episode, the storyline for this adventure was surely devised by Whitaker alone - albeit in consultation with producer Richard West and acting script editor Richard Wade. The premise seems to have started from the decision to resurrect Halliday's nemesis, the Voice - the antagonist of the first four stories.
This would have been a big surprise, not least coming halfway through the series of 13 episodes, with Richard Wade's story initially scheduled first (as we'll see in later paperwork). The return of the Voice would have served to galvanise the series midway through its run. But perhaps the plan was never to keep the return of the Voice script. In advance of the new series, publicity could have noted the imminent return of the Voice. A second wave of publicity could then promote episode 8, in which the Voice actually would return. If the episode was structured so that the Voice only appeared in the closing moments, as a cliffhanger, it would build anticipation for the next episode, too. Indeed, these were the tactics used in 1964 to resurrect the Daleks in Doctor Who after they'd been killed off in their first story; with the Daleks returning in the second story of the new series, not the first, and then only in the closing moments of the first episode. David Whitaker was the story editor on The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
Whatever the case, Whitaker had to devise a way to bring the Voice back from the dead. The character had last been seen, at the end of The Sands of Time, wandering lost in the desert of Balakesh, a fictional state close to the real-life Tripoli in Libya. The new story drifted a little eastward, drawing inspiration from the history of Persia (modern-day Iran).
Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) was a noted mathematician and astronomer working under Sultan Malik-Shah. His work included a Treatise on Algebra and, as part of a team, taking especially accurate readings of the stars using new technology, the astrolabe, with which they devised the Jalali calendar. This proved to be far more accurate than the contemporary Gregorian calendar and was still in use into the 20th century. Yet in the west, Omar Khayyam is best-known for the sequence of four-line poems, or Rubaiyat, attributed to him, translated into English by scholar Edward Fitzgerald and first published in 1859. This became “one of the most admired works of Victorian literature” and “in the first half of the 20th century was arguably the most influential [long poem] in the English language”, according to Melvyn Bragg, introducing a 2014 episode of discussion programme In Our Time on the Rubaiyat.
One reason the book resonated with late 19th and early 20th centuries readers in Britain was because of imperial links to the east and to India (where Persian had been an official language of the civil service until the 1830s). Many British people served and/or lived in India or knew people who had done so. Indeed, Whitaker's mother was born in Jalandhar on 21 October 1893. Her son drew on elements of her life and experience in various things he wrote throughout his career, as detailed in my biography.
The Hollywood film The Life, Loves and Adventures of Omar Khayyam (1957), starred Hungarian-American actor Cornel Wilde in the title role, foiling a plot to assassinate the shah. But the Rubaiyat itself doesn't really offer a story to draw from. It's about a man wandering through a Persian town, musing on the nature of existence.
Perhaps Whitaker drew on Khayyam's career as a mathematician and proto-scientist - was the "secret" of the story some technical innovation or weapon? Perhaps, to tie in with resurrecting the Voice, the plot involved some elixir to restore and extend life. Alternatively, the adventure may have been sparked by an infamous criminal case. In 1948, the body of a man was found in Somerton Park in Adelaide, South Australia, with a scrap of paper in his pocket reading "tamám shud" - "It is finished". This was subsequently found to have been torn from a copy of the Rubaiyat. What was more, the back cover of that particular copy was marked with indentations: the phone number of a young woman with no apparent connection to the dead man, as well as numbers thought to be some kind of code. The code has never been broken and the dead man never identified; an inquest into the case in 1958 was reported on in some press, which Whitaker could well have read. Perhaps the "secret" in his story related to coded messages.
Whatever the case, his storyline owed its structure to the Rubaiyat. Each of the seven episode titles is a direct quotation, mostly from consecutive quatrains and mostly in chronological order. The poem must have been the starting point because it would be almost impossible to write a storyline and then find matching phrases. The relevant quatrains are as follows, sourced from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (tr. Fitzgerald, 4th edition):
LXXIIAnd that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die,
Lift not your hands to It for help--for It
As impotently moves as you or I.LXIII
With Earth's first Clay They did the Last Man knead,
And there of the Last Harvest sow'd the Seed:
And the first Morning of Creation wrote
What the Last Dawn of Reckoning shall read.LXXVI tell you this--When, started from the Goal,Over the flaming shoulders of the FoalOf Heav'n Parwin and Mushtari they flung,In my predestin'd Plot of Dust and Soul.LXXVIThe Vine had struck a fiber: which aboutIt clings my Being--let the Dervish flout;Of my Base metal may be filed a KeyThat shall unlock the Door he howls without.LXXVIIAnd this I know: whether the one True LightKindle to Love, or Wrath consume me quite,One Flash of It within the Tavern caughtBetter than in the Temple lost outright.LXXXOh Thou, who didst with pitfall and with ginBeset the Road I was to wander in,Thou wilt not with Predestin'd Evil roundEnmesh, and then impute my Fall to Sin!LXXXIOh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make,And ev'n with Paradise devise the Snake:For all the Sin wherewith the Face of ManIs blacken'd--Man's forgiveness give--and take!
