Agent of Change It’s difficult to escape from the cultural phenomenon of James Bond. Even when the latest film isn’t gracing the local multiplex, one (or more) of the previous 24 movies will be on the television somewhere, and the papers and the rest of the media will be speculating as to the identity of the next actor to take up the role. The character first appeared in print in 1953, when Ian Fleming’s ‘Casino Royale’ was published, and though the author died in 1964, other authors have continued to feed the appetite of a public still hungry for the adventures of the spy, including Kingsley Amis, Sebastian Faulkes and most recently, Anthony Horowitz (of ‘Foyle’s War’ fame among other things). But he wasn’t the first adventurer to uphold the defence of the realm. There were men of action who fought for Queen and Country, or King and Country, long before 007 knocked back his first martini. Richard Hannay, hero of John Buchan’s ‘The 39 Steps’ (three major movie versions plus TV and radio adaptations) and four more lesser-known stories (Including the unlikely, and frankly uninspiringly titled ‘The Island of Sheep’). Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond, created by Herman ‘Sapper’ McNeile, was an ex-WW I veteran with a taste for danger that ran to 19 books, 3 plays, a radio show and 21 films between 1922 and 1951. W.E. Johns gave us James ‘Biggles’ Bigglesworth, the air ace, for the first time in 1932 in a book called ‘The White Fokker’ and continued for almost a hundred more daring stories of aerial adventure until the author’s death in 1968. Surely though, first and foremost of these pre-Bond men of action and derring-do was Dick Barton – Special Agent. He was, by the standards of the day, a sensation. The adventures of Captain Richard Barton MC, one-time commando, were broadcast daily on BBC’s Light Programme, the first drama to do so, in 1946. Going out at 6.45pm initially, before being moved to the earlier slot of 6.15pm, each show was fast-paced and just 15 minutes long. Barton, along with his sidekicks Jock Anderson and Snowy White, would fight crime, intrigue and espionage with just a hint of ‘tongue-in-cheek’ before finding themselves in inescapable peril just before the show finished for the evening. And then, the following night, ‘with one bound, Dick was free!’ and they were off again. Norman Collins, the BBC producer who created Dick Barton, had caught the mood of the times and at its peak, every teatime show, just after the news, was listened to by over 15 million people. Barton was a national hero. Three movies were made. Schoolboys lapped up his exploits in vast numbers, so much so that a number of ‘rules’ were laid down that Barton scripts should not break, so as not to corrupt the malleable minds of minors. ‘No bad language’, ‘No drinking’, ‘No lying’, ‘No cheating’ and definitely ‘No sex’, which saw Barton’s girlfriend ‘Jean’ written out early on. But in 1951, after 711 episodes, Barton found himself up against the one opponent he couldn’t escape. The BBC itself. Always uneasy with the excitable nature of the show, despite its success, they moved a new series, ‘The Archers’ into Dick Barton’s slot. The show was cancelled, the character not even getting a glorious fighting finish, just given his papers to be recalled to the forces. It seemed it was all over. There was a glimmer of hope when a TV series was produced in 1979, but it too fell by the wayside. Then, 1998. And the Warehouse Theatre in Croydon commissioned ‘Dick Barton – Special Agent’, a musical comedy accentuating all the glorious silliness of the era and the original show. This affectionate spoof by Phil Wilmott was a massive hit, and toured extensively in the UK and abroad. Wilmott and then Duncan Wisbey, Kit Benjamin and Philip Ives went on to create another eight ‘episodes’ for the Warehouse, the last of which, the western-themed ‘A Fist Full of Barton’, debuted in December 2010. Since then however, seven years and no Dick. The Warehouse Theatre, maliciously sabotaged by Croydon Council, went dark in May 2012 with only a pale shadow of its former self limping along at the Fairfield before it too closed. Enter Theatre Workshop Coulsdon. They performed the original Phil Wilmott script in the open-air in 2007 to critical acclaim and audience response. So their own Richard Lloyd has written a brand new episode. One in which Dick Barton is tasked with finding a missing heiress, only to find himself tangled in a web of intrigue that takes him from darkest Africa to Penge and threatens the very Empire itself! Comedy, music, thrills, SpamTM and fair quantity of dodgy double entendres see the legend continue. Move over Bond. Barton is back! Paul M Ford writes for GrayDorian – The Writing Bureau , and plays at Theatre Workshop Coulsdon. See pages 70/71 in this magazine for performance details. 48 Log into www.cr5.co.uk your local community website!
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