Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays

Three BBC radio full-cast dramas: Butter in a Lordly Dish, Murder in the Mews & Personal Call

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: full cast, Ivan Brandt, Richard Williams

A triple bill of archive BBC radio dramas, believed lost for over half a century and only recently rediscovered. "Butter in a Lordly Dish", written specially for radio in 1948, features Richard Williams as Sir Luke Enderby KC, whose infidelities lead him into trouble when he goes to meet his latest flame.

Williams also stars as Hercule Poirot in "Murder in the Mews", a 1955 adaptation of a short story. A young woman is found dead in her flat the day after Guy Fawkes night. Did she die by her own hand or someone else's?

In "Personal Call", also written specially for radio by Agatha Christie, a disturbing telephone call from a woman named Fay has consequences for both Richard Brent and his wife, Pam. This 1960 production stars Ivan Brandt and Barbara Lott.

©2015 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2015 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

great for fans

a real treat to hear footage from the author herself as a fan this is a favorite choice

Only 3 plays

Says 5 plays but in fact only 3. #3 & 5 are interviews. The 3 plays are good but it a shame there aren't 5.

Love this!

Appreciate having BBC content available please continue to build the library of radio plays as well as audio books

Bravo!

The Personal Call!! Wow!! Such a thrilling and interesting play!! I enjoyed them all. I’ve read Murder in the Mews so it’s as neat to hear it being acted out. I also enjoyed listening to Agatha’s speech and the interview with an actor at the end. Great audio!

Delightful Gem

How wonderful it was to find this gem. As a lifelong reader of all things Christie this bit was a surprise. I’ve listened to most of the 1980’s BBC radio shows with John Moffat and loved every one of them. So, to now have this gathering of a few older shows just completes my collection.

ENJOYABLE

My husband and I listen to Agatha Christie as we travel. These short stories provided great entertainment for short trips. We love her work and the productions were enjoyable.

In context, I can see how this is highly regarded

What did you like best about Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays? What did you like least?

I like the play about the train the most, and her interviews. I least liked the time in between, but not by much.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I wanted more.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

They bring that "radio play" feeling which to me is always engrossing regardless of the topic.

Was Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays worth the listening time?

Definitely.

Any additional comments?

Could do with a little less narration in between. I couldn't wait for those parts to finish

What a gem!

Would you listen to Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays again? Why?

Yes, but not for the plays. The interviews of Agatha Christie and various actors involved in her plays was priceless!

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

BBC Dramatisations are always very well done.

For die hard fans only

I'm an avid fan of Christie, especially the BBC radio adaptations. Sadly this is an uneven collection. Two lost plays that sound like they were written on a rainy afternoon and discarded. They rank right up there with high schoolers campfire ghost stories. These plays were lost for a reason! There's also a 1955 adaptation of "Murder in the Mews." It's a good story but the production is nothing special and true fans are probably already familiar with it. The package is rounded out with some recordings of Agatha Christie from the 1950s which are quite interesting along with an interview with a cast member from "Murder in the Mews" that is quite good although rather unrelated to Christie.

Just didn’t like the interviews.

I wanted stories, the interviews were not interesting to me.
The stories were fun, and the acting was the usual BBC excellant quality.