“We did a further six Garry Hallidays [ie The Flying Foxes], and then we were told that the programme was to be postponed till the autumn. This left a nasty gap for me. The BBC had been subjected to an inspection by time and motion experts, who suggested a reduction of staff in all the wrong places.” (Kindle ref. 3308.)
The latter could well have been related to the Pilkington Committee on Broadcasting, set up in July 1960 and reporting two years later on the future of the BBC. Its recommendations included the creation of a second BBC Television channel (BBC Two) and the introduction of licences for colour television. But the scope of the investigation included questions being asked about productivity and value for money for the licence payer. In that climate, West could have found himself under pressure if he didn't have a serial in active production.
Why didn't he? As we'll see, while Whitaker had written his scripts extremely quickly, Richard Wade didn't complete work on the other episodes of the serial until mid-September. It's difficult to tell from the scant surviving paperwork, but the sense is of ongoing frustration. Remember, too, that in October 1960, Anthony Good left his full-time job at Silver City Airways to become technical adviser to Garry Halliday (Source: "Leaving Silver City Airways", Kentish Express, 14 October 1960, p. 10), surely believing that episodes would be in production well into 1961. It must have strained relationships between the cast and crew.
According to West's memoir, Terence Alexander - who'd played Bill Dodds in all Garry Halliday epiodes to date - suggested that West look for work with ITV. It may be that the delay to the new serial led to Alexander leaving Garry Halliday. West followed his friend's advice, initially working in current affairs at Associated-Rediffusion before finding work in drama. (Kindle ref. 3308)
First, there was an ITV Play of the Week, in this case Mrs Skeffington (tx 16 May 1961) from the stage play by Noel Coward. The cast included several actors West had worked with on Garry Halliday, providing work for Jack Carlton, Peter M Elrington, Audrey Nicholson, Geoffrey Palmer and Frederick Treves. This was soon followed by another adaptation of Coward, Gilt and Gingerbread (tx 5 September), starring Terence Alexander and with a minor role for fellow Garry Halliday veteran Norman Hartley. Then, West's episode of Call Oxbridge 2000 (tx 8 October), included Geoffrey Hibbert in the cast.
West says in his memoir that he was up for directing more of Call Oxbridge 2000 but was "under contract" with the BBC to do more Garry Halliday, adding that it was a lucky escape given the Equity Actors' Strike that began on 1 November, affecting all ITV drama productions except Coronation Street, (Kindle ref. 3353). West's recollection is that,
"I was welcomed back [to the BBC] by what had become the Garry Halliday unit, and there was much to do." (Kindle ref. 3369)
His memory here is a little out. He thinks this happened after the death of Elwyn Brook-Jones (in September 1962), and that the team duly commissioned a series of six one-episode stories without the Voice. But the eighth run of episodes, comprising standalone episodes, was broadcast between 18 August and 29 September 1962; the fact these were commissioned before the death of Brook-Jones is confirmed by him being in one of them.
While West had been away working for ITV, the assumption had always been that Garry Halliday would continue in the autumn. On 23 May, Script Organiser Robin Wade confirmed that David Whitaker's seven-episode serial would still be going ahead, in a memo relating to Whitaker's other writing commitments outside his day job. (Source: Script Organiser, Television [Robin Wade] to Establishment Assistant, Television (Mr Finch), "STAFF CONTRIBUTION FORM: DAVID WHITAKER: GOLDEN GIRL SERIES ("A GLASS OF OPALINE")", 23 May 1961, WAC Drama Writer’s File: David Whitaker T48/619/1)
As we've seen, Whitaker's scripts for the new seven-part story were delivered and accepted in February, without the contribution of Richard Wade - though they had been contracted to work together. This created an awkward situation in that Wade could claim half the fee for the work done by Whitaker. Whitaker objected and Robin Wade took up his case on 5 September. One issue, he noted, was that Richard Wade had initially been commissioned to co-write a seven-part story but this had been changed to him writing, solo, a six-part story. Even though Richard Wade had agreed to this, it created an imbalance between him and Whitaker over the splitting of fees. Robin Wade thought the BBC should perhaps renegotiate the contract with Richard Wade's agent, but suggested that they make a decision once they'd seen what the writer delivered on 16 September. (Source: Script Organiser, Television [Robin Wade] to H.C.P.Tel [ie Owen Reed, Head of Children's Programmes], "GARRY HALLIDAY: RICHARD WADE", 5 September 1961, WAC Whitaker, David, Copyright File 1, 1958-1962, WAC RCONT1)
Reed replied on his return from leave. He agreed to ending the collaboration that never was, and to renegotiating the contract with Richard Wade. Reed also said that the decision had now been taken to swap the two stories of the forthcoming serial: Whitaker's story, for which scripts had long been available, would go into production in November. A complete set of Richard Wade's scripts had not yet been received - suggesting that he'd at least delivered initial episodes. Once fully delivered, the six scripts would come under Whitaker's purview in his role as the Script Department's representative on Garry Halliday. (Source: Head of Children's Programmes, Television [Owen Reed] to S.O.Tel [Robin Wade, Script Organiser, Television], "GARRY HALLIDAY: RICHARD WADE", 13 September 1961, WAC Whitaker, David, Copyright File 1, 1958-1962, WAC RCONT1)
So, Whitaker had co-written the seven episodes of The Secret of Omar Khayyam as a freelance contributor, outside his full-time commitments as script editor of light entertainment. But he would also act as script editor to the 13-episode run of Garry Halliday, covering his own story and the one written by Richard Wade, as part of his day job.
