A world of intrigue and adventure

‘‘Almost retired teacher’’ Russell Gifford remembers his school days spent in and around Blenheim in the 1950s. This week he remembers a world of murder, mystery and adventure via radio serials.

There were sixteen, I think. All listed on a sheet of lined paper taken from a writing pad and pinned to the wall. So, perhaps three on any given evening.

In the early fifties it was all via the valve mantle radio. A bit of waiting when you turned on. It took perhaps a minute for the valves to warm up.

Ours was a pretty classy radio. There were bands providing short wave and other options that I never understood. The radio needed both an aerial and an earth connection. The aerial wire was suspended high above the back garden with a feed wire entering the house via a thin ceramic tube, through the wall just behind the radio.

The earth wire simply made its way through the wall to a metal rod driven into the ground near the foundation. Later we did have a portable radio, a Phillips ‘‘Pacemaker.’’ But it was still a valve radio. It had a relatively enormous battery. Transistor radios didn’t arrive for another 7-8 years.

First on the list was a space adventure, early in the evening. Pretty fanciful in the mid-fifties! Followed by a nature programme by Crosby Morrison, an

Australian.

The ‘‘chill factor’’ would deepen as the evening wore on. ‘‘Deadly Nightshade’’ could be pretty un-nerving. Felix Hubermann would close an episode with ‘‘I know what that stain on the floor is. Its blood! We saw a lot of that during the war!’’ He was referring to an address on the Augauten Strasse in Berlin.

Then there was the ‘‘Keeap Man from McAkeea’’ About gun running in Java. The drums carrying the messages from hilltop to hilltop. Full of mystery and intrigue. Powerfully engaging.

This of course was the special power of radio drama. You, the listener supplied so much of the story. Imagination fully at work. And you could carry on with mundane tasks and not miss a beat.

Adults would join in for ‘‘Dad and Dave’’. It was popular from one end of the country to the other.

The story lines elude me now but horses and stables seemed to feature frequently.

On reflection I think it had a lot to do with the quality of the radio actors.

They were highly skilled and talented people. Notable among them was William Austin. His distinctive voice was utterly able to live within his chosen character.

Out of nowhere ‘‘The Goon Show’’. What a supreme gift to the school boys of the nation. We all did what we thought were perfect imitations of the inane conversations of the main characters. And we would retell with great delight the latest intricate and farcical episode. Forever grateful.

The Goons received a mark of approval when Prince Charles let it be known that he was a great fan.

My selection is evenings only and boy’s interest only. There were many others that filled up other time slots. My mother wouldn’t miss a mid- morning episode of ‘‘Portia Faces Life.’’

Radio drama in serial form continued on into the 60s but could not in the end compete with TV.

STUFF In the 1950s radio serials were a big part of the night in many New Zealand households.