On 10 November, Faber & Faber published Garry Halliday and the Ray of Death, the second novelisation by Justin Blake, priced 9/6. (Source: The Bookseller, 4 November 1961, p. 2114) Publication had surely been timed to coincide with the broadcast of the new TV serial, which would effectively act as an advertisement for the book in the run-up to Christmas. Delays in production, pushing back the serial to the new year, may well have affected sales. That can't have pleased Bowen and Bullmore.
On the same day as publication, BBC executives discussed cutting back the new series of Garry Halliday and/or the drama that preceded it, Circus Boy, by two minutes. This would mean they ran to a total of 53 minutes, accommodating the start of Weather Report at 5.53 - children's TV coming lower in the pecking order than the weather. The same memo reveals that consideration had been given to moving Garry Halliday to Sunday evenings but that executives agreed with Owen Reed's assessment that it would prove weak here; instead the decision was made to run a 13-episode serialisation of Oliver Twist, even though this was being made by the drama department rather Reed's children's department, which usually took the teatime slot. (Source: Children's Programmes Organiser, Television [Jack Rich] to H.C.P.Tel [ie Owen Reed, Head of Children's Programmes], "NOTES ON INFORMAL DISCUSSION WITH H.P.P.TEL 10.11.61", 10 November 1961, WAC TV Policy, Children's Programmes, File 3, 1960-66, T16/45/3)
This reference to the "weakness" of Garry Halliday suggests BBC management were still not convinced of its worth. In fact, the very robustness of Oliver Twist going out at Sunday teatimes (tx 7 January - 1 April 1962) proved to be controversial.
On 28 December, the Lincolnshire Echo ran a preview of the new Garry Halliday serial, ahead of the first episode airing on 6 January. The same page ran a longer piece, with accompanying photograph, of another new BBC series, Z Cars, due to begin on 2 January. (Source: "Z Car" [sic] is new BBC crime series" and "Return of Garry Halliday", Lincolnshire Echo, 28 December 1961, p. 4.) Another new series began the same day, the BBC soap opera Compact; both this and Z Cars were part of an effort to produce continuous drama, holding audience loyalty by running all through the year rather than for six or seven weeks at a time. I think the efforts to increase the output of Garry Halliday in 13-episode serials should be seen in that context. The difficulties in achieving more regular production may explain why it lost support at the BBC.
The preview of Garry Halliday in the Birmingham Evening Mail on 4 January was very similarly worded to the preview in the Lincolnshire Echo a week earlier. (Source: The Mail Man, "Children's own - a new adventure series", Birmingham Evening Mail, 4 January 1962, p. 8). The same wording featured in the Radio Times preview, which boasted a photograph of Longdon in character (Source: "Garry Halliday", Radio Times issue #1991, 4 February 1962, p. 4), and which ran in addition to the usual listing. This all suggests a more concerted drive for publicity than on previous Garry Halliday serials. All the previews noted that new series regular Bill Kerr had been a stuntman which would prove useful in the "inevitable fights". The Radio Times listing for the second episode also boasted a photograph of star Longdon.
The listings of the first three episodes all credit Elwyn Brook-Jones as the Voice, which is evidence that episodes must have been pre-recorded close to broadcast, when it was too late to make corrections before going to print. On some previous serials, episodes were recorded on the Tuesday before broadcast; if so in this case, the first episode of The Secret of Omar Khayyam was recorded on 2 January 1962, with rehearsals beginning soon after Christmas. Unfortunately, Brook-Jones "was ill when rehearsals for the new series began so his place was taken by Hamlyn Benson. Elwyn will be back after the first three instalments.” (Source: Cathryn Rose, "TOPICS FOR VIEWERS", Grimsby Evening News, 12 January 1962, p. 6.)
Given that the story was all about the return of the Voice, this absence was quite an issue. Richard West explains what happened in his memoir:
"Our scriptwriters ... were hugely hampered by the illness of Elwyn Brook-Jones, who was taken off to hospital, where he was told that if he did not stop drinking, he would shortly be dead. He chose to continue, though always perfectly sober in rehearsals and performances, and returned to us for a while." (Kindle ref. 3270)
On a happier note, West's return to the BBC saw him reunited with familiar crew members, as he recounted modestly.
"We were allotted Crew 6, with whom I had happily worked before, so the technical run-through in the rehearsal room was attended by my old friends, Frank Sellen (technical operations manager) and Jimmy Purdey (lighting engineer). … ‘It’s good to have you back,’ said Jimmy. ‘You’re the fastest director in the business. You always do your homework, and know what you want, which saves us endless time and trouble.’ Nothing like a bit of flattery.” (Kindle ref. 3380)
As usual, the guest cast also included many familiar faces. Maurice Kaufmann, as Adolph Traumann, had played the Voice's henchperson Kurt in the very first Garry Halliday serial. Winifred Hindle, as Mrs Peacock, had played the old actress masquerading as Nanny in The Flying Foxes. Anthony Bate, as Sergeant Nelson here, had played Sergeant Jones in that serial.
West also added new members to his regular troop. Hugh Latimer, playing Mr Temhani, had been in West's production of Mrs Skeffington for ITV, and would appear in different roles in the next two Garry Halliday serials.
Given the pressures of two stories made back to back, Richard West produced all 13 episodes but eight of them were directed by Paul Machell (1929-2008), who went on to a prolific directing career under the name Paul Ciappessoni. Episode 2 of The Secret of Omar Khayyam seems to have been his directorial debut. He can be seen in a press photograph alongside stars Terence Longdon and a wounded Bill Kerr, which gives some sense of what production might have been like:
“Australian actor Bill Kerr receives treatment after fracturing his right arm during a fight sequence with two stunt men at the BBC's Ealing Film Studio. Kerr was playing the role of Eddie Robbins in the children's drama Garry Halliday and the Secret of Omar Khayyam. Looking on is actor Terence Longdon (left) and director Paul Machell.” (Source: Alamy photo G7BEBR, dated Wednesday 7 February 1962, between broadcast of episodes 5 and 6)
On Wednesday 7 February, between the broadcast of episodes 5 and 6 of this serial (and the day after studio recording of episode 6 if I'm right about Tuesday recordings), Kerr and Longdon had been pre-filming an action sequence for the next story, The Gun Runners, when he fell and broke a bone in his right elbow. The story made front-page news of at least one paper. (Source: "Actor injured in film adventure", Liverpool Daily Post, 8 February 1962, p. 1.) Other papers picked it up in due course. (Sources: "Garry Halliday calls...", Derby Evening Telegraph, 20 February 1962, p. 13; Northern Daily Mail, 20 February 1962, p. 10; Nottingham Evening News, 20 February 1962, p. 4.) Note how widely this was reported: previous serials have struggled to get any mention in the press. Again, there was a more concerted effort being made.
By then, production was already under way on the next Garry Halliday story. Michael Harald stayed on, credited as "script associate" on episodes 4-6 of the new serial. But David Whitaker had been reassigned: taking over from his colleague Rosemary Hill as the Script Department's liaison on new soap opera Compact. Whitaker, who'd had a hand in helping develop the soap, would be liaison from episode 13. (Source: Senior Assistant, Script Department, Television [Robin Wade] to Alan Bromly [producer of Compact], "COMPACT", 19 January 1962, WAC Compact production file T5/624/2)
Whitaker never worked on Garry Halliday again but I think his experience on it was a significant factor the following year when he was assigned as story editor to a new adventure serial to be broadcast in the same Saturday teatime slot. I'll address what Doctor Who owes to Garry Halliday in a later post...
One last observation: Omar Khayyam continued to have resonance. On 12 June 1962, the BBC Home Service broadcast a performance of the Rubaiyat by film star Marius Goring - with whom David Whitaker would work on several subsequent occasions. That same month, TV presenter Bruce Forsyth chose the Rubaiyat as the book he'd take along with his selection of Desert Island Discs. From 27 December 1963, the BBC Home Service began airing The Omar Khayyam Show, a comedy written by and starring Spike Milligan, the cast including Bill Kerr. Kerr also worked with Whitaker again, when he was cast in a major role in the Doctor Who story The Enemy of the World.
Further reading
- My review of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, translated by Edward Fitzgerald
- For more on Z Cars, see BD to Z Victor 1 - The Z Cars Casebook Season 1 by David Brunt (2014)
Written by and (c) Simon Guerrier. Thanks to Paul Hayes, Michael Seely, the BBC's Written Archives Centre, Newspapers.com, the British Newspaper Archive and Macclesfield Library.